Sleepy days, early nights, early mornings...

I am sitting at work drinking a green tea now, as I have pledged to reduce my coffee "levels" and get some more anti-oxidants into my system. Somebody mentioned green tea was good for that!

Last night, at my spin workout, I realized that I was able to push my effort a little higher than I have been in the past. My heart rate got as high as 178 bpm during a couple of the sets, which is a far cry from the 155 bpm I think I was able to push a year ago. I can attribute this to my winter base training which has really helped me build a stronger engine for biking. In the past, I have been leary of riding. When given the option, I would go to a run any day and twice on Sunday (literally). I think it came down to just not being comfortable enough to push it on the bike.

But each week, I push a little harder and hold the pace a little more, challenging myself to see just how far I can take it before I have to back off. Again, fear comes into my thoughts... But I am not sure what I am afraid of. If I "bonk", I bonk, right? But I don't think that's the fear that I have had. I am not sure what it is... So, instead of fretting over that little voice that says "hold back", I am simply repeating the words "keep going", and letting the outcome speak for itself rather than living out all the possible problems associated with keeping a difficult pace.

In many ways, I am beginning to look forward to the bike as a way to push and challenge myself further and further. I have that same sense with running a hill workout or a speed workout, but I have not felt that way on a bike before. Maybe it really is about the bike, now!