Oh yeah I am a cyclist

Yesterday really shook my confidence. I was feeling so good going into the century - so confident that even though I haven't been on my tri bike for more than 56 miles before, I could pound out a century no problem.

Well, I'm humbled, to say the least. But I have to move on, right? So here I am, moving on.

I went to bed at like 9 p.m., so it wasn't much of an issue to drag my sore legs and butt out of bed to the pool. I only swam for 20 minutes, nice and slow, but it felt good. Then I did hot yoga, which felt great. I love that feeling when I leave hot yoga - for like 30 minutes, everything in my body feels amazing. (Muscle soreness does return if I was sore to begin with...but that break is so sweet.)

I was feeling yucky at work. Crabby, snappy, and not particularly nice.

Then I had to lead my club ride. I planned the easiest route I could think of...but it's absolutely impossible to ride 100% downhill loop, and it's also impossible to ride 100% flat around here.

When I showed up at the meeting point, there were four guys - all of whom could pound if they wanted to. But I was the leader, so I went my "easy" route and stayed up front most of the time.

I found I could actually ride - and it didn't feel bad! My road bike actually felt good to me - Cindy at Sammamish Valley Cycle had told me that after a season of riding a tri bike, riding the road bike again would feel amazing. Since the tri bike is so comfortable (most of the time), I didn't really believe her until today - when I could sit in an easy, upright position and spin in a much easier gear.

I managed to feel good cruising downhill at 36 mph, and spin up a long hill at 10 mph. I didn't feel 100% normal, but I felt okay - enough so that when we were towards the end of the ride, I asked the group if they wanted one more hill climb. When they said yes, I voluntarily led them a couple miles more so we could do one more decent climb. Now that's a good sign, right!

And now my brain feels better. I am much less anxious about my ability. Yesterday wasn't a great day, but other days will be - and hopefully one of those days will be my Ironman day. (But if it's not, I'll prepare for that, too.)