The Importance of Rest

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When troubles seem big, when mountains seem high, it is ALWAYS a good idea to take a break, even if a short one. The past few weeks have presented quite a number of difficulties concerning logistics, people, motivation and training.


Logistics
Planning each stop of the route, each town and city I'd ride through, places to stop for food and stay the night, researching on characters for the documentary, while juggling fund raising and training several hours a day - honestly, these do overwhelm me. When things swim over my head and I feel like I'm drowning, I take a step back and walk away from it. I'd take a deep breath, do something else, and come back to it later. By doing so, I'd usually find new solutions to the problems at hand.

People
I've been fortunate to have more positive support than negative ones. Inevitably, when negative remarks are targeted at me, they get me down - so what do I do? I bring that to people who loves me and are ever ready to offer positive encouragement to counter the negative remarks. There are a handful of people I know I can always count on to lift me up when I'm beaten down. Surrounding myself with good people has kept me strong through this period.

Motivation
I've been training consistently and regularly since August last year, right after my Ironman, and have even pushing myself over and over again. As much as I love training, I found myself scraping at the bottom of a near empty barrel these past 4 weeks. I might have been overwhelmed by the logistics and fund raising - or I might have been just burned out. The recovery from this recent burn-out has been slower than I'd hope for. Thankfully, my coach and the people closest to me are quick to lift me up with their words and encouragement.

I'm happy to report that just this week, I regained my motivation and am riding with renewed strength. ;)

Training
When I'm out riding and have been grinding for miles and what seem like ages on a hill, and just when I thought the uphill is over, yet another big hill appears before me and my heart sinks, it helps that I stop to rest for even as briefly as a minute - I'd find a new lease of energy to pedal up that hill and what seemed daunting and impossible a minute earlier is diminished with new strength that comes with rest.
2 weeks to go before the big ride - this is when rest is even more important to prepare me for the challenges ahead! ;)

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While climbs used to daunt me in the past, I've learnt to embrace and enjoy the suck. After all, climbs make a strong cyclist. Conquered a total of 15,000 feet of climbs over 166 miles in the past 3 days. My fav fuel on these rides? Eggs and tomatoes on toasted croissant, plus a cuppa coffee.

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JournalAngeline TanComment