Foxy!

I was meant to meet the whipper snapper for a ride this morning at 9am. We'd jacked it up yesterday, so I dutifully set three alarms for a god-awful hour, got up, made my porridge, filled my bidons, packed my fuel into my bento box, put on my knicks and tights over the top, found my bike sunnies, put my phone in a plastic bag and put my merino skullcap on under my helmet.

I was sitting on the couch putting on my shoes when I got a text from the whipper snapper telling me he was going to be a bit later because he'd just finished his swim. I sat on the couch and watched the weather channel (yep, I'm a nerd) and then I set off to meet the whipper snapper just after 9am. At 9.06am I had a missed call from him, so I called him back. Shep entries had just opened, according to a mate, and he was going to try and get enter then would ride over to meet me.

I told him I'd do laps of the Esplanade until he arrived, and after three laps I was over it and decided to go exploring. There's a shared path through Apex park over to Laverton or Point Cook, so I figured I'd just ride the paths and see where I ended up. After getting to the creek over by the softball centre, Whipper Snapper rang to cancel. I could tell he felt really bad about it, but I told him that Shep was important and he needed to stay and get an entry.

We had a good chat about training - my head is in a much better place after my realisations yesterday that I'm my biggest problem! The Ironman mind games had well and truly set in this past week, and fortunately I've been able to recognise them for what they are - and drop kick them out of the park before they get control of me.

I'm my biggest fan, my most loyal supporter, and my own worst enemy all at once. Self-doubt was setting in, my motivation was waning and my attitude was shit. Apologies for the naughty word, but it's the truth! My attitude was absolute shit. There's some mental things to overcome relating to cleats (being smashed off my bike in race 7, 2010 for example) and relating to injuries. I lose the plot when I'm injured, and it takes ages for the plot to gingerly knock first on the reinforced steel bomb shelter door of my mind, and then stick it's head around the door and ask if it can enter.

I received a card in the mail from my friend Annie, who is a life coach. It has a quote from Bruce Barton on it, which truly resonated at the moment:

“Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstances”