Training your mind is as important as your body

Tuesday I had one of my best workouts in a long time.  I got outside on my bike for the first time in months.  I worked hard too.  But, the truth is, that ride, in itself, wasn't that significant in terms of getting stronger physically and mentally.  It was more like a reward for the work I'd done prior.

Yesterday's ride was significant.  I'd missed Thursday's training because of an afternoon dentist appointment that left me grumpy and tense.  Truthfully, I used that as an excuse, and getting in even part of the training in the time I had left probably would have brought me to a better mindset.  Instead, I ended up taking a day off, following my scheduled rest day on Wednesday.

So, Friday, when I should have been getting a 1.5 hour ride out of the way, I put it off.  Before I could even start, I had to change my rear tire back to the trainer tire.  (We've had a big dump of snow, so no riding outside right now.)  That was just depressing.  

My kids are old enough now that I could have done it early in the day while they played, but I didn't.  I didn't do it after lunch either.  Then, it was time for supper.  In my defense, I did at least manage to change that tire once I had supper going in the oven.  I can't train immediately after eating, so enter the whirlwind of children's bedtimes.  By the time that was done, it was 8:00 pm.

I know very well that the time of day, that I have the hardest time with motivation to train, is in the evenings.  And, that is the only time I had left.  Thank goodness for the most important part of my support system: my husband.  He didn't have to tell me to suck it up and ride my bike, but I knowing he would have was enough to get me down there.

And, unlike most workouts, once I was going, it wasn't easy to keep going.  I don't know if it was the monotony of the trainer after the excitement of the road, but it took constant diligence to stick it out for the full time.  A few times, I took a short break to practice clipping in and out (I like the speedplay pedals, but they feel different then the shimanos and I find the left side a bit stiff to clip in and out.)  I have my garmin set to autopause, so it just postponed the inevitable: the full 90 minutes still had to be done.

It was tempting to cut it short.  Nobody would know but me, right?  But that's the thing, I would know.  I remembered something that Angie said during a bike class when somebody jokingly suggested not doing the final interval: if you don't finish, the entire workout is for nothing, because you know you didn't do it.  

Physically, it might not matter that much.  The effect on my body from a single workout in my training cycle isn't going to be that different if it's 75 minutes or 90.  Mentally, it matters.  Quitting becomes a habit, and if you train to quit, it gets easier every time.

In the end, I finished the 90 minutes.  Instead of training my mind to quit, I trained it to stick it out even when I didn't want to.  It was hard, but I did it.  Maybe next time, I'll also remember that putting it off doesn't make it easier.