Love Hate Relationship

I have never really been a biker, or known much about biking more than this: when I was a kid, it was faster to bike to my friends house than walk.  When I decided to do my first triathlon, I just figured I would ride my old high school, K-Mart special mountain bike.  Little did I know... the gears would get stuck and it definitely wasn't appropriate for a fast or smooth ride.  After training once with a friend who had a new, up to date mountain bike, I learned that my bike wasn't going to cut it for the race.  Just going out once with my friend on her bike, I watched her as she hardly pedaled to slow down for me and my feet kept slipping off the pedals because my legs were going so fast trying to keep up with her.  The bike does make a difference.  After doing research on bikes and mountain bikes vs. road bikes I could hardly believe how expensive this sport is.  Road bikes can cost up to $30,000.  Crazy, that's the cost of a new car! I decided that I would look on ksl.com to find something a little better than my Shopko special that would be sufficient for this little race.  I did find a $50 vintage road bike still in great condition.  Now with a lot more research I can understand why that might have been an ok purchase for that race, but if I want to continue to race a better bike will be vital.

Spinning/ biking is extremely difficult for me.  During it, I hate it! Have you ever looked at professional bikers and noticed their huge muscular thighs. There is definitely a reason for that! I usually feel while biking that my legs are not strong enough for this sport.  I know just like anything else I've done, it takes a lot of work to become good at something, and every time I am in a spinning class, I literally count down the time so that I will stop focusing on how bad my legs hurt.  It isn't until after the workout that I find myself really proud that I accomplished it and gave it my full 100%.  Because of accomplishing something hard and the great feeling of it, I start to think I really love spinning and look forward to the next class.

Do you have a saying or a motto that you say or recite when exercising to get you through the hard times?  I have decided that mine is "I am a fighter and I am worth fighting for."  This morning in my spinning class I recited that every time I tought about the pain in my legs, and it made it so much easier to change my focus and continue to work hard! My new goal is to truly believe my new motto and when things get hard for me, I am going to continue reciting it and push that much harder!