A few weeks back, in a blog post called Noticing Stuff, I wrote about not being a racing cyclist anymore. It had been a crap season, marred by my broken collarbone at the start of the winter and then a crash in Mallorca at training camp. I had lost my motivation to race, I wasn’t enjoying it, and in the summer started to try a few other things – mountain biking and then running.
I found that I quite enjoyed running, so bought myself some kit and started training. It was going pretty well until the weather started to turn. I found that I didn’t have the same desire to train in bad weather as I did on the bike. It was a struggle, and before I knew it, 3 weeks had gone past and I hadn’t run a yard!
Time is a great healer, and it also helps get perspective. Since starting my winter bike training again, even on the turbo, I realised that I love being on the bike. I liked running, but I *love* cycling. I’m also not a quitter, and don’t give up on things easily.
And so, I made a decision. Stop running. Concentrate all of the available training time on the bike.
I feel as though I have unfinished business on the bike. I want to race again, to feel the thrill of racing in a peloton, to give everything I’ve got in a time trial. To race my bike.
And so it is. I’m back. I may not be great, but I’m going to work really hard, with the limited training time that I have, to be the best that I can be.
Bring it on 2012!
Good on you Ali! A Moto I have stuck by this last year since going back to college – “doing what you are meant to do doesn’t mean you have to give up doing what you enjoy to do”. Good luck back on the bike!!
Thanks Bri, looking forward to 2012 on the bike! And, of course, to our big January night out!!