Consistency Is Not Always A Hobgoblin....

I had a really good conversation with my brother, Matt, this weekend regarding training for the ride in September.  Matt has raced his bicycle on the national circuit for years and years, and thinks nothing of getting on his bike for a 20, 40 or 60 mile ride when the mood strikes. (Might I add that he lives in the Bay Area of California where the climbs are monumental and deadly??? Astounding.)

"Jaye," he said, "it's really about the consistency of getting on the bike every day, regardless of the distance and time."  He explained that pretty much anyone who can ride can do 50, or 75 or even 100 miles on one given day.  The challenge after that is getting BACK on the bike the NEXT day.

True that, as my aching butt bones will attest to.  His point is well taken, especially when Day 2 becomes Day 3 and 4 and beyond.  Doing it every day now is going to get me into the habit that will carry me through 8 solid days of riding later.

Take that, Emerson, I thought smugly.  Hobgoblin of little minds, indeed.  There is a place for consistency.  Of course, in the middle of my smugness, I had an internal debate over whether that is, in fact, Ralph Waldo Emerson's quote, or whether it belongs to his contemporary, Henry David Thoreau.  What on earth did we do before Google?  And good thing I stopped to look.  While confirming that Emerson coined the phrase, I also noticed that I had omitted one tiny word from his quote.  What Emerson actually said was, "Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."  That makes a big difference.  Fine.  The transcendentalist is right on a technicality.

Back to the point, I am trying to work on consistency.  (Not my strong suit, incidentally.)  Hence today, when time got away from me and my planned 75 minutes on the stationary bike (we are back to rain here) got whittled down to 60, then 50, then a paltry 40 potential minutes.  At that point, I asked myself if it was even worth it to change clothes, go to the Rec Center, get on the bike for barely more than half an hour, rush home and shower to make my 6 PM meeting.

So...thanks, Matt.  It was totally worth it.  I worked hard for 35 minutes on tough intervals, got my heart rate going, built some thigh muscle, and rejuvenated my energy level.  When I get home tonight I will do some core exercises and stretch, finishing up what will turn out to be not a terrible workout day.  It may not have been perfect (I am learning -- see my previous post about all or nothing) but it was a another small step toward a big goal.  One foot in front of the other, one step at a time.  I can do this.

Nite, blog.