As one of the ambassadors for The Tulsa Tough I have made an effort to train for the event and to document it as I went along.
What I have discovered, once again, is that life happens while we are making plans.
My plan was to have a training schedule, stick to it and easily ride the metric century on Saturday of the ’09 event. I have discovered that as soon as I make up my mind to do something the Universe conspires against me to find out just how committed I am to my new goals or plan. It happens to us all. The enthusiasm, the planning, the excitement at the outset, and the first few strides towards our goal are GREAT! Then it happens…..Life Happens. Health, jobs, families, finances, and everything else imaginable suddenly throws roadblocks in your bike path saying, “Ok, what are you going to do now? Let’s see you get around this boulder! And then adds, “So what if you do get around it, there’s another one just up ahead!” And so it goes.
The Universe is challenging, to say the least. Sometimes, though, if I step back and really look at what it is sending my way I can see that if I pay attention, all of it will work out for the best. The Universe helps me check my priorities, get my life back in balance, and then, and only then will I make the progress that had been so elusive.
So all of this is for me to speak to those of you who have been planning on doing The Tough and are now feeling like you may not be able to do it. I’m here to tell you in no uncertain terms that this year you can participate! Do it for yourself. You have been wanting to, you have been attempting to train as you thought you should, but now you are questioning your ability to do what you planned.
The easy answer: Change your plan!
Adapt your plan for The Tough to fit where you are in your training, your preparedness and your mindset on the weekend of the event.
Instead of doing the Century, do the metric century, instead of doing the metric do the 50, instead of doing the 50, do the Townie, instead of doing the Townie, support your kids participation or volunteer, or simply come out and watch the races.
My point is that no matter what level you choose to participate at you have succeeded. You have become involved and engaged in cycling! And guess what….
THERE’S ALWAYS NEXT YEAR!
Life Happened to me. I got the health, family, and job boulders thrown at me unexpectedly. So I’ve changed my plan. I can’t pick up where I left off in my training, but I have revised the plan, backed off on the intensity, given myself a break, taken a deep breath and started again!
