corners and curves...

...and rounding them both.
I've been thinking a lot lately about the twists and turns of life. About how what is just around the next bend is unknown...which is both exciting and terrifying. Like last weekend just around the bend in the road was a cattle guard and a low water crossing with A LOT of water. That will get your adrenalin pumping as you hydroplane across the low water crossing because you didn't have a chance to stop, hop off your bike, and walk across. Phew. And this past weekend, riding on a route I've only ridden twice before, hitting high speeds on the downhills and hoping that nothing like that low water crossing from last week was at the bottom...or climbing up a hill and wondering just exactly when it would end. And even on our run today (up and down many of those same hills), Jess and I were talking about how time passes so quickly on a run when you're in new territory. I remarked that I thought since you weren't sure what was coming up, you didn't worry so much about where you were or where you were supposed to be according to your usual pace, etc...and because you really didn't know what was around the next bend, you couldn't dread it or relax into it too much. And so I feel like I eased around these unknown curves of training this weekend. But I also turned some major corners. Which is a bit reflective of my life in general right now. Funny how that sometimes works.
It was wonderful to get out of town with my T3 teammates and friends this weekend. About 15 of us headed out to Bastrop State Park for a weekend of camping, training, and general enjoying one another's company. And we did all of those things. With Logan's pop-up as our T3 headquarters, we cooked and got camp set up on Friday night...oh, and ate some s'mores. Saturday brought a beautiful day plus some more teammates from Austin who wanted to ride the Pedal Through the Pines routes that we were doing. 60 miles was the plan for the day...ended up riding about 63-64. My plan was to "ride my own ride" and to see what I could do. Since it was a shorter ride with a particularly wonderful stretch of smooth road on the tail end on 71 I decided I'd just see what I had in me. The first part of the ride was through the park. So pretty but incredibly twisty and turny and hilly. It took us a while to get out of the park but soon we emerged and hit more open road. I felt strong after that little park warm-up and so I politely passed a couple of folks and then found myself with long stretches of road in front of me and so I just let my legs go. I pushed up the hills and stayed strong in between. And much to my surprise when I looked up while looking for the turnaround point, I saw Logan, Jim, Jess, Booher, Dustin, and Suzanne at a church where they were clearly pausing for a moment to get water...and, as I discovered, turn around. (I would have ridden further as I was looking for a different landmark...oops!) This was awesome. I was expecting to see them, but more as they were headed back the same way I was coming as this is usually the pattern with the super fast folks. So it was cool to not be too far behind them. Really cool.
We all pulled out together and again, I found my groove and pedaled away from one or two folks and found my own stretch of the road. At one point, Jim (who was saving turtles and so he ended up behind me for a moment) remarked, "Wow, you're really having a great ride. What's changed? It seems like you've really turned a corner." I laughed and said, "I really don't know...and it might not last so I'm clinging to this ride and giving it everything I've got." Now people have been telling me that some cyclists really do turn a proverbial corner in year #2, but I was beginning to believe I wasn't one of them. However, the past two weeks have made me start to believe that perhaps I'm going around a curve with my cycling...not necessarily turning a sharp corner yet but easing around a curve.
And somehow after a night of s'mores, chicken sandwiches, french fries, beer, and sleeping in a tent with a floodlight we all got up to run on Sunday morning. Through the hills. With Logan saying it was a better road to run than it was to ride...ummm...I don't see his reasoning, but, okay. Jess and I took off with the rest of the crew that was running and soon settled into a groove. The idea was a 2 hour run and after numerous hills we were suddenly at our hour mark. Quick turn around and somehow I was thinking it would be fairly flat on the way back...not so. Jess had on her speedy shoes on the way back and my idea of keeping up with her quickly gave way to negative splitting. Which I did. And I felt strong as I rounded each curve and crested each hill. And my legs felt tired, too, and so I turned some mental corners. And somehow, miraculously, I did negative split. It was a great lesson for me in what the mind can do. My legs were a little more than shot from the ride...and then the 1st hour of hills...and yet somehow I was able to will them to go faster than they wanted to go. And that felt very cool.
So how does all of this relate to my life? Well, I feel like I've started to draw some healthy boundaries to make sure I'm living more authentically. To make sure that I'm being me and following my heart and living in a way that feels real and genuine. And that has meant sometimes saying "no" instead of always/usually saying "yes" and trying to be a better communicator and speaking my heart. And that involves rounding some curves and corners and not being sure what's around them...and it's a little frightening and a little exhilarating. Which is sort of the way in which life is reflected in training...and training is reflected in life.
P.S. When I came home from the weekend, my neighbor said, "You look very relaxed." And I thought...I am. Thanks to a weekend in the woods.