Lessons from the Silver Strand

This month marks the 23rd anniversary of our Monday Morning Stretch, and to celebrate we are recycling some our most popular editions over the next few weeks. This Stretch was first published in March of 2014. Rereading it makes me want to dust off my old road bike, spin the tires, and feel the wind on my face again! As you’ll see, this Stretch reminds us to listen to our gut, break our training down into bite-sized chunks, test for true understanding. It also reminds us resistance training really does work, even if it is unintentional!    

The Silver Strand is an 11-mile, completely flat stretch of land connecting Coronado Island and Imperial Beach in San Diego with an awesome, extra wide bike path. Late afternoon last Saturday, I was returning from a two-day client training session in Nashville and the bright, sunny San Diego weather warmly welcomed me home.

Tom was picking me up from the airport and had planned a bike ride for us on the Silver Strand.   He had loaded our bikes in the back of the car, filled our water bottles, and packed our power bars into our seat bags. I was happy to be home and anxious to get on my bike for some much-needed exercise after sitting for four hours on a plane. What a great idea this was!

I was all smiles as we took off, but almost immediately I realized that something was not quite right. I was struggling. I’d done 11 miles even with hills in my hometown and averaged 12 mph, no problem. But today, even on this flat route, I found myself struggling to do even 9 mph. Every push of the pedals felt like I was pulling a truck behind me. I struggled with my breath. Sweat poured down my face and neck. My thighs ached. What was wrong? The bike?  The wind? Tom wasn’t struggling, and he was sympathetically drafting in front of me trying to help me. It was embarrassing. I turned inward; it had to be me.

Good grief, how had I let this happen again? Why did I always do this? Too many times to count I would work hard, get in shape, and then slack off, finding reasons to justify it. Before I knew it, my clothes felt tight, my muscles grew weak, and my energy tanked. I should have known this would happen, and I thought to myself, I royally deserve it. I’m erratic, weak, a procrastinator with no self-discipline—an absolute idiot.

After a grueling 22-mile round trip, I finally made it, but it took a heavy dose of Ibuprofen to relax the muscle cramps in my quads at dinner afterwards. I feared I wouldn’t make it out of bed the next morning, but I did. Feeling somewhat (and surprisingly) rested, refreshed, and now highly motivated, I vowed to ride again as soon as I could next week.

On Monday afternoon, Tom and I met after work for an 11-mile ride in our hometown which we had done a dozen times before, yet I experienced a repeat of my miserable Saturday performance.  I could hardly make it up the smallest of hills and had to get off and walk on the “big one.” Walk!  I was humiliated and disgusted with myself as we put the bikes in the car. But as I was peeling myself out of my drenched cycling jersey, I gave my attention to a nagging thought I’d been having, “What if my low performance was not because of me and my weakness as a person? What if there was something else wrong, some other reason for the struggle?”

The minute I voiced this, Tom picked up my bike, quickly looked it over, and attempted to spin the front wheel, “attempted” being the operative word. He looked up at me slowly with an expression of dismay and sympathy, “Oh my God, sweetheart. Your front brake has been on this whole time!”

What??? The bike’s brake had been fully engaged against my front tire for the last 33 miles??? I feel incredulous, redeemed, and more than a bit ridiculous.

In retrospect, there were several lessons from this experience for me:

Lesson One: Listen to your gut and go easy on the self-loathing stuff! I knew something was not right almost immediately, but instead of objectively thinking it through, I instantly turned the blame inward, berating and belittling myself. We’re such an easy target for ourselves, aren’t we? It didn’t serve me or fix the problem. It just made me feel bad and a lot less confident.  

Lesson Two: Chunk, Review, and Test new information. When I first got my road bike, Tom, who was an experienced rider, had given me a checklist for cyclists and a lesson on how to make sure I had all my gear and my bike was in working order. Beyond teaching me the rules of the road, how to clip and unclip into my bike pedals, and what height to set my seat, he carefully taught and reviewed important pre-ride items such as always check your tire pressure, lube your chain, and of course, spin your tires to make sure your brake is not on. I remember feeling bombarded with new information about a skill I was far from mastering, and I just couldn’t absorb it all at one time. It’s a good reminder that when I am teaching someone something new (or learning something new myself), I need to break it down into digestible chunks, review it, and test for real understanding before moving on. 

Lesson Three: Resistance training really does works! On our next ride the following weekend, I logged a personal best (so far!): My longest ride: 31 miles. My fastest average speed: almost 16 mph (sounds better than 15.8!) And my happiness factor while cycling: OTC (Off The Charts!)

Three important lessons learned or relearned. And you should see my quads!