Backwards and forwards are not mutually exclusive

Nor do they necessarily indicate that things are stuck in neutral. Although we are not far into 2014, I’ve already learned this lesson. I hate to say that I’ve learned this lesson the hard way because it is both encouraging and discouraging.

I started out my New Year with both a major highlight and a major lowlight. Our team started the morning at the Lifetime Fitness Commitment Day 5k. I hadn’t done any sort of racing since September so I was both nervous and excited to see where I was at. Although the race wasn’t officially timed, we were required to wear our GPS watches. I was both surprised and happy with my result and I’m excited to keep moving forward in my running.

However, my start to 2014 quickly proved that the year was going to have its ups and downs. Later on that day, I took my bike out for a long ride and… had my first real crash. Sure, I had fallen off my bike before when I was learning how to use clipless pedals and a few times while riding the rollers, but never before while going very fast. During this incident, I hit a crack just wide enough to trap  my front tire that ran parallel to the direction we were riding in. As a result, I lost control of the bike. In the crash I broke my saddle and my shifter. We originally thought that I had escaped with just scrapes and road rash, but persistent pain in my shoulder that was originally thought to be normal soreness turned out to be a sprain.

Since then, I’ve been laying off the swim a little and working hard on the run and the bike. One of the things I’ve had to work hardest at is to get my courage back on the bike. Even though I’ve grown to enjoy biking and improved in leaps and bounds since my initial struggle in the early summer, bravery has been something that I’ve been working on since the beginning, and I took a few steps backwards. Despite working through some of these issues, I’ve made other big improvements on the bike since the crash. I’ve even ridden in my first crit since then! I know it will be no time at all until I get the little bit I lost back, and once paired with the improvements I have made I will be miles ahead of where I left off.

The biggest thing propelling me forward right now is excitement over my upcoming first races of the season. On the weekend of March 1-2, I will be doing two Elite Development Races in Clermont, Florida, both of which I am very excited for.