breakthrough

My last couple of workouts have provided me with a small breakthrough of sorts. What this means is that I feel like the work that I've done so far has actually been effective and gotten me somewhere - not saying that I'm ready to go out and finish an Ironman tomorrow or anything, just had a couple of tiny victories. In the dead of winter, it's these tiny victories that get me from one workout to the next.

Tiny Victory #1
On Monday night I went to a group ride to try and avoid the trainer. It met at Mama's Board and Bike in downtown Buford. The entire ride would be in the dark which was amazingly fun but a little scary at the same time. I geared myself up with all my lights and reflective gear and joined the group of about 10 on a ride from downtown Buford then around Suwanee and back, about 17 miles. It was a pretty short ride but proved to be ridden at a fairly good tempo. The tiny victory was in the way I was able to pull the group into the wind and felt strong doing so. This was the first ride that I've felt powerful enough to "hammer" for any length of time.

Tiny Victory #2
My swim workout tonight also brought about some sensations of strength. My times weren't super fast but I sure felt efficient and much more powerful than I had in my first two weeks. It's not necessarily the speed or the times that are important in this game, it's the ability to move through long distances efficiently and relaxed.

The first two weeks of training kind of felt like I was just out there drudging through the mileage, but hopefully I've turned the corner and will start turning in more and more significant workouts that are confidence instilling.