I've noticed that whenever I talk to people who are not triathletes, they'll wrinkle their noses and say, "I'd do it if it were run-run-run," or "bike-bike-bike" or more often, "I'd do it except I hate swimming." One person last week told me, "I'd do it, except I hate the bike."I believe that most of the time this kind of thinking is a mental, rather than physcial block. When I first considered a triathlon I dreaded the idea of running, but a good running plan and lots of training has made it my (nearly) favorite area of training. I wonder, though, if most triathletes have that one event in which they have to kind of force themselves to train.
For me, at this time, that would be the bike. I enjoy a good, flat bike ride, but I love running and oh, do I love the water! Swimming and running are both so simple: you just get up (or jump in) and go. In fact, often in the pool, I have to really force myself to get out and stop at the end of my workout.
When it comes to training on the bike, though, I really have to force myself to get in the saddle, and even then, I often cut my workout short out of bordom. That may be because the bike paths around here suck so much, and I hate to deal with traffic, or it may be because, here in Rio Rancho, once I'm on the bike I'm either struggling up a hill or screaming down one. Another reason I think I avoid the bike is mechanical difficulties. It's just so complicated, all that equipment and such. I know that a lot of this is purely psychological, but I'm actually considering running the four miles to work to avoid riding my bike.
So, I'm wondering. Fellow triathletes, what's your weakness? If there isn't one event that you really have to force or bribe yourself to do, then more positively, what's that one (of three) area of training you look forward to every time you do it?
