Riding In The Rain With My New Coach

Today, I met with my coach, Shelly, to ride and talk about training. It was our first coach/trainee meeting, and it was also my first time riding with another person, so I was a little nervous. It was pretty gloomy out, so I wasn't sure about riding, but we went out anyway, and sure enough, we got pretty wet! It was my first ride in the rain, so I was worried about my tires slipping and me falling down, but I stayed upright with no falls. :) We ended up riding 6.1 miles!!

I had a great time chatting with Shelly while we rode, and she really encouraged me. There was this one especially tough hill where I wanted to stop so many times, and she was like, "Just take it one pedal stroke at a time. Look down in front of your tire, not at the top of the hill. Take the pedal strokes in sets of 5. Just keep pushing." It helped SO much, and I got up the hill! We discovered that I need to get power straps for my bike. I'm not strapped in right now because I can't afford shoes or pedals that allow me to clip in just yet, but Shelly told me that should be my top priority (along with padded bike shorts, because I kept complaining about my butt hurting). She explained that right now, I'm only using my quads to pedal, and once I'm strapped in I'll be able to use my entire leg. I can't wait for that, because I know my legs are strong.

I'm really excited about working with Shelly. She really seems to know what she's talking about, and I can already tell she's going to be very motivating and encouraging. She uses this only program with her trainees, and it gives me the ability to log my workouts or move things around once she schedules them. Or if I'm going to be out of town or something, I can let her know that so she can tailor my workouts to a gym or stretching, etc. It's pretty flexible.

Thank you SOOO much to my Godparents, Carolyn & Sid Black, for their donation! It's my highest total yet!!