I am so screwed…

I just finished my first outdoor bike ride after a winter of being in the basement on the trainer.  After a quick warm up and then getting up in to my training zone, I looked at my bike computer and was going 21+ mph - and if felt really easy.  I thought "Sweet!  All my hard work over the last several months has paid off!"  

And then reality set in.  It was windy.  There is no wind in my basement.  My speed dropped precipitously.  And that's when I thought:  "I am so screwed.  I'm not going to be ready for the duathlon on the 2nd."  That's 16 days away.  I am both laughing and having a heart attack at even writing that it's just over 2 weeks away.

I got off my bike, tried to take a drink from the waterbottle between my handlebars and almost fell over - jelly legs with no balance.  Thank goodness the car was there to catch me.

This happens EVERY YEAR.  The first race of the season sneaks up out of nowhere and I've maybe been out on the road on my bike a handful of times.  Oh, one of the many glories of living in Minnesota.  Thankfully, everyone else doing the race is in the same boat.

At least that's the story I'm telling myself in order to keep myself from having a panic attack....