It's all mental

I've had a little medical issue to deal with over the last two weeks, which has distracted me slightly. But I had to laugh when I read my GP's referral note to the hospital. It described me as "an elite athlete"! So I've taken a photo of it and I might just get it framed!

I know it was her way of explaining to medical staff why i have such a low resting pulse rate - but it gave my family something to laugh about. There's nothing "elite' about me, I know that for sure. But as I sat in the hospital waiting room, I was definitely the odd one out - not overweight, not over 60, not about to hang up my running shoes for slippers any time in the foreseeable! So, after that blip I've enjoyed a week of positivity, and as a teacher I know only too well how a small pat on the back goes a long way. Last Monday, the toughest of tough swim coaches said: "Have you been practising? Because you're starting to look like a swimmer." I ignored the cheekiness and took it as a compliment. This is the swim coach who put us through a '6-killer-swims-a-week' schedule to swim the 24-mile length of Loch Lomond, so he knows how I swim and if I've improved.
Next, I had a hilly bike session with IronPhil. Now, descending is not my forte. As a cyclist friend of mine once said: "I brake like a girly." I do, I do and there's no shame in it. If my brain is screaming 'slow down you might crash and die', then my hands obey and squeeze the brake levers ... mind over matter, I can't help it! Well, progress is being made, because as we reached the bottom of one of our regular, smooth and quite fast descents, he didn't have to wait for me to catch up. Despite the wind and rain, I kept him in my sights as I merely 'feathered' my brakes (technical term which roughly translates as light braking for wimps who don't have the balls to build up too much speed!) Even better, I reached the summit of one of our steep, hairpin climbs ahead of him, had time to stop, unclip and have a drink before he appeared. (I have to add that IronPhil claims it was due to dodgy rear derailleur issues) but I'll take a training victory whenever I can.
Also very kind training pal, Laura, nominated me on the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games website as Sports Star of the Week. Embarrassed but proud.

You see, I'm surrounded by an elite bunch of healthy, fit, go-getters - any one of them could do this if they really wanted to. I think once you've signed up for something huge, it ceases to be quite as big and you begin to forget how enormous it looks form the outside. It simply becomes a series of small, steady steps in one direction. Keep following them and you will get there. You just have to really, really want it; and I really, really want it! Some of it is physical, but most of it's mental ... totally, nutcrackingly mental!