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Biking: Mind and Body
By Rosemary Hollinger
Posted: 2020-05-13T17:23:00Z

Some days I think I can tackle any hill on the Puget Sound island where I live.  Other days the hills seem to beat me down.  Funny, sometimes it’s the same hill.  What’s going on? 


I started thinking about this like being in training, so I now keep a journal.  I started riding further, and the hills became goals.  This leads inevitably to my first tip about conquering hills:  mindset - a real game-changer for me.  My thoughts can impact whether or not I make it to the top and how well I do.  I started up a hill one day feeling like a lumpy sack of potatoes.  It goes without saying that I barely dragged myself up, and it was not fun.  The next day, I envisioned myself as a feather and it lightened the load. Now, as I approach a hill, I visualize clouds, feathers, leaves and think positive thoughts.  It helps.  A lot.

In my “training” journal, I also noticed that I was a lot more successful with hills if I rode shortly after eating.  If I was hungry or felt like my blood sugar level was low, I just didn’t have that "hill" energy I needed.  So, now I try to eat before I jump on my bike, and I often carry some clementine oranges or energy bars to snack on when I need an energy jolt.  No doubt staying hydrated and fed is critical to performance.  Tip two:  listen to your body and take care of it.

 

Finally, I observed that taking good care means that I don’t ride every day.  Days when my body is tired or I just need to do something else, I find a valuable cross-training activity. My body is telling me to do something else - hiking, walking on the beach or taking an exercise class.  Consequently, I ride about 5 days a week.  Next week, I will write about my failures and what they taught me.

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