Peaking

As I slowly make my way back to fitness I am making a number of observations along the way. The first one is about "peaking" - no not that kind of peaking! When you go out cycling with a bunch of athletes, you very quickly spot who's peaking for their event. On Saturday a mixed (ability & experience) bunch of us went out for 2.5 hours plus.  We set off at a fair pace and while it was flat, those of us that weren't peaking for a race were managing to hang on.  However when we hit the first semi-serious hill, that's when you could tell.  It's like someone has cut the string and all of a sudden a gap opens up and gets wider.
There were 3 guys reaching the peak of their ironman training and I remember how that felt a year ago. I was invisible and hills didn't seem so steep. The other athletes were further away from their "A" race therefore weren't in peak condition.  But after such a punishing race as ironman it takes months to recover but you won't peak again that season - at least you won't if you're me at my age!
So note to self - don't beat yourself up too much as you are still recovering and patience will result in me being stronger when I get back to normal training. I'm taking it very easy with the running because my body is finding the neutral shoes without orthotics "different". On Friday I go for my "swim smooth" lesson which will be interesting as I haven't swam in nearly a year.
And finally having written about mind games and my golf last week, I had a very positive experience in the Pro Am which proves my theory that success is determined by your mindset. We have a choice - the control is in our heads.