Smile!

A couple nights ago I hopped on my bike for an 1:40 ride to be followed up by a 20 min brick run. I had been feeling kind of off all day, sluggish and tired. I thought if I waited for my hubby to get home and I had someone to tackle the ride with it might make it better/easier. Well....by the time he got home and we both climbed onto our bikes it was 8pm! And, to make it worse the main set of the ride was absolutely cruel...in an awesome kick butt kind of a way. It was 3 x 15 minute zone 4 intervals with 8 second bursts at 4, 8, and 12 minutes. Just looking at this workout made me want to groan. Dear Marty had hurt his hammstring the weekend before snowboarding (hammy versus tree...tree won) so he got off after the first 15 minute interval. So, there I was alone, in my basement, 9pm, cranky, tired and unmotivated to work hard. I was in the middle of the 2nd interval feeling very sorry for myself and trying to come up with a good reason to get the heck off my bike. I was hanging my head (not even watching a very hot Brad Pitt in Troy) when I glanced over at the water bottle still on Marty's bike. It was one of those bright orange ones from Tri-It. It had all these great inspirational words on it, like "courage", "determination", "commitment". I seriously scoffed at these words. I wasn't in the mood to be inspired. I WANTED OFF MY BIKE!!!!!!!!!!! And then, out of the corner of my eye I caught this one word, smaller than all the others..."smile". Wow, one word changed the rest of that workout. I put a smile on face and it all went uphill from there (uphill not a good analogy when taking about a bike workout, but for lack of a better word....). I began with a smile and from there, my nasty mood improved. I was thankful that I had the time to spin that night, that I was healthy and not injured, that I have a bike and a trainer! Thankful that I am able to participate in a sport like triathlon, that I have wonderful people around me supporting me! My husband, kids, coach, athletes and teammates! Now don't get me wrong, the rest of the workout still hurt, but my head was in the right place and that made all the difference. So, next time you are having a bad workout, day at work, kids frustrating you....just take a moment...and SMILE!