Friday, 8/28/09 at 5:13 PM
by Kelli Poindexter
by Kelli Poindexter
The Golden Riding Partner
The most enjoyable ride I have on a bike is the one that makes me push myself and lends itself to good conversation and laughs. I find this most often occurs with that perfect riding partner. Once in a while that person comes along when all the stars align for a season of your best cycling.
I am having this experience this season with my friend Jen. We met last year at Baby Boot Camp. She was training for her first Ironman, while I was working hard to lose my baby weight. She had participated in several sprint triathlons and completed the Ironman in November last year in 12 hours. I continue to be inspired by her commitment to fitness. Jen started coming to my Monday evening rides last summer where she got her first experience of group rides. She enjoyed the dynamic and I was really happy to have a new friend out on the ride. It’s always fun to share riding routes with someone who hasn’t experienced them before and she was thrilled to learn new routes with new challenges.
What I really enjoy in training (we now swim, bike and run together) with Jen is her ability to bring out a competitive side of me I never knew I had. She convinced me to participate in my first triathlon this past March. We did the Stanford Treeathlon together and now I’m hooked on these events. I did my third triathlon this year on June 21st. I was nervous because it was an Olympic distance and the previous two had been sprint triathlons. Although, she was a bit nervous too, never having done the Olympic distance herself, Jen said, “it is just practice for our next one in September”. This theme keeps coming up for me this year. Another woman, Kathy, who’s been training for her first triathlon this year and whom I’ve been exchanging emails with told me not long ago that we’re not just training for a single event, but that triathlons are what we do so we’re always training. It’s been a lifestyle change for me, which is fundamental to goals involving fitness or weight loss.
The other great thing about Jen is that she’s always right there on the side lines cheering me into the finish and pushing me to run faster. Her support has made my triathlon experience so wonderful. I don’t know if she knows how much I appreciate our friendship and our training partnership, but I hope I provide a bit of the same experience for her. I think I do. We also hang out socially and once I heard her tell a friend that I’ve made her a better cyclist. I even got her to participate in the Cinderella ride this year. That was her first experience of a large organized century type ride and she had a lot of fun.
Having and keeping motivation for cycling or any fitness can be a huge challenge at times. Finding that training partner who pushes in just the way that works for you, it makes all the difference in elevating your abilities and enjoyment of sport. And when you can exchange experience and knowledge with that person it improves you both.
May the stars align to reveal that person who inspires and challenges you to meet your goals. Thank you Jen.
Kelli
I am having this experience this season with my friend Jen. We met last year at Baby Boot Camp. She was training for her first Ironman, while I was working hard to lose my baby weight. She had participated in several sprint triathlons and completed the Ironman in November last year in 12 hours. I continue to be inspired by her commitment to fitness. Jen started coming to my Monday evening rides last summer where she got her first experience of group rides. She enjoyed the dynamic and I was really happy to have a new friend out on the ride. It’s always fun to share riding routes with someone who hasn’t experienced them before and she was thrilled to learn new routes with new challenges.
What I really enjoy in training (we now swim, bike and run together) with Jen is her ability to bring out a competitive side of me I never knew I had. She convinced me to participate in my first triathlon this past March. We did the Stanford Treeathlon together and now I’m hooked on these events. I did my third triathlon this year on June 21st. I was nervous because it was an Olympic distance and the previous two had been sprint triathlons. Although, she was a bit nervous too, never having done the Olympic distance herself, Jen said, “it is just practice for our next one in September”. This theme keeps coming up for me this year. Another woman, Kathy, who’s been training for her first triathlon this year and whom I’ve been exchanging emails with told me not long ago that we’re not just training for a single event, but that triathlons are what we do so we’re always training. It’s been a lifestyle change for me, which is fundamental to goals involving fitness or weight loss.
The other great thing about Jen is that she’s always right there on the side lines cheering me into the finish and pushing me to run faster. Her support has made my triathlon experience so wonderful. I don’t know if she knows how much I appreciate our friendship and our training partnership, but I hope I provide a bit of the same experience for her. I think I do. We also hang out socially and once I heard her tell a friend that I’ve made her a better cyclist. I even got her to participate in the Cinderella ride this year. That was her first experience of a large organized century type ride and she had a lot of fun.
Having and keeping motivation for cycling or any fitness can be a huge challenge at times. Finding that training partner who pushes in just the way that works for you, it makes all the difference in elevating your abilities and enjoyment of sport. And when you can exchange experience and knowledge with that person it improves you both.
May the stars align to reveal that person who inspires and challenges you to meet your goals. Thank you Jen.
Kelli
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