The Year Of Chilling Out

Having a competitive nature, I tend to push myself too hard when I run and ride. I'm that bike commuter who's always looking at his speedometer, basking in the glow of a wind-assisted 23mph and cursing the single digit from a headwind on a climb. While running, I'd often time each mile, gauging the time lost or gained with each. Not that I'm that fast, but I would focus on pushing rather than enjoying the scenery. I find that doing this is mostly counterproductive for me. Why am I doing this if I'm not going to have fun?

So to remind me to enjoy myself this year I removed the computer from my bike. No tracking the miles or the speed. When I run to work or run at lunchtime, I don't watch my watch.

Today I went for a ride. I looked at the clock when I left and figured on being out for about two hours. After covering quite a bit of territory--and enjoying the scenery--I stole a look at my watch to see if I should start heading home. I was surprised to see I'd only been riding for an hour. Old habits being hard to break, I congratulated myself for cranking out the miles.

Twenty minutes later I realized I had not changed the time on my watch yet, humbling myself with the news that I actually took twice as long as I thought. Well, at least I enjoyed the scenery.