I have a confession to make. Although I’m a triathlete, I don’t love the bike. It’s not that I hate it, but since starting to ride for triathlons, I’ve seen it more as a necessary bridge between the swim and the run than something that I enjoy doing. I think this is because since I started doing tris three years ago, I have felt like biking is my weak spot. Therefore, in my head it has become something that I have to work at, so it has become a chore. This summer though, there is something that has started to change that mindset. It, or I should say, he, is El Diablo. There's a picture of him at the end of this blog.

El Diablo is a rescue. Ryan’s dad pulled him out of a dump for Ryan’s mom. Ryan’s mom didn’t ride him, so Ryan’s brother, Clay, brought him to Madison to run with the rest of the Griessmeyer herd of bikes. After quitting my day job to work for Ryan this spring, I realized that most of my errands were within about 3 miles of the house, so driving seemed a little silly. Unfortunately I only had bikes with clipless pedals, so riding seemed a little cumbersome because I would always have to carry extra shoes. So, I asked Ryan to lower El Diablo’s seat to the point that I could ride him, and adopted him as my errand bike. Riding El Diablo has changed the way I feel about biking. He’s heavy, his gears don’t work (he’s constantly stuck in 3rd) and he doesn’t even have toe clips, so there’s no point in me trying to go fast. That means that while riding him, I have started to focus on something other than the speed (or my lack thereof). Namely, that riding a bike is fun. I did it as a kid because I liked it, and when I stopped thinking about how much I need to work on my biking so that I can set that next PR, it’s still pretty darn fun.

Since El Diablo re-taught me that riding a bike is fun, I’ve started re-evaluating my approach to other aspects of my training. I think there are definitely workouts that I’ve been doing more out of habit or because they’re “good” for me rather than because I enjoy them. So, I’d like your input, Race Day Events Racers: I want to know how you work fun into your training schedule. What do you do when running, biking or swimming is feeling more like a chore than something fun? Send your answers to raceday@racedayeventsllc.com. I’ll re-post your suggestions as they come in on our website and on Facebook.

~ Lauren

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