What has finally spured me in to writing is a post from Lauren; I have a huge amount of respect for her and her attitude, she seems to be going through a similar thought process to me right now.
As anyone who has spent any time with be know, I had a huge expectations for myself going in to this season. I had goals in my mind and not reaching them was not an option. I got out to a great start, my training was going really well, and I was posting some fantastic winter results.
Then disaster struck, pain in my shin that I had been downplaying turned out to be a stress fracture and my running was put on an instant hold. Still the ever positive and with lots of time remaining before my first race, I was disappointed but my images of a perfect season still played in my mind.
Around two months later I got the news, you can RUN! Yaaaaaa!
Welllll, that lasted all of a week, and two twenty minute run/walks later I was back in my physio's office in more pain than ever. Now my crystal ball was beginning to shatter. New Orleans was less than a month away (no chance there) and people seemed to get really quiet when I asked how much longer I would be out for. It became clear pretty quick that I was not going to be happy with any answer I got. Now I was sitting on the fine knife point of despair over a chasm depression. I got pretty down on training for a bit and didn't even want to think about, let alone deal with the situation.
Then strange things started to happen. I started to accept that I would have to do a lot of my races as relays, and I didn't freak out. Then one night Noa started talking about my best options for Ironman, namely doing the swim/bike and dropping out for the run. Again I didn't get overly upset, or hug my pillow that night.
Don't get my wrong, I am still shattered that my season is not shaping up the way I had hoped, and I am hoping for a miracle in the coming weeks but I am also coming to a new realization. It could be worse!
I have been able to train my swimming and biking harder than I have ever trained before in my life. I have gone from being the worst swimmer in the pool to being the slowest kid in the fast lane (I'm not getting lapped every 100 anymore :), and my biking has progressed light years in no time. Plus I have been able to adress major issues with my mobility that my Noa and Linda think caused a lot of my injuries.
To finnish. While I would love to say that I am fully fit and healthy with goals intact, I am happy to say that I am at least fit and have been able to adjust my goals to something I think I can be very happy with. I am planning on finding some fast runners who want to light the Westcoast Half-iron relay circuit on fire. I will re-asses closer to, but I am excited to see what I can do over the swim and the bike at IMC. I have finished my level two tri coaching, and I am looking for athletes to help reach their goals. Most importantly though, I am stoked to be working with a fantastic group of dedicated athletes, an amazing coach, supportive sponsors (see right, they are all amazing!) and I feel like I am in a strong place for the coming years.
As anyone who has spent any time with be know, I had a huge expectations for myself going in to this season. I had goals in my mind and not reaching them was not an option. I got out to a great start, my training was going really well, and I was posting some fantastic winter results.
Then disaster struck, pain in my shin that I had been downplaying turned out to be a stress fracture and my running was put on an instant hold. Still the ever positive and with lots of time remaining before my first race, I was disappointed but my images of a perfect season still played in my mind.
Around two months later I got the news, you can RUN! Yaaaaaa!
Welllll, that lasted all of a week, and two twenty minute run/walks later I was back in my physio's office in more pain than ever. Now my crystal ball was beginning to shatter. New Orleans was less than a month away (no chance there) and people seemed to get really quiet when I asked how much longer I would be out for. It became clear pretty quick that I was not going to be happy with any answer I got. Now I was sitting on the fine knife point of despair over a chasm depression. I got pretty down on training for a bit and didn't even want to think about, let alone deal with the situation.
Then strange things started to happen. I started to accept that I would have to do a lot of my races as relays, and I didn't freak out. Then one night Noa started talking about my best options for Ironman, namely doing the swim/bike and dropping out for the run. Again I didn't get overly upset, or hug my pillow that night.
Don't get my wrong, I am still shattered that my season is not shaping up the way I had hoped, and I am hoping for a miracle in the coming weeks but I am also coming to a new realization. It could be worse!
I have been able to train my swimming and biking harder than I have ever trained before in my life. I have gone from being the worst swimmer in the pool to being the slowest kid in the fast lane (I'm not getting lapped every 100 anymore :), and my biking has progressed light years in no time. Plus I have been able to adress major issues with my mobility that my Noa and Linda think caused a lot of my injuries.
To finnish. While I would love to say that I am fully fit and healthy with goals intact, I am happy to say that I am at least fit and have been able to adjust my goals to something I think I can be very happy with. I am planning on finding some fast runners who want to light the Westcoast Half-iron relay circuit on fire. I will re-asses closer to, but I am excited to see what I can do over the swim and the bike at IMC. I have finished my level two tri coaching, and I am looking for athletes to help reach their goals. Most importantly though, I am stoked to be working with a fantastic group of dedicated athletes, an amazing coach, supportive sponsors (see right, they are all amazing!) and I feel like I am in a strong place for the coming years.
So thanks Lauren, for spurring me to get out my thoughts, and for being such an amazing Canadian Athlete!
I can't wait to see everyone succeed this season! (Dearbear just crushed the WC swim standard!)
Now back to studying for finals....
I'm glad my blog inspired you to share your setbacks.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about you shin and I'm sure you're not surprised to hear this from me, but I do know what you're going through. It SUCKS. Big time.
Keep on top of rehab, staying positive, setting goals and you'll be back before you know it.. and tougher than ever.
And maybe we can talk Noa into starting a baking-rehab club where we cry together over cupcakes! Ok, that's just sad...
See you at the pool!!
I refuse to cry over cupcakes, it will make them too salty. Im in for the baking-rehab club though!
ReplyDelete