It’s April 1st, I can hardly believe it! No Foolin’, the triathlon training season is over 6 weeks old, and it has already presented its own challenges!!
If you’re just tuning in, you can catch up on my previous blogs, and read about how I fared in the first 5 weeks!
Here’s the update from this past week:
Difficulties/Challenges:
If you’re just tuning in, you can catch up on my previous blogs, and read about how I fared in the first 5 weeks!
Here’s the update from this past week:
Difficulties/Challenges:
- Injury. UGH. I hate that word; just the thought of anything being hurt or injured drives me nuts. However, with the 1 year anniversary of my car accident just occurring in March, I am still dealing with the residual neck/shoulder/back “stuff” that sometimes flares up. My right side shoulder/back totally locked up on me this week, and it actually hurt to raise my arm over my head. I think I tweaked my rhomboid while playing on the TRX and it was killing me for most of the week. I really tried to push through and “check the boxes” on my training program. But, as is usually the case, that didn’t help the injury much. It lingered and even got more tender until I let it rest for a few days. Scaling back my workouts has always been a HUUUUUUUUGE challenge for me, but it’s something I’m going to HAVE to learn in order to be successful in the long run. #injurysucks
- Missing workouts. This is tied in with the point above. I missed 2 runs last week because my neck locked up so bad that I couldn’t stand the pain. I also missed a 35 mile bike ride and had to modify my swims to shorter distances. I thought about what it would be like to type this blog and have to report to you that I missed a good chunk of my training. I thought: am I going to look like a failure? Will people think I’m weak because I had to miss these workouts? Will they think less of me as a fitness professional and triathlete?? This is where my Mental Muscle training had to kick in. I had to stop the negative self talk, and remind myself of a little word called Balance. Part of my job as a triathlete AND fitness professional is knowing when to push through, and when to dial it back. It was NOT easy for me, but I was able to put it all in perspective and understand that a few missed workouts this week might mean avoiding a missed race in June.
- Travel. By NO means [NONE!] do I want to convey that traveling for our wedding planning is either difficult or challenging!!! However, we spent this past weekend in Maine doing all things wedding related. It was actually a most welcomed weekend of fun, exciting things and I loved every minute of it. :-) However, being away Sat-Sun meant having to smush all the training into Mon-Fri. Less time always equals more pressure. The hidden gem was that we got up early at the hotel on Sunday morning and did 30 mins of recovery cardio which felt GREAT after loooooong stretches in the car.
- Lack of mobility and soft tissue work. Yup. I am guilty of missing out on the imperative soft tissue, mobility, and stretching that I threaten my clients NEVER to miss! It is most definitely part of the reason why my neck/shoulder/back injuries have crept up again; I haven’t been doing my “unsexy” physical therapy stuff that keeps me healthy. #trainerfail
- Big lesson learned. A difficulty or challenge always has a lesson in it, and I do believe that learning a lesson is an achievement. Jen gave me an honest talk about the way she saw me treating my body, and I sat and listened to what she had to say. It was all true and I needed to be checked like that so I could stop and reset my behaviour patterns. I have grown and learned a new sense of balance that I can bring forward with me for the rest of the season.
- At the start of the week, I had a FANTASTIC 5 mile run on the Woodway treadmill that felt great. It was so nice to open it up and really sweat it out!
- Sleep!!! I was a bit better this week with getting more sleep… it really does make all the difference for me in my energy level and performance!
- Here’s what I got done in terms of swim/bike/run: Swim: 500yds, 750yds. Bike: 25 miles, 20 miles. Run: 45mins.
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Next week’s challenge:Keep the lessons I just learned in mind. I need to focus on adding in more mobility and stretching time, which will help me avoid more injury, and stay balanced!!!! I am going to try to be mindful of which difficult situations I should push through, and which I should dial back. There is a huge difference, and letting my body indicate which is which will help… I just have to listen!
Please feel free to comment and share stories about your training as well! Pose questions, leave feedback, etc. I would love hearing from you!
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