If you’ve known me for long enough you probably know that I am a pretty ambitious person. Sometimes a little too ambitious. Let me tell you a story about how being too ambitious can sometimes come back to sting you in the ass.
Last October I did really well in a triathlon and I got in my head that I wanted to train for an Ironman event – so I signed up for St. George. I started my training immediately and was coming along nicely until about February when things started to tighten up a little. Part of the problem was that I felt pretty good and confident about where I was at in my training so I decided to take on a little bit more. I signed up to play flag football, I decided to help out with the track team at San Diego High and with Vavi’s triathon group as well, let’s not forget that I was also training/prepping for the Crossfit Games. Too much you think? Maybe so…
Here’s what happened – things were coming along fine (at least in my head) although some people would differ and say they saw this coming long ago and even if they tried to advice me, I had my mind set and was not going to be deterred.
March rolls around and I decide to do Safari 1/2 Marathon and do fairly well – a respectable 1:28 was near my personal best for that distance, and let’s not forget the day before I had a flag football game and did Fight Gone Bad and had a personal best of 426 on that even with a ’24 box. If you don’t know what FGB is search on youtube and give it a go and let me know how it turns out for you.
Needless to say that 1/2 marathon wasn’t the best idea – but I figured it was going to be good prep for my IM. I could tell my body wasn’t 100% and I managed to get through the race, but immediately after my Achilles swelled up and I just felt broke everywhere. I went into treatment/prevention mode immediately with acupuncture, massage, rest, ice, compression – you name it. The following week was the 1st Sectionals workout and I waited till Saturday to have a go at it and did really well – I think I finished 25th overall in the world which I was astonished – I hadn’t really considered myself in that elite level of competition before and was shocked at how well I had done.
My body hadn’t still fully recovered though and the following weekend I did an International Distance Triathlon. I had done this race 2 years ago with only CF training and wanted to see how I measured considered I had been working hard getting ready for IM in May. I did really well – PR by 7 minutes, finished with 2:21, which is a respectable time for that distance, but I was miserable almost the entire race. It was the first event I really did not enjoy – especially for a triathlon. I knew I had done too much at that point. Oh yeah, I did play flag football the day before, oops… My Achilles hurt from the get go on the run and every step of the 10k. I didn’t care that I had done well – mentally and emotionally I was distraught. I knew that I had to make the decision to pull out of my IM event. For me racing is supposed to be fun – I go out and compete to test myself and my athletical ability, but when it stops being fun I have to reconsider and evaluate why I am doing all this.
I made the decision right away – my Achilles was swollen and I did not want to get seriously injured, I know that if I continue to run and train hard for this event I could potentially do some serious damage and that just isn’t worth it – I rely on my body for what I do for a living in training/coaching people and can not afford to be out for an extended period of time.
I had put a lot of time in training for my IM event, I was emotionally, physically and mentally invested – not to mention financially as well (just bought a new FELT bike – well over $3000 investment) In the big picture of things I was somewhat distraught by having to pull out of the race, but it didn’t make sense to do it either.
Here’s what happened next – my body just revolted against me altogether, I came down with a mean stomach bug – not really sure what to call it, virus, demons, let’s just say my body wasn’t having it. Last week I struggled to eat and would get these outrageous cramps in my lower abs that had me wincing in pain. I never wish that upon anymore – it gave me an appreciation for our digestive system and how much I take it for granted. I was also getting ready to come to Australia to coach 2 CFE courses so the travel didn’t help – let’s just say that by the time I got to Sydney on Friday I was in bad shape. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t do anything really but lay and rest and it wasn’t until I started taking in some fluids (Gatorade- thanks for the suggestion Carole) that I started to feel better. I went about 24 hours without eating and the first day of the course I was in pretty bad shape but could not let the quality of the coaching suffer – so I went to work and gave it all I had. Saturday I considered going to the hospital and it wasn’t until that afternoon that I started to feel better thank goodness. Sunday I felt heaps better and now back to normal.
Looking back I realize that I was doing too much – even at the time I know I was doing too much, it wasn’t until I had some time to reflect on all this that I came to my own realizations though. I had to walk this path for myself rather than being told what to do – does that ever happen to you?
This trip has been eye opening – I finished reading “Blink” and started reading “Conversations with God” which has been super insightful. I can’t seem to put the book down J I’m also reading “ChiRunning” and “Happier”- too much reading? Probably, I guess I tend to take on a lot in all areas of my life, the great thing about having the opportunity to travel is that I have time out to evaluate all that’s going on in my life and re-set myself. I am far from perfect, at times I overdo it, I don’t always listen to what people tell me that might be best, and that’s just the way it is. I’ll close with this from one of the books I am reading now ‘Allow each soul to walk its path’
