Unplanned, ill-timed, and much needed

That's how I would describe the months of March, April, and maybe half of May. We start with a rolled/sprained ankle shortly after the first race of the season. That kept me out of the pool and away from running for about 5 weeks. Meanwhile, I focus on biking, learn how to ride in a pack and start to really enjoy biking for biking - nevermind the other two sports. Then, just as I start back into running and swimming, I fail to notice an unmarked speed bump at about 25mph and sprain both my elbows - rendering me pretty much useless. Seriously, Emily went on a business trip a few days after, and I couldn't even take out the stinky garbage in the kitchen.

Also a fun consequence of my crash.

The 3 week complete hiatus that followed was unplanned. Extending my time out of the pool, not running, and now off the bike put me out of commission for the spring portion of the season, and out of shape for another 4-6 weeks after. My first race back is at the end of June, and my first high profile race back will be at the end of August, after my trip to the DR. Missing big races through most of the summer - I think it's fair to call these injuries ill-timed as well...


Anyway, after two weeks on the couch, unable to do much of anything, I was able to return to training slowly and cautiously. Baby steps. Coming out of a rather depressing season of injury, my outlook on the rest of the season is much more positive than it was originally. I have a renewed sense of enjoyment from training, and the downtime provided a good opportunity to assess whether or not this pursuit is worth the effort. My goals, and my focus is stronger as a result.

Self-reflection pretty much comes naturally during a time like this, but something else that I think is important to ensuring a successful restart to your training, is taking some time to consider how you can be improving your fitness outside of your training. For me, this time resulted in the realization in order to reach the goals I've made for myself, I need to be considerably lighter. Consequently, I've pretty drastically altered my diet, and daily eating routine. Heck, now I'm even considering drinking some of Gered's beet juice.

The point is this, people. Just because your laying on your A$$ licking your wounds and sulking about the fact that everyone else is out there getting fitter and stronger while you're laying there getting fatter and weaker, doesn't mean there isn't still plenty you can do to make you a stronger athlete. Like any sport, triathlon has a huge mental component. So unless you've been hit by a truck, and are no in a coma (I'm really sorry if that's you...) you can ALWAYS sharpen your mental game.

When life throws you lemons, you make lemonade. Right? Or how did Rocky Balboa put it?

"The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place It will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me or nobody is going to hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit, it is about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much can you take and keep moving forward. "

Something like that. I suppose my version would go: "It's not about what life throws at you, it's about how you respond." Call that a Brett Nichols original (?). Take it to the wisdom bank and make a deposit.