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Running on empty

Since the falling gate incident last Wednesday, I have established that the main two offending injuries sustained include my right side lower back and my right shoulder. It appears that I managed to avoid further bruising largely by pushing upwards with my right arm and leg to reduce the impact from the gate and in doing so caused some muscle strain in these areas.

The pain from these put me out of action from training Thursday - Saturday this week. I have been forced to allow some rest and repair. Today, I managed to head out for a run with some trepidation. It turns out that I actually found it not too difficult to complete following a decent warm up. Mercifully only 4km was required of me today and the lower back held up to the impact of running on the softer running tracks. I only seemed to feel it when crossing over patches of concrete.

The shoulder is also loosening up, which is a vast improvement from Thursday morning when I was unsure how I would handle a scalpel blade handle at work let alone get through a training session. Thankfully today I have noticed a huge improvement and am hoping to complete a swim training session tomorrow night.

Self-talk

Pushed to the end of my emotional rope this week more than an average week, I found it difficult to combat niggling negative thoughts and self-talk. Therefore his week enabled me an opportunity to do some valuable mental training. On Thursday and Friday, as I was struggling to get myself to and through work, unable to train, and still very teary and sad about the death of my cat, I was viewing not being able to train for a couple of sessions as an entire derailment of my training plan. A view that had been fostered in my past through previous failed attempts at training programs and not reaching the start line of planned races/events. This attitude will not do at all, it does not get things done or dreams achieved.

What I recognised yesterday was the need to adjust my view of this week's small hiccup as exactly what it was, a small hiccup. Obviously it is detrimental for me to blow a setback like this one out of context and construct a defeatist attitude within myself. Missing only two key sessions of training within its early stages, one a 900 metre swim, the other a 45 minute bike session is not going to render me unable to put together enough training altogether to complete my triathlon in November.

Although I understand that too many missed sessions, no matter how small, can lead to being unprepared and unconditioned for an event, I also understand that there are no gains in pushing through a session when not physically fit enough to reasonably complete them as there will be no training benefit gained anyway. Additionally, in the past I would have immediately looked to double up on training within the next week to make up the lost sessions. I have also learned how detrimental this can be, often leading to over-training, extra pressure and further breakdown. The reality is I have not missed much and I am already back on track, being able to finish today's allocated training session without a hitch.

Ben & Jerry know exactly the right things to say

So this week's training has become about mentally allowing myself to recover, recuperate, re-focus and re-establish my rhythm and my enthusiasm. Despite beginning to write this blog during a highly motivational, lifestyle changing, good-habit forming phase, I want to put my hand up and admit that I am still not immune to some of the weaknesses and issues that led me to being overweight and unfit in the first place.

On Friday I purchased a tub of ice cream with full intention of seeing the bottom of it and using it as an emotional band aid for my troubles. Luckily I only had time for a few spoonfuls before I had to leave the house to go somewhere. However, with that ice cream sitting in my freezer all weekend, I still found temptation too difficult to resist, and this evening's dinner mainly consisted of Choc Chip Cookie Dough Icecream. Yep, I'm a work in a progress..