Bad Training Day #1 = Lesson #1

I wake up to another foggy and dreary day and all I can think is better, much better.

 

Though yesterday was a day off, a breather, and a day to celebrate the life of a man who gave his life fighting for equality and peace, I had trouble finding my peace.

Not to mention is was a horrible training day.

I’ve come up with a list of possibilities as to why yesterday just felt off for me. It was swim + bike + lift day 1 and I just didn’t feel any of it.  I got to the rec center and all the pool lanes were full which meant I had to bike first, which I really don’t like to do. Then, it seemed like every time I wanted a machine, or free space, someone else was lifting in what I needed. So I just didn’t. I skipped it. Swimming was ok…but I’m still trying to get my stroke back up to volume. I can barely swim 500m at once without my chest exploding. I think I took too much time away from swimming over the holidays, and it’s my weak leg. 

The list

• Too much too soon.  I’m doing three double workout days a week (swim + bike) and three run days a week with strength training interspersed for a total of four days. My day off is filled with yoga. Though I’m trying to build volume, maybe it’s too much right now.  This could possibly equal burnout too soon, fatigue, or injury if I keep up…I thought a 3x a week focus on each would help me build volume, which is really what I’m doing since I’m still new to triathlon. I hadn’t planned on doing much intensity training, but I’m thinking maybe I should shift down to a 2x a week focus so I don’t overwork myself and then once I get in the build phase really start including intensity.
  
• Nutrition. I am a healthy eater, as healthy as I can on a grad student’s pay, but this weekend wasn’t the best for me. I didn’t eat too horribly, but for some reason I feel like my body just rejects even the tiniest bit of junk food… or maybe that’s just my mind throwing the guilt at me. And water… oh water how plain you are. How I loathe drinking so much of you…but, no excuses. I just need too.
  
• Training alone. Hmm… I was fine all last summer working out by myself, but then again I had a lot of mental things pushing me as well as it was my first go round at triathlon. Perhaps I’m too comfortable with myself now. I think I need someone(s) to push me. Which could possibly happen. There’s a triathlon club here in town and they are having their first meeting Monday night.  I occasionally run into the founder in the rec center and I’m a member of the club on Facebook so I’m going to go. I at least need to meet people who are just as crazy as me.
  
• Training inside.  It’s cold and snowy and wet here which makes biking impossible, (and since I got a new bike for Christmas I’m dying to ride it.) Running is somewhat possible but my lungs hate the cold. (Ok, I think that’s just an excuse because my body hates inside even more.) I did my first outside run (with two friends Sunday) and it was good. I think I’m just going to have to suck it up.
  
• On that note… the weather. It’s winter here. Short days + Dark days = just a lethargic attitude. I know the winter months tend to affect people with S.A.D and when I was in high school I was diagnosed with it. But, I do feel really good this year. I honestly think a large part of S.A.D is waking up and making a choice… however, I understand the effects of chemicals. You can’t choose to change those, and I’m not a medicine kind of gal. My endorphins are going crazy right now, which helps. I’d rather workout than take pills.  I’m starting to slowly figure out what I would like to do after school, and I’m so happy with Casey. He’s the man I’ve been waiting my whole life for. But some days, like these last four, just get to my chemicals occasionally. Waking up to foggy, lack of yellow sunlight days just pulls so heavily on my chemicals. Sometimes I wish it was a simple as eating a few UV rays for energy (weird, I know…)
  

I’ve been listening to the radio (Air 1) as I type this and a caller just shared her story about the adoption process she and her husband have been trying to do for an orphan girl in Haiti. To boil it down, they didn’t start quite soon enough because they were not 100% sure and trusting that God would get then through it, and so now that the earthquake has hit, they are having a lot of trouble in the process. As she was crying and heartbroken, she started talking about just giving it over and trusting God… knowing that even if you aren’t 100% sure, He will take you through and work things out. And she just said something that really struck me, “Don’t miss those opportunities God places in front of you.”

Here I am whining about my bad training days and there is so much going on in the world… I think I hate training days like this because it makes me falter in what I think God is leading me to do. Which is to ultimately take my passion for running/athletics and share it with young girls. To somehow start some type of running group around here or somewhere, wherever God wants me…

I have this giant pull and passion because I know I have heard God calling me to do this, He has placed this dream on my heart, but I’m so scared. Because I don’t know exactly what to do… or how to even go about doing it. Or if I can even find funding/place/connections to start it. I’m a firm believer that God will use our lives and experiences to advance his kingdom, even when we make mistakes. And it’s like I know how I want to help his kingdom but I don’t know. It’s just not that clear yet. Or maybe I’m just not that patient.

But if that opportunity is there, I just need to trust. Just like my running. I trust that every time I put another foot down I will advance forward, and really, that’s all God asks us. One foot and He’ll move us.

 

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.”

“Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'”

-Martin Luther King, Jr.