Sometimes in training there are times when you have to dig deep and push yourself to make it to the finish and sometimes there are times when it is smarter to just call it quits mid work out. Today, I raised the white flag of defeat during my bike ride.
I set out this morning with high expectations of completing a long, long, ride by myself. I thought it would be great practice to push myself through the lows that come with tackling a long distance without the help of someone else. I stuck to a local trail that had plenty of water stops and other people just in case I needed any help. I was excited to write a blog post about pushing through and perseverance.
I persevered until mile 20 when I realized I was just being dumb.
See, I skipped my long run on Friday night because I felt too sick to move from the couch. I didn't do anything yesterday except deplete a whole box of tissues and sneeze uncontrollably. I woke up this morning after 9 hours of sleep feeling a little better and eager to get in some sort of work out so I headed out on the trail with the false perception that I felt fantastic.
I told myself for the first few miles that I would feel better once I got warmed up. When I was stopped a traffic light at mile 20 I realized that I was shivering, I still felt awful, my chest hurt because I was breathing through my mouth due to my nose being stuffy, and I had more snot on the sleeves of my bike jersey than lady-like to admit.
With my tail between my legs, I turned my pink bike around and slowly pedaled the 20 miles home for a grand total of 40 miles. About half of what I was hoping for.
Could I have pushed on? Probably. But it would not have been smart. In fact, it would have been smarter to just stay in bed this morning and have Phil serve me chicken soup while watching episodes of Say Yes to the Dress.
If you are able to push on without injury or putting yourself in danger, you push. If your nose is dripping snot and you feel the need to take a nap, you raise the white flag.
This week is recovery week. Hooray! I shall be recovering with tons of Ny-quill, sleep, and vitamins so that I am ready to tackle 110 miles on Oct 1st.
I set out this morning with high expectations of completing a long, long, ride by myself. I thought it would be great practice to push myself through the lows that come with tackling a long distance without the help of someone else. I stuck to a local trail that had plenty of water stops and other people just in case I needed any help. I was excited to write a blog post about pushing through and perseverance.
I persevered until mile 20 when I realized I was just being dumb.
See, I skipped my long run on Friday night because I felt too sick to move from the couch. I didn't do anything yesterday except deplete a whole box of tissues and sneeze uncontrollably. I woke up this morning after 9 hours of sleep feeling a little better and eager to get in some sort of work out so I headed out on the trail with the false perception that I felt fantastic.
I told myself for the first few miles that I would feel better once I got warmed up. When I was stopped a traffic light at mile 20 I realized that I was shivering, I still felt awful, my chest hurt because I was breathing through my mouth due to my nose being stuffy, and I had more snot on the sleeves of my bike jersey than lady-like to admit.
With my tail between my legs, I turned my pink bike around and slowly pedaled the 20 miles home for a grand total of 40 miles. About half of what I was hoping for.
Could I have pushed on? Probably. But it would not have been smart. In fact, it would have been smarter to just stay in bed this morning and have Phil serve me chicken soup while watching episodes of Say Yes to the Dress.
If you are able to push on without injury or putting yourself in danger, you push. If your nose is dripping snot and you feel the need to take a nap, you raise the white flag.
This week is recovery week. Hooray! I shall be recovering with tons of Ny-quill, sleep, and vitamins so that I am ready to tackle 110 miles on Oct 1st.
A cold is an invitation to scrap other workouts and swim, because it is awesome for clearing your sinuses.
ReplyDeleteAnd as a bonus, there could be 7-year-old synchronized swimmers in the dive well to entertain you.
Oh no! I hope you feel better soon! I think heading back was the smart thing to do.
ReplyDeleteHang in there. Training for a fall IM is tough because the temps start to fall and it get darker sooner and sooner.
ReplyDeleteSmart move! You will recover faster if you take things easy while you are sick and you will be able to push your body harder and further faster! Pulling out of a workout is often harder to do than pushing through to cross the mileage off a to do list. Listening to your body is one of the most important things in an ironman and you are clearly learning how to do it well through your training. I hope you have a speedy recovery!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you are making a smart decision. One of my coaches reminded us yesterday to "save it." In other words, keep the big picture in mind. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm proud of you for making the right decision for YOU. And now you get to truly recover during this recovery week, and kick ass when you come back next week!
ReplyDeleteI've been there, and it EXTRA sucks on the bike. glad you called it and headed home. HEAL!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely recover before you try any more hard workouts. That sounds miserable. Riding around in 60 degree weather probably won't help that at all. Get well soon!!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you made the right decision. I hope you are feeling better soon!
ReplyDeletePer our conversation, this is way better for your IM training than actually pushing through the long ride/run while feeling like crap. I hope you feel better soon -- if you need someone to watch Say Yes to the Dress with you, call me up.
ReplyDeleteFeel better! I swear by Zicam, neti pots and Tylenol cold and flu. Hopefully the Nyquil will do the trick and you'll be back at it in just a few days!
ReplyDeleteI hope you feel better soon! So glad you listened to your body - even though it probably sucked - your body will thank you and reward you later!! :)
ReplyDeleteI think you made a great call, sometimes I too push myself a little too hard and then find out in the end I feel worse and should have quit when I felt horrible.
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