I’m back, but not quite where I wanted to be.
I’m back, but I’m broken. 🙁 I sustained a few injuries on last week’s holiday. Training has been put on hold for a week, in the hope that I recover quickly. I’ve also suffered a real crisis of confidence about whether I’ll be able to complete the events that I’ve entered. This setback means that I’ve had to rethink my strategy.
Experiencing a setback
At the moment, my arm is still in so much pain that I’m unable to swim and running is awkward; I’m also unwilling to get on my bike. My diet has failed, so I’ve decided that after 6 years, it’s time to bid farewell to Weight Watchers. I’m not saying that WW doesn’t work, but right now it’s not a good fit for me and my aspirations.
This means that I’m a bit stuck. I decided that the sensible thing would be to send an emergency plea to my coach, Ant. I asked whether we could meet up to discuss my goals.
Goal-setting with Coach Ant
Coach Ant from RunCamp came around and had a chat with me about my goals. I’ve added my training data for 2014 so far to TrainingPeaks and Ant has already started to create a training schedule for me. It incorporates some of the swimming that I do with Southampton Tri Club, some of my running with Lordshill Road Runners, some RunCamp sessions, some open water swimming and some individual training that I’ll be able to do on my own.
Ant has also fitted in some of the races that I’ve entered. I’ve also had to be rational and have decided to drop some of the races that I had planned to do. I’m not going to run Alton 10 mile tomorrow. It’s not one of my favourite races and I think that it would be a painful slog at the moment. I’m also unlikely to do Netley 10k, which means that I won’t have completed enough races to get my name on an HRRL mug. I don’t mind as that’s not one of my priorities at the moment. This has a plus side as it means that I no longer feel obliged to do D-Day 10k in Portsmouth. Stu and I can go along to the Romsey 5 mile beer race, which is an event that Stu would really like to do.
Afraid to get back on my bike
The biggest challenge for me now is going to be the overcome my fear of cycling downhill. My first cycling session is on my turbo trainer, so that won’t be a problem. I have to cycle to work every day, so hopefully, some easy cycling on my hybrid will help me to feel a bit better.
Have you ever experienced a major setback in your training? How did you overcome it?
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My last 1.5 years were a major setback. I didn’t listen to my overtrained body and had to pay the price since. Dealing with it is like going through all the stages of grief but eventually you come to terms with it, you learn to listen to what your body wants and not your brain and the two learn to peacefully co-exist. The healing period is the hardest and you need to be patient and not lose faith even if you recover more slowly than anticipated. If you are gentle and kind to yourself and your body, you will come back stronger.
Thank you – I hope that’s true. I’m hoping that my arm/shoulder heal quickly, but I really don’t know how to regain my confidence on my bike. I was always slightly nervous and tried to put a brave face on it, but now I’m terrified. I may end up only doing those events where people have a set amount of time on a spin bike and have to cycle as far as possible… or be stuck doing duathlons and swicles/aquabikes 🙁
I read an article about cycling accidents on the NY Times a few years ago, they are the most difficult to get over but in conclusion they said that the only way to get over them is to get back on that horse and keep on cycling. Somebody once gave me the tip to squeeze the crossbar between my legs when going donwhill for stability. I find ot helps. Just go out with experienced cyclists who are willing to bring you back up from beginner’s level. You’ll come back and regain your confidence.
At the moment, the pain in my arm/shoulder is preventing me from getting back on my bike, but I’ll have to get back on my hybrid on Monday as it’s the only way that I can get to work. I feel much safer on that bike, so hopefully that will help to build my confidence up again. I’ve also ordered some new brakes (Shimano 105s) that are meant to be much better and more reliable than the ones that I have (Kuota’s own brand ones), so they might also increase my confidence.