Adapt and overcome

One thing I’ve learned about being a triathlete is that you MUST have the ability to adapt. You go into a race with a plan, and no doubt something goes wrong. Maybe your goggles get knocked off on the swim, or you get a flat tire, or your shoe lace breaks. I don’t know that you can plan for those types of events; you have to be able to deal with them when they occur.

I’ve had a few mishaps during my brief racing career, but today I want to focus on flexibility during training. I’ve got a coach who puts together my training schedule for me. Usually I’m able to do what she asks, but every now and then weather, a cold or something else causes problems. Today it was the “something else”. I’ve been forced to accept the fact that this darn knee problem I’ve been fighting for 2 weeks isn’t going to just magically go away. I’ve had several sessions with Airrosti, hoping that they could perform the same miracle they did with my ankle. After three sessions I was hoping that today I would be able to finish my speed workout. After just a little bit of speed work the pain became too intense to continue and I had to abandon my run.

After visiting the chiropractor, I’ve been informed that I need to stop running and biking for several days. I’d like to say that I have accepted this change without a lot of frustration, but wouldn’t be true. I am frustrated, depressed and irritated that this has happened so close to another race. That said, none of those emotions are productive. The right thing to do is accept my situation, map a course out of this, and move on.

I’ve spoken with coach, who is a life saver in these types of situations, and changed my workouts for the next couple of days. A few days of not running won’t kill me, especially since I can get in the pool and work. I’ve been thinking for some time now that the swim work is really helping my run endurance, so this could really be a positive.

So let’s strap on the gills and get after it!