Thursday, December 23, 2010

Not feeling like much of a triathlete

It's a tough break that my memory issues seem to be related to the strenuousness of my workouts and that in order to get the symptoms to subside, I need to stop training. To be a triathlete, you're either racing or training; right now I'm doing neither and it SUCKS. Rach has always told me her athletes are basically a combination of pissed off and depressed when they can't play due to injury, and after 2 days, I'm already starting to see why and my races aren't for months.

I can't train, so I can't eat. Even setting the Chubsmas Challenge aside, that's the biggest blow I'm feeling right now. I'm working from home today, which is good because I'm sure I'd have a crap day at work feeling like this. Rach and I are shopping for our Christmas dinner and my plans for that dinner are being dramatically reduced. Sure maybe it's a bit healthier this way, but I really wanted to enjoy that meal.

Then there's the idea that I'm getting all these Christmas gifts related to our hobby sport obsession (my training socks, wetsuit, and potentially other stuff) that I have no chance of using anytime soon. It's not much fun to get christmas gifts you can't use.

The last thing is that I just can't work out. When it's cold and windy I don't usually want to work out, and I get lazy, or I gripe and make Rach drag me to workout. Now, that I can't work out, I'm thinking about every day I was too tired or not in the mood to work out, and how much I wish I could now. I've never had a real injury  until now that has stopped me from training until now.

I guess even when it comes to working out, you don't know what you have til it's gone.

5 comments:

  1. Hang in there dude! I'm in a somewhat similar boat. I ended my season on a high note with a century ride mid-November. Unfortunately I came down with an upper respiratory infection with turned into pneumonia. To make matters worse I then took a spill after snow-blowing (lots of snow in central NY) down my basement stairs and injured my hip! So not much in the way of exercise, much less weight loss for the month of December. Remember we just need to keep moving forward! Tomorrow is another day! Lots of other random cliches I could use here, so insert your own! The 2011 season is around the corner so HTFU camper!

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  2. Take it easy, Ben.
    Instead of dwelling on what you can't do, find something to focus on, like your volunteer work. You're not just training to race in triathlons, you're training to save your life and that just can't be a seasonal commitment.

    I hurt my hip during training 2.5 years ago! I still can't run very well and it taught me a serious lesson about over-training, and pushing to the limits. I'll be back this year - I even got my new Xterra wetsuit the same day you did - but I'll be paying serious attention to how I'm responding to my workouts. For me, it's now about finishing what I started and finding a way to stay healthy.

    Enjoy your holidays!! (You, too @mountain_racer! Ow! Feel better soon.)

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  3. Hang in their buddy. Our boddies sometimes tell us things for a reason and as Edie said we really have to learn to be attune to what its telling us. I know it isn't easy to hear but this could turn out to be a temporary set back when you look back on it 5-10 years from now. Be grateful for the fact that its not anything worse like an auto immune disease, etc. You have so much going for you don't let an injury take your attitude as well as your passion. You will come out of this stronger I'm sure. If there is anything I can do for you please let me know.

    Derek

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  4. Sorry to hear that you have to be on the shelf for awhile. I know it is not a fun place to be. Good to listen to your body and do what is right before it gets worse. Take care and let me know if you need anything.

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  5. mountain_racer - sounds like your luck has been worse than mine has. It's one of those things were we just need to remind ourselves not to complain because there is always someone who has it worse than we do.

    Edie - Thanks for the encouragement. It's tough when you're not training finding a way to motivate. I've been strong willed about food (except lunch today when i only had 1 option and it was bad), which is helping, and I still have a good shot at beating Chuck in the weight loss competition.

    Derek - Yeah if this was something really serious, I'd be even more worried. I had a lot of concerns until I got the CT scan last night (which is why I didn't reply to these comments until now), so now that there isn't anything obviously wrong with my brain physically, I can fully focus on things I can control, like my workouts, my diet, and sleep; making sure that none of those are contributing to my problems.

    Barb - Thanks. I'm going to just try to keep an optimistic attitude about the problems and hopefully it will get better.

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