Saturday, November 8, 2008

Time off...

I lasted a week. 1 week. Then I simply could not take it anymore. The days of doing nothing were absolutely intolerable, which was kind of my plan. I figured if I literally did nothing for a week that by the end of 7 days I would be so completely bored I would want nothing more than to be out training. There really wasn't a day that passed when I didn't want to be out training, but by this morning, I had to fight the urge to wake up at 5am to head to the pool for a swim session.

By the afternoon though, my thoughts of not wanting to ride for fear of aggravating my knee again, we overwhelmed by my intense need to go out and train. So, I hopped on my bike and took a nice cruisey spin down the coast. It was fantastic. At first my knee was skeptical, but after it warmed up a bit I didn't hear anything from it again. That was enough to bring a smile to my face.

So, I guess that means training is back on! I have to be really careful for the next few weeks and keep a close watch on how my knee is responding. The majority of the training will be in the pool and doing specific knee rehab exercises, but I will certainly start logging some hours on my bike as well. I suppose there are worse things to be "addicted" to!

So, what did I do all week? Honestly, pretty much nothing. I slept a lot, ate a bit... okay a lot... took care of some house keeping type business and watched far too many episodes of project runway, top model and other select trashy TV shows available on You Tube.

I did manage to finish reading Paula Radcliffe's book on her life (so far). It actually provided me with a lot of perspective. She actually had similar knee problems, so I guess I'm in good company! What I think I took away from the book more than anything though is her pure will and desire to be great. Nothing was impossible from her perspective and nothing was going to stand in her way. She did everything right every day that she could and she just chipped away at the records and titles that she wanted to own.

From that, I have decided to give myself an early Christmas present/ New Years resolution. I'm going to do everything right for the next 112 days. 112 days until March 1st which is the Luke Harrop Triathlon on the Gold Coast. I see it as the race when I will first have a chance to prove to myself, my coach, all my supporters, all those who have doubted and USA Triathlon, that I have arrived. If I race well there then there is a hope of earning a start in the Mooloolaba World Cup which will be held up on the Sunshine coast a few weeks later.

Let the fun... the hard work and the countdown begin!

1 comment:

Eager to Tri said...

Awesome. Go gor it! Easy for a couple weeks, like you said... but then go for it!

I'll be sure to watch for Luke Harrop results (but i'm sure you'll let us know pretty quick...)