Thursday, August 7, 2008

What a Whiner

I used to think that my pain threshold was pretty high but I have decided now that I am just a big baby. Running on Tuesday, I got a leg cramp and got frustrated. I could not understand why I could not just run and be happy, but several things dawned on me.

1) I am not used to pain. I am used to exhaustion after long bike rides, but I seldom ever hurt. Even swimming does not really hurt me at this point; it just makes me worn out.

2) I don't push myself to that pain threshold. I carefully side-step it and really avoid putting in that extra mile if I know it is going to be painful.

3) Running is going to hurt. It is a very physical, sometimes jarring exercise. It will hurt sometimes and it is going to be hard. Tough. Get over it. Stop being a wimp.

Trijones posted something about Ironman Cozumel the other day and I thought to myself that it would be a really great goal, but at this rate, an Ironman is several years in the future if at all. If I am really going to do this, I am going to have to get serious, quit whining and put my big girl panties on. Am I going to be someone who does one sprint Tri and then quits because I have done one and that is enough? Or am I going to actually push it, do my sprint this year, half iron next, and then possibly.....? Only time will really tell, but first I am going to have to make some decisions on if I want to be tough enough. You gotta want it and not just talk about wanting it.

Leah, thanks for the advice on the ice and ibuprofen. It helped a lot and once I stopped hurting, it is amazing how my attitude changed! I also went and got the books you recommended and just reading them gets me motivated and excited! Thanks for all of your great advice and help!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You have a great attitude, and your post from yesterday made me laugh (with the picture).

We all get whiney from time to time. I've been whining about a little sprint tri this weekend!

Hope your aches and pains keep healing :)

margo said...

it sounds like you are mentally on the right track to not get burned out. my first year i did 4 sprints and then took two months off.

then in december i started training for white lake half, got through that, and took three months off.

now i'm finally getting back into the groove and looking ahead to next year's ironman (be it florida or cozumel, we'll see...) and am hoping that the grueling training and racing will be fun.

through all of that - i still can't run more than 2 miles straight (exercise-induced asthma), and my average bike speed is somewhere between 15-16mph. you do not have to be a ridiculous athlete to accomplish this stuff - just dedicated to the cause.

moderation and life balance is the ONLY thing that will get you through having this be a lifestyle and not a flash in the pan - so don't worry about jumping in too deep too fast - that's how people burn out and never come back.

good luck on the 5 miler! make sure you finish, even if you have to walk (which i do in EVERY race), and you will feel GREAT about the things to come!

Renee said...

You guys are so awesome and inspirational!