Learning to be patient!

I have some serious training and racing goals for myself this year, and I'm learning early on that I have a lot of hard work in front of me.  Over the last couple of weeks I've been frustrated in that I couldn't train due to a procedure I had done that took me out of the gene pool.  I thought I would've been able to recover from it faster than it took.  I was given advice to take advantage of this down time and don't rush back into things, but after two days of doing nothing I was going bonkers!  This was the first time my training was forced to stop instead of my coach giving my time off to recover and that was usually for a day.  After a week and a lot of discomfort, I thought I would try giving a run a try and within a half mile I had to walk back home, very slowly.  I thought I should be able to do some exercise by now, but again I was forced to recover.  I'm really getting discouraged now and negative thinking started to sink in and the mind works in strange ways.  Instead of enjoying the time, I started to get frustrated and grouchy.  I started to double think things and I was not wanting to try running again, and what would that bike seat feel like?   So, after two weeks of forced recovery, I went out for a run and my mind set was to "go until I feel discomfort".  Thank God, I didn't feel any discomfort and I was able to get in 3 miles.  Only 3 miles, but I felt like I was finally able to accomplish something.  I felt so good that I wanted to do the TRX right then, but I didn't after some convincing from my wife to not do too much right away.  I'm going to get on the bike today and try to put in 25 miles and hopefully it'll go like my run did.  I was able to get a 1500 yard swim in yesterday morning with my Masters swim team.   

I put my race schedule together for 2011, and after talking with my coach, I really need to work on my run.  Most triathletes come from a background of one of the three disciplines, but I don't have that luxury.  My background was football, basketball, and the weight events in High School.  I didn't start running until 8 years ago on a dare from my brother that I couldn't run a half marathon.  So, not backing down from a challenge, I went from not being able to run a quarter of a mile to finishing that half marathon.  After many running events to follow, I bought a road bike in 2006, and started to figure out what cadence was and when to be in what gear.  The same year of 2006, I started to swim and realized I couldn't even swim 25 yards without having to stop and let the pulse in my neck calm down.  I would like to say I have a strong point in one of the disciplines, but right now I think they're all about the same, which is average.  So, when I say I need to work on my run, that's a starting point to make myself stronger in swimming and biking as well.  Here's my my 2011 schedule:

February: 10k run race, Sweetheart run
March: 10 k run race, Shamrock shuffle
April: Albuquerque Half Marathon
May: Jay Benson sprint triathlon, Rim2Rim Grand Canyon run with friends
June: Storrie Lake Olympic triathlon
July: Cochiti Lake Olympic triathlon, volunteer at IM Lake Placid
August: Boulder 70.3 Half Ironman
December: Rock and Roll marathon

Of course this schedule is set for a build for my A race being Boulder, as well as a build for Ironman Lake Placid July 2012.

Luckily, I have a great coach and some great friends who are some crazy good talented athletes and they encourage me by the amount of work they do to be in the top of their age groups!

Until next time, go and create your own fun!