Throughout the week I often think of various ideas, themes, or simple issues that I want to write about in this blog.  Sometimes it's easy and obvious, like a race report or a big challenge I want to get off my chest or explore via the exercise of writing about it.  Other times I struggle with what I want to share.  This past week was one of those where the idea kept growing day after day, and it was fairly negative.  I don't like being negative.  I typically choose to surround myself with positive people, and even when I don't feel all that positive, I try to put on a glass-half-full kind of face.  But this past week was tough, and I was feeling overwhelmed.  The entire blog was going to be about that feeling of being overwhelmed and how I deal with it.  But then a funny thing happened...I had a great 15K race on Sunday morning, and my attitude completely changed!  All it took was one good run...


The power of physical activity is truly amazing.  I believe health to be a combination of many factors, some tangible, some not.  Fuel, what we feed our bodies, certainly contributes to our health.  We are learning more and more all the time that natural food sources serve our bodies best, with processed foods contributing to so many negative health factors.  Mental health is also important, which is why I try to surround myself with positive people who contribute positively to my well-being (two positives in one sentence don't make a negative, do they?).  And I try to be positive for others.  Mental health must impact physical health.  Miserable people look unhealthy--I imagine there is some correspondence between negativity and poor health.  And exercise really does a body (and mind) good! 

I think it's too easy sometimes to forget how helpful physical activity can be, because feeling tired can make us want to curl up and sleep or do nothing, when the opposite--vigorous activity--ultimately really make us feel better! Certainly rest is sometimes the right thing.  But most of the time, even a little bit of activity can elevate the mood.  I know there must be some scientific explanation for this having to do with endorphins and cortisol and other things that I recognize but can't actually define.  But does it really matter why?  It feels good, so do it!

This past week was really rough for me.  I had a number of challenges in my exercise routine.  First, on Tuesday morning I went to the gym for the first time in two weeks.  In reality I had only missed 3 strength training sessions, but since I only go twice a week, that translates to 2 weeks without lifting weights.  Although my session at the gym went okay, I was sore by the end of the day.  My run and swim that evening were rough because I could feel the soreness setting in to my legs, and every time I pushed off the wall of the pool I was afraid of a calf cramp.  The usual loosening of the muscles after a mile into my run didn't happen, either, so I was pretty much sore the whole time.

Wednesday I was supposed to run in the morning, but slept in instead.  That meant the running clinic after work had to be followed by my one-hour run.  That was actually a decent workout, because by the time I started my run, I was warmed up from the drills we did in the running clinic.  And it was pouring rain, which was really fun! Until the lightning started and I still had 2 miles to run...not fun.  By the time my hour was up, my legs were just really tired and I was ready to be done.

Thursday morning I woke up exhausted but once warmed up at the gym had a good workout.  Then came the worst...a crash on my roller trainer Thursday night.  It is amazing that I haven't fallen off that thing before (for those wondering what it is, here is a photo--the bike is not actually stabilized by anything, so balancing is key). 
 
This is more difficult on a tri bike than on a road bike, too, because of the geometry of the bike.  Anyway, I was already unhappy about having to cut my session 5 minutes short in order to make swim class, and then I couldn't get my shoes unclipped from my pedals, panicked, and fell AWAY from my desk, which I had situated myself next to in case I needed to grab something instead of falling.  That doesn't work when you fall in the other direction.  So I'm in my office, on the floor, still clipped into my pedals, foot cramps setting in because I'm all twisted, knee hurts so I knew I banged it up...I was pissed!  After I managed to untangle myself, I of course checked the bike for any damage.  Only a scraped pedal, not too traumatic.  Then I inspected my knee, which was in a lot of pain.  Over the next couple of days I found that my knee took the hardest hit, followed by my hip (which now has a beautiful purple and gold souvenir bruise), and a little bruising on the ankle and forearm.  I still went to swim, which did not go really well, nor did it improve my mood.  The next morning I also went to my scheduled swim, which went much better and I was in a pretty good mood for most of the day.  However, by the time 5:30 o.m. rolled around, I was tired, cranky, and in no mood to do my planned transition bike/run.  On top of that, Brian had begun happy hour a little early and was not going to join me on the bike ride, so I skipped it.  The negativity continued Saturday morning, when my planned 3 hour bike ride started well enough but didn't finish well at all.  Halfway through Brian and I started arguing, my legs were tired, my seat was hurting me really bad, my bruised knee hurt, and the wind in the last 20 miles was demoralizing.  Wah and woe is me...

But after all of that, Sunday morning arrives along with a 15K that I had no idea how to approach.  My stomach was upset from overeating ice cream the night before, my attitude was dejected from having a bad training week (meaning I had NO confidence in my athletic ability at that point), and I hadn't run a 15K in so long that I didn't know how to approach my pacing.  So I decided to just go with it and try to keep up with some friends whose pace is close to mine.  It was a gorgeous morning for a run on a really nicely laid out course.  So I just ran.  I tried to keep a couple of friends in sight, feeding off the company of yet another running buddy, and we just kept at it.  My stomach was not feeling normal, but it was tolerable.  My legs felt fine, though in my mind I kept expecting them to revolt at any time because of the hard bike ride the day before, like they did at mile 9 of the Gasparilla half marathon in February.  But at mile 5 of the race (after a very long mile 4...why is it that sometimes a stretch of a mile in a race seems so long?), I realized that I was feeling pretty good.  Brian, Tom and Gary had finished their 5K and I ran by them cheering me on, grabbed some water from Brian, and picked up the pace. Just before mile 7 I got a side stitch, which was weird, but I worked it out and with about 2 miles to go I picked it up a little more.  The stomach then started to complain a little, but I kept telling myself it's only 2 miles!  That's nothing!  There were two guys in front of me that I was aiming to pick off...a mile to go, passed one, then passed the other soon after.  As I turned the corner for the final stretch, with Brian, Gary, Tom and Denise cheering me on again, I had a surge of a final kick and passed another dude.  When I saw the clock reading 1:10:55, I thought there was a mistake.  But there wasn't!  So I was thrilled.  And that's all it took to change my attitude. 

So I'm back to positive, remembering why I am training--because I love it!  Yes, I will have bad days, maybe even bad weeks...but it will turn around.  Training pays off, exercise is a good thing, and the next time I feel overwhelmed I'll remember to take it just one step at a time, because all it takes to get back on track is one good run.