Welcome the Pain

This past weekend was kicked off with a 5:00 am wake up on Saturday. I was headed out to participate in the Physical Therapy Plus Triathlon with around 100 other people. I was using it as a nice and easy run through for the Ironman, especially since I hadn’t done a race since last year in Wisconsin. So I go through all of my pre-race preparations, eat what I need to, get all my gear organized, etc., etc. Get to the race, get checked in, get set up in the transition area, get ready to go! The race goes great. I went nice and easy through most of the race. I will admit that I picked it up for the last part of the run, but nothing crazy. I finished and felt great and had plenty left in the tank, just where I wanted to be.

Sunday morning rolls around and I had to drag myself out of bed. I kept thinking, “Man two days in a row getting up at 5:00 am is not fun.” My body felt a little tight from the race the day before but nothing too bad. On the agenda for the day was another 80 mile ride on the IM course. However this weekend I would ride the 80 miles alone with plenty of time to think. The ride consisted of 2 loops on part of the course. The first loop I was trying to be conservative so that I would have some energy left in my legs for the second half of the ride. Unfortunately for me I don’t think it really mattered how I rode that first loop because about 10 miles into the second loop my legs were screaming at me...NO MORE!!! I had just finished one of the hardest/hilliest sections of the course and it took its toll. All of a sudden I felt like I couldn’t push the pedals anymore. Any slight climb felt like a mountain. Now the mental battle began.

First crept in some self doubt “I don’t know if I can finish this ride, I feel like crap.” Next I started to question my training “Did I go too hard this week? Did I race too hard yesterday?” Then I started trying to come up with good reasons why I should let myself stop “Well it wouldn’t be that big of a deal if I ended it short, I mean I deserve a break in my training.” Shut it up!! I could have gone on for the rest of my ride with thoughts like those. It finally just took me telling myself that I came out here to do a long ride and that there could be much worse things in this world than my body temporarily hurting. I thought of how lucky I was to be able just to be out that sunny morning. I thought of Rick and Dick Hoyt, who I had just seen on TV before I left that morning, and the adversity they go through everyday. I thought of how lucky I was to be given a chance to prove to myself that I could be strong enough to push through this discomfort. Now I could welcome the pain. Accept it, embrace it, love it...don’t ignore it.

I started to feel better and better as I pushed through each pedal stroke and started to pick up my pace again. I finished my ride and felt strong and knew that I had beaten the pain.

Mr. Pain you are more than welcome to ride with me again, but next time I’m going to go faster, see if you can keep up...haha.