I am so stoked by Steven's post that "The Truth Hurts". In this day and age of over-whelming advice against the dangers of over-training, over-stretching, etc..., there is a place for good clean PAIN. As Steven aptly puts it "The truth is...anyone can run faster. But sometimes, the truth hurts."
As you know, my training volume had been dropping, and last week I started cranking up the training volume again (from 1 run the entire week before to 1 swim, 1 run and 1 bike/run brick). On Monday, I did my 1st swim drills in weeks and it hurt. Just last night, I was thinking, "Just what am I doing? I was never an athelete, and here I am almost 40, my body is going South, and I am trying to swim/bike/run faster? Am I deluding myself?!?!" This morning, I went for my 1st 11km run in weeks, and it was slow and painful. But the truth is, coming back from a hiatus will always be painful. While it is wise to train safe and avoid injury, there is also definitely a place for pushing it despite the pain sometimes. Afterall, training is all about over-stressing the body, and then resting to build strength and fitness. There is still some truth left in the old adage "No pain, no gain" - if we are not over-stressing our bodies to begin with, what's there to rest from? :)
On a seperate note, I read on Ironman Live that Team Hoyt did not make the swim cut off in Kona last weekend. It's kinda sad that it was probably their last ironman attempt - at 66, Dick feels it’s time to change his focus to the shorter Ironman 70.3 series. That has got to be painful - swimming 3.8km (2.4 miles) towing his son on a dingy only to miss the swim time cut off - but it does NOT subtract from the awe and inspiration Team Hoyt brings each time we read or watch a video about their indominable spirit. Go Team Hoyt! Way to show us how to live life to the fullest!
So train hard, but train safe, and may the Lord speed your efforts as you push yourselves to the next level!
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6 comments:
My training is in a lull right now; trying to decide what's next!
Kewl,
I kinda see it like a car and the RPM. I can push myself up to 8000 and still be ok. But if i push myself over to 10,000, my transmission gonna blow.
The key is knowing to push at up to 8000, feel some pain and hold it. Pushing any harder will lead to injury.
Thanks for keeping up to date on Team Hoyt. Too bad they miss the cut off times. They are inspiring, never the less.
I have to fight tears everytime I watch a video featuring them. I love that song as well! Thanks for sharing.
Keep pushing! Great post!
The Hoyts, what an inspiration!
I always think that pain=bad. But I'm talking about the go-to-the-hospital kind of pain. Not the mental block kind of pain we have to push through to get better/stronger/faster. So, bring that pain on then!
Thanks for posting this video. I watch it every time and cry every time, too. It was very disappointing to hear that they didn't make the cut off. But you are right, this doesn't detract from their amazing accomplishments at all. We'll continue to root them on next season in the Halfs. As an aside, Dick's brother, Jason was out there competing at Kona for the first time and finished his first Hawaii IM.
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