​A period of unfortunate events & staying positive

The heading pretty much sums up my last 4 weeks, in life we are thrown curve balls and I am a firm believer it is how we look at them, is how it affects us.

My training log started back in March (Mainly mountain biking and running) while still based in Palmerston North. I signed my self-up to race my first Xterra event in Rotorua whichis the Xterra NZL champs. If you have never given it a go before I recommend that you do!

What an incredible vibe this type of multi-sport event has. It had such a relaxed feeling about it and everyone seemed even more supportive than at triathlon races, the age group athletes seemed less intense with the vibe being everyone was out there just to give it a go.

I raced really well coming in 2nd in my age group however, I did end up breaking my foot 2km in on the 11km run due to rolling it on a hidden root. I continued on jogging to cross the line. It is amazing what you can do on the legal drug called adrenaline which most of us in this sport are addicted to!

So, at home with a broken foot I could have got negative since I have been trying to get back into my groove but, I decided to approach it with the opportunity of focusing on my swimming and bike. With the ability to swim pain free and in a new squad which has re-injected me with passion to swim it has now allowed me to focus on what I can do which I have begun to see the benefits of rite away.

Hands up who has done a CSS (Critical Swim Speed) test?
I hadn’t and didn’t even know what it was until I recently started swimming in Hamilton’s Fast lane with Russell Smith’ squad.

This is when you swim 400m has fast as you can, take a few minutes rest and then swim 200m as fast as you can. Your 100m times are also recorded during these distances and a “fancy” calculation is then calculated to take into consideration your percentage drop, with the end result being your CSS.
This time is what you should be able to hold 100’s with a rest. With this number you can then build your swim plans with actual times using your benchmark. Fancy stuff huh! I now have a bench mark to build off to in sure that the time in the pool is paying off when I set the test every 6-8 weeks.

The swim focus has been ideal Monday & Fridays usually being technique focused, Tuesday & Thursday being endurance sets and Wednesday being a slightly shorter set than Tuesday. It is crazy to think that I have gone from struggling to be motivated to swim, to now completing 4.5km sets and 15km swim weeks, the crazy thing is I actually get out with a smile on my face, it is amazing what an attentive coach and a fun squad can do!

The time has also allowed me to have a few weeks of good bike sessions to start to build my base again until one morning on my way to work on the 9th of May a utility vehicle pulled out in front of me on the main road causing me to crash into the side of it crashing and writing off my work car.

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I can remember sitting there doing checks over my body to make sure I was fine. Like when you crash a bike you usually check to make sure it is OK well, in this case it was me that I checked over to make sure I was not injured and thankfully, I have walked away from the crash with only a sore back which is still allowing me to swim strong and bike 50-60km pain free. Whew! I avoided a close call and thankfully the diver that pulled out walked away also.
 
I believe this is the incredible thing about triathlon, we can injure ourselves but with the three disciplines it gives us the opportunity to focus on one or two of them and in this case it is perhaps a blessing in disguise.

Whenever something like this happens the first thing that comes to mind is remembering what I re-call Chris McCormick discussing with us, about an injury he had and how he benefited by forcing him to focus on his swim pre-Kona. I believe this is one of the years that he then went on to win one of his titles as he came out with the top bunch out of the water.

So at the end of the day, my advice for anyone who is going through tough times or is injured, is to; Stay positive, with injuries comes opportunities, whither this is a forced rest or an opportunity to focus on strengthening your weakness’ there is no point wasting your mental energy on something that you cannot control. Easier said than done I know but, I do love the word opportunity :)

Until next time take it easy and if you have any questions/suggestions/statements of your own please feel free to comment :)

Robo