Survey says ...

A few weeks into my training moratorium, I figured it was a good time to take stock.

PHYSICALLY - Obviously, this is where the most change has occurred. There have been equally as many positive as negative effects. A few of the more notable ones: Positive: my feet have been hurting less than in the recent past. Negative: I already feel a bit weaker / less fit. Positive: my calves are happy for the first time that I can remember! Negative: nutrition. I always find it easier to maintain good nutrition when I'm training.

EMOTIONALLY - This has been tricky ... On the one hand I am way more relaxed about my injury and its impact on my goals. However, training has always been a good way for me to manage stress. I come up with my best ideas, solve problems or clear my mind of the day's chaos when exercising. Admittedly, I have had a hard time finding a replacement for this. Many of my friends are very active in triathlon or other competitive sport and I do find myself getting a bit upset when they start talking about their summer race plans or training.

INTELLECTUALLY - I can't say that I'm smarter or less smart as a result of the change in my training situation. But, I also know that "smart" isn't the only thing that fits into this category. HOW you think is more important. I knew full well that dropping my goals for this summer was the best thing to do, yet I fought it. Just accepting the need to change plans wasn't good enough; this is why I've had to come up with a list of things to do. I have managed to keep several plants alive. As small as my garden is, I have had to give it some attention.

SOCIALLY - I am a bit of an introvert. Training has become a way for me to connect with other (like minded) people and I do miss this aspect. So, I've had to go outside my comfort zone. I've invited myself over to friends' to watch hockey and I've invited friends over for dinner. With summer coming up I will have to find other ways to get myself out of the house.

SPIRITUALLY - Not sure where I stand here. There has been a lot going on in my life recently that makes me feel like I am in a bit of a "spititual deficit". Training has always helped me reconnect spiritually, grounded me.

NOT training has been an interesting challenge for me. This will be the first summer in over 5 years that I won't be racing. It makes me wonder if perhaps I was relying on it a little too much.

Slight change of plans

Things change. I don't think there's anyone out there who would be able to successfully argue this point. Sometimes things change for the better, sometimes for the worse. Sometimes we initiate change, sometimes we resist it. Regardless of these fine points, it happens.

So, given that introduction, it may not come as a surprise that things have changed for me. For better or for worse? I have yet to figure that out. Was I resistant? Yes. Have I accepted it? Mostly.

One thing that HASN'T changed recently is the status of my injury. I still have chronic plantar fasciitis, but instead of in one foot, it is in both - so I guess that IS a change! Anyhow, in an attempt to maintain some sort of connection to the racing world, I had decided to put Seattle to Portland Ride and Lake Cowichan Swim on my schedule for this year. Unfortunately I was not able to maintain the necessary volume, even early on in the pre-season. The result? I was experiencing a fair amount of pain and more importantly I was getting frustrated. To make matters more interesting, I will be starting prolotherapy this week and it will greatly hamper my ability to train this summer. When I finally asked Rob (one of my fabulous trainers at Innovative Fitness) "What's the point?", he knew I was done. So, he benched me. No swimming, no riding, no working out, no event spectating - nothing. I felt like I had just been fired from a job.

That was about three weeks ago. During this time (and I've have LOTS of it!) I have had to do some homework: to come up with a list of things that I can do this summer with these loose criteria:

I will be able to do it (I will have to be off my feet a bit this summer)

I will enjoy doing it

Easy to execute - no major planning involved

At first I was completely stumped. Almost EVERYTHING I enjoy doing involves walking, riding, hiking, training of some sort, or just being on my feet. To say I was not happy with this new direction would be an understatement. I sat, ruminated, moped, I even looked for sympathetic friends who would tell me "Oh no, you need to keep going!" Much to my surprise my friends were supportive if not excited about the "new plan".

So the list has been started, and a couple of items have even been checked off (like writing my Blog!) It is a fairly fluid list - I add, delete, edit items almost daily. I will share it over the next little while, and hopefully some of you will join me!

So while the description of this Blog explains my ultimate goal of swimming the English Channel, and my training efforts leading up to that event, I can honestly say that it still is my long-term goal. I've just had to put it in my back pocket for a while (perhaps in a pair of jeans that doesn't quite fit right now!) I am making NO predictions as to when that, or any other event, will happen. So if you've been lead to this Blog thinking that it is about long-distance swimming, triathlon, training or anything like that, know this: it still is. The focus is slightly different right now because guess what, things change.