Patience - A Present to Myself

Every once in a while I hear something that really hits home. The combination of the right words said at the right time within the perfect context. It's like a perfect storm of inspiration. And then I can’t get it out of my head so I have to hammer it into a piece of metal and wear it around my neck. That's what happened when my coach showed me the "Legendary" video created by SICFIT...

 

I was somewhere in the middle of my training program for Duathlon Worlds.   My training program consists of CrossFit WODs and CrossFit Endurance WODs with a focus on cycling and running. It's a lot. It's a lot on the body and a lot on the brain.  I was starting to become obsessed with PR's, with perfection, with getting faster and stronger RIGHT NOW! There is a lot at stake after all... a competition at the World level... one that I had qualified for last year but missed the opportunity to compete in because I got hit by a car while cycling a week before the race (but that's another story for another time). The pressure was mounting, completely self-imposed I might add, and I was beginning to doubt myself and my ability. After what I considered to be a bad 5kTT I went to my coach.

"I'm concerned." I said seriously.

"About what?" he asked.

"About my general athletic ability." I responded.

Of course he laughed because this is a ridiculous statement. I probably don't even need to explain why it is ridiculous because in retrospect even I can hear how insane it sounds.  I was questioning my "general athletic ability" based on a single bad run. A run that probably wasn't even that bad if I had taken a second to look at all of the variables instead of just the time on the clock.  I was becoming so obsessed with each individual workout that I was beginning to forget to look at the big picture.

 

Enter SICFIT/MJ/Spealler video. "I know what I will become." Suddenly I remembered the night before my first triathlon training session a few years ago. I didn't swim. I didn't even own a bike. But there I was, all tucked in with my alarm set for 4am ready to start training for my first Tri in the morning. I had nothing but the belief that I could do it, that I would do it and the desire and discipline to work as hard as possible to get there. That's where my head needs to be. "I can and I will." I looked at where I started and realized that I'm actually doing this. I am becoming the person that I want to be.  The key word there: "becoming".  I have to remember that this is a journey... and it definitely does not end with a crappy 5k.