Learning to Bend, not Break

I've written this post in my head about 16 times during the month of January, so I guess today is the day to actually type it up!  

This is the first time since 2011 that I don't have a spring marathon to get ready for and that's because I didn't start running until 2012 😀  I usually take a break in late fall/early winter to rest or do something different before getting back on the marathon training horse to prepare for the next Boston.  Since Boston 2021 is still in limbo, so am I.  Like everyone, I wish the world was normal but it isn't and I'm trying to embrace the opportunity to keep mixing things up.

I like to test my limits and for almost a decade now that has meant swinging for the fences and finding new and unique ways to hurt myself.  The twisted logic being that if I don't go just past my limits how do I know if I've found them?  Until I'm injured there is almost always room to try doing a thing just a little bit more/harder/faster/whatever.  This was the case with the 12 weeks of intense weight lifting that I did at the end of 2020.  By mid December I couldn't exercise and for most of January I've been doing physical therapy trying to bring a sore elbow back from the edge.  During the forced downtime in December I spent a lot of time thinking about how this time around I have a chance to start 2021 different than any of the previous 9 years.

  • I don't have to jump right into a 4 month plan to prepare for an April marathon.
  • I don't know what races are really going to happen in 2021
  • I don't know what epic thing I want to define 2021

Now what?

I guess it's time to learn to be flexible.  I need to learn to bend, not break.

After 9 years of training and racing hard, my body is feeling the impact.  I have a "dad groan" when I get up off the couch.  The floor seems farther away than it used to be.  I don't move so well.  I'm not light on my feet.  

To borrow a phrase from my friend Jake, it's time to train "to be a better human."

Being a better human

With everything that is going on in the world it would be easy to interpret this phrase in the context of events that are bigger than I am, but nope.  This blog is for navel gazing.  It's a chance to look inward, so as much as I care about the rest of the world this is the time to challenge myself to be a better athlete in ways that might not lead to faster race times.  In fact, maybe I'll get slower and that's ok as long as I get more well rounded in the process. No, that wasn't a joke about my weight, TYVM.  lol.

Yoga

Amanda has been doing yoga forever.  I know a few accomplished endurance athletes that do yoga regularly, but only a few.  I should be able to do yoga.  I started giving yoga a try regularly at the beginning of January and damn it hurts.  It takes the worst of me and puts it on display.  I'm not flexible.  I'm not graceful.  I'm a brute.  None of it feels natural, but maybe someday it will.  This experience deserves its own post and one will be written soon.

Weight Lifting

I'm a stronger human being than I was 6 months ago.  I also hurt my elbow.  The challenge in January has been how to keep lifting heavy sh!t in a way that helps me keep some of the gains and also be patient with my elbow and allowing it to heal

Running (or Biking or Swimming)

I can't just do new things or I'll leave behind too much of who I am as an athlete so I'm back to logging some run miles again.  Bike/Swim will come back eventually.  The thing I'm really trying to accomplish at the end of the day isn't just to do new things, but to figure out the correct recipe that lets me get back to doing what I used to do AND do more of what I should do AND be a better more well rounded human at the end.

And then?

And then, I don't know.  Learning to bend not break isn't just about trying to revive an aging body, it is also about trying to find a healthier way to handle the unknown.  How to handle that none of us really know what races will happen and what races will not.  I originally wanted to break out of this headspace by defining 2021 around something that couldn't be cancelled, like a charity event but I'm still waiting for a calling to a thing.  So, at this time I'm going to try my best to be open to what the circumstances of 2021 are willing to let me have.  I'm going to try to avoid getting hyper focused about doing "the thing" that sets me up for the loss that comes if "the thing" is no longer allowed.

My 2021 goal is to figure out how to be a better human while waiting for "the thing" to be near enough that there is no longer a risk of getting my hopes up.  Something will work out.  I can't lose in 2021 if I get to finish the year healthier and more well rounded than I began.  Anything that happens along the way is just a chance to live a cool story.

Which one of these will be "the thing" in 2021?  We'll see...

  • USAT Clydesdale National Championships
  • Unofficial 444 with a friend and friends of the friend
  • Riding and glamping the length of the Erie Canal with Amanda
  • Army Combat Fitness Test
  • Ride from Fort Niagara to tip of Long Island for charity
  • Spartan Race
  • A lap around Connecticut with a buddy I haven't seen enough
  • Chicago2Boston double, two marathons in two days?

I'm genuinely excited to see what 2021 has to bring.  While I wait to find out that answer, my time is going to be filled with reliving some cool experiences from the past in new posts about races done long ago...and trying to be a better human.  Thanks for the idea Jake!

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