« The Five Steps of Injury | Main | Chlorine Overload »
September 25, 2007
The Big and Small Pictures
When injured I find it most helpful to look at the big picture every once in a while, but mostly to focus on the small picture. You don't hear too much about the small picture. But the small picture can be a very good thing.
Take for example racing. The big picture is a full 1/2 IM with 1.2 miles of swimming, 56 miles of cycling and 13.1 miles of running. 5 hours of racing. 5 hours of pain. This is when the big picture is not pretty. This is when you want to focus on the small picture. First the swim. Get from bouy to bouy. Four strokes, take a breathe, 2 strokes, take a breathe. Then the bike. I think in 5 mile increments only. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, wow - we are over half way! Then the run. First you are thinking of 2 or 3 mile increments. Then 1 mile increments and then towards the end it's "run hard until you catch that next person and then take a breather" or "get to the next aid station for a drink". Racing for me MUST be broken down into the small picture.
Injuries are much the same way. I have to break them down week by week, day by day. Because if I start thinking of the larger picture and all the "what ifs", well then I'm in trouble. One day at a time. Who knows - maybe tomorrow will be the day it suddenly all feels better? And if not tomorrow there is always the next day. November and my big race seems MUCH farther away if I do it this way. And that makes me happy. :)
Also important when dealing with injuries is to look at the big picture every once in a while. As in gaining a little perspective. I'm not dying, I don't have cancer, I still have a job, my family hasn't all been swept away by a large flood. It's just a little hamstring issue and as Jen wisely reminded me - this too shall pass. My job helps me to find perspective a lot of the time. Today my patient list included 3 horrific car accidents, 1 caught-in-the-cross-fire gun shot victim, 2 cancers w/metastisis and 1 heart surgery gone very, very wrong. Is my race on November 10th very important to me? YES! But is it life and death. No, definitely not.
And so it goes. It was decided that I would still do my swim/bike workouts as scheduled and substitute all my running workouts with pool running for now. See how that goes. See how we are progressing and then make some decisions from there. In addition, the chiropractor has been working on me as his massage therapist that almost made me cry yesterday afternoon during my appointment. She has this little ball thing that she presses into areas that are tight and it really hurts. But after the appointment my hamstring felt better than ever.
This morning I did a 3000 yd swim. Swimming bugs the hamstring a little. It's the kick that does it. But then this afternoon I had a tough workout on the bike including a 20 min TT where the 2nd half was to be faster than the 1st half. I did it on the trainer and although I thought my heart was going to beat right up out of my throat, I felt really good about the workout. My ave MPH were much better than last time I did this same workout in July. I'll take it. Hamstring feels good on the bike.
Finally tonight I have a pool run that I'm about to leave for. O is nice enough to join me since he just got home from his cross country meet. Just what he wanted to do right?! :) I'm definitely going to have to institute some sort of bathing suit rotation because I really hate putting on a wet bathing suit... :)
Lastly - thank you SO MUCH - everyone for your kind words and encouragement re: my hammy. I was down about it no doubt but as always you guys lifted me right back up. I truly appreciate it. As always. You guys rock.
Posted by beth at September 25, 2007 6:04 PM
Comments
Hehe... that big picture/small picture business definitely rings true to me, with everything that's been going on with my job. It's so easy to get caught up in daydreaming the worst scenario, which is always dangerous when you don't have all the info. When things first started getting messed up with Spain I went from excited to depressed and back again every time something changed (or didn't) until I finally realized I should just look at the situation with some perspective, live the situation I'm in and that these apparent setbacks really aren't the end of the world, and I really do enjoy my life. And-- as a side note, I knew a girl in high school who could run a 2:10 800m. She hurt her knee, spent a month in the pool, came out in time for sectionals, and ran a 2:08! I totally believe in aquajogging!
Posted by: Alisha at September 26, 2007 2:14 AM