Last week, I had a bad week.
It was so bad that I got an email from Liz asking me if I was ok. We talked for a bit, and she said, "Take tomorrow off. Let's talk tomorrow afternoon."
It was a bad week. Why? I don't know. I mean, I can look back and see a few things that weren't quite right.
It was several days of missed intervals, missed paces. Everything just felt off.
I ain't gonna lie. It messes with my head. Having one bad day is one thing. Having a few days in a row....I started doubting myself. I was tired. I wasn't thinking clearly.
I kept thinking, "Maybe I've bitten off more than I can chew. Maybe I need to re-assess (ie----completely change----) my goals."
For all the negativity that I felt, I kept going. I took my day off. I started really paying attention to how much I was eating. I made sure to get to bed earlier or sleep in....or both. I skipped an open water swim in Boulder (with friends) in order to get more sleep.
I did my workouts. I wasn't feeling great for a few days. I would stare down workouts, procrastinating about starting because I was afraid of another failure.
But, I did the workouts.
I came face to face with the hardest two days of my week. The Wed/Thurs combo. Back to back hard effort days.
After a week of struggling, the clouds cleared and magic happened. I hit every interval and went harder than I thought I could.
When my legs were shaking or felt like jelly, I held on harder than I ever have. When I ran my intervals off the bike, I pushed beyond every discomfort, every muscle ache.
For a year now, Liz has been in my head with her "Eat Pain and go back for more."
I was more of a "Eat Pain and puke it back up" type of athlete.
Until what felt like something broke overnight.....something in me gave. I got up today, tired and mildly sore and knowing that I had a hard track workout followed by another bike today. My legs were screaming before the end of the first interval.
I didn't care. I kept pushing. It hurt. Each interval had to get faster. I didn't stop to think about not being able to do it. I JUST DID IT. I didn't think at all. I didn't wish the workout was over.
I just ran.
I went home. No one will ever know what I did. I was at the track, by myself. No one knows that I just ran some of my fastest paces in that zone, paces that kept getting faster.
I uploaded my workouts. And Liz responded immediately....it was as though she was waiting for me....
It is no wonder you are so successful, Tea. We all have bad weeks. It's part of being an athlete. Keep on moving in the direction of your goals! It doesn't change your path. THIS was a homerun.
She's right. We're going to have bad weeks; weeks that just beat us up and make us question everything about ourselves and our goals.
But that's when we're being tested. Stay focused. We were born to rise.