…the body fights too.”

I picked up this quote not from some history book or from the mouth of a well-worn running God like Frank Shorter or Dr. George Sheehan, but from one of my favorite television shows, The Blacklist. I know it’s depressing to see James Spader with no hair but, he’s an unbelievable actor and once and a while, the show spits out a gem like this quote.

I feel like I’ve been living this lately. Instead of my mind and body being one, they are struggling and battling against one another. Until they learn to get along, mama ‘aint happy. You know what that means, right?

MindBodyFight

The struggle is stemming from my body being injured and my mind refusing to believe it. When I set my racing goals at the beginning of the year, I feel I can attain each and every one of them and, when that doesn’t happen, the battle begins.

After a lengthy conversation with CRS (my rocket scientist coach), some deep thoughts during the brief periods I get to run and generally thinking WWMHD (what would my husband do?) I’ve come to the following conclusions:

GET HEALTHY

What CRS says: “Strength training is your number one priority right now. I will add in more swimming and biking and you let me know when you’re ready to run.”

What I think: “Why can’t I embrace a little down time? What the hell is wrong with me?”

What my husband would say: “Are these seriously the things you’re concerned with?”

GET A PLAN

What CRS says: “Forget about the duathlon and the triathlon on June 7. I have a whole list of other triathlons to chose from, tell me which one you want to do and we’ll go from there.”

What I think: “I need a race to focus on so I have a clear idea of what I’m training for and why.”

What my husband would say: “You have ANOTHER race?”

TAKE IT ONE DAY AT A TIME

What CRS says: “We have plenty of time to get you healthy and racing again. Essentially we are chucking one race (the duathlon) and that’s it.”

What I think: “I need to do it all right now! Is there a race today?”

What my husband would say: “You actually think more then one day ahead?”

Today

After a lot of thinking, consulting, planning and plotting, I may have my head and body in some sort of agreeable state. My immediate focus is on strengthening/getting healthy and choosing a triathlon that fits my schedule and is a Nationals qualifier.

Most importantly I need to give myself a break. There’s a reason why there are seasons for sports – because even elite athletes need downtime. I learned a very long time ago that rest days are just as important as your hardest training days and, if your mind and body aren’t in agreement, nothing works as it should.

I want to fight against my competition, I don’t want to be my competition.

This is not how I want to race.

This is not how I want to race.

And in case you want to know exactly what’s going on in my head, this article from The Huffington Post sums it up perfectly by listing “11 Things Every ‘Type A’ Person Wants You To Know.” I have a classic case of #5 right now:

5. We’re extremely goal-oriented.
Once we commit to something, we see it through until the very end, whether it’s a work project or Friday night plans. “[Type A’s] are certainly more occupied with achieving outcomes,” Schaubroeck previously told HuffPost Healthy Living. “And given that they’re so occupied with achieving their goals, it makes sense that they would be more likely to do so.”

Precisely!

Thanks to my uncle for sending me and my relatives this article asking “How many women in our family fit this profile?” Um, all of us!

 

Are you a type-A?

What do your mind and body argue about?

 

 

 

 

 

 

%d