Weekly News Number 38
Race or no race? That’s a question I’ve been asking myself again and again this week, and one I’ll definitely need to answer in the coming days.
As professional athletes, we can withdraw from a race up to two weeks before the start and transfer our entry to another event. At the beginning of the week, based on how my foot was feeling, I honestly thought Port Macquarie wasn’t going to happen. But after a visit to Mel and a few messages back and forth with Kurt, I decided to hold off on making the final decision for a little longer.
At the same time, I also know what the trip would involve. I’d need to rent a car and spend another $1,000 or so on accommodation. That makes it a pretty expensive trip, especially if I’m not really run-fit when I get to the start line. At the moment, I’m leaning more towards staying home and getting back to 100 percent before racing again.
As I wrote last week: when you know you’re maybe only at 70 percent and you’re heading into a gunfight with a knife, at some point it stops being fun. I’d rather invest that time in training and working and maybe look towards racing in Wanaka next year instead. That would really motivate me.
Not Always Chasing Fitness
This week, I listened to a podcast with Mika Noodt, a very good German professional triathlete. It reminded me of something about his approach that I’ve found interesting for a while. After an injury, he only starts racing again when he genuinely feels ready. He isn’t constantly chasing fitness or trying to get back onto a start line as quickly as possible.
He gives himself the time to get healthy, and eventually he reaches the point where he can say: Okay, now I’m ready to race again.
I think that’s a pretty good mindset. It means you’re not constantly chasing something. Sometimes you can simply let things come to you instead of trying to force everything and somehow make it work at the very last minute.
A Week With Plenty of Options
Training last week was a bit up and down. On some days, we weren’t quite sure whether running would be possible or not. Because of that, the training was often pretty spontaneous, or we had different options: if things feel good, we do this; if they don’t, we do something else.
One thing that really helps is how flexible Kurt is and how often we communicate. That way, we usually manage to get the best out of the week, even when everything doesn’t go exactly according to plan.
Of course, it can be a little frustrating when I also have to plan my workdays and don’t know exactly what training will look like. It adds a bit more stress to the planning, but I guess that’s part of the deal when you’re juggling more than one ball at a time.
Three Highlights of the Week
So, what were my sporting highlights this week?
One was definitely Sunday morning. Emma joined me for an easy run on the trails. For the first time, we ran around a lake close to where we live. The trails aren’t particularly technical, which made them perfect for me right now. At the same time, it was a very welcome change from all the running I’ve been doing on the grass oval over the past few weeks.
Afterwards, of course, it was time for coffee. This time we went to Flying West, where they make some really good toast that I obviously couldn’t resist. And a good coffee couldn’t be missing either. That’s a pretty good way to spend a Sunday morning.
The second highlight was a four-hour ride on Saturday morning. Not necessarily because there was anything particularly special about the session itself, but simply because I had so much fun riding my time trial bike again. For the first time in quite a while, I headed out onto the Old Bruce Highway. It’s an old highway with plenty of space and very little traffic, which makes it pretty much perfect for cycling. It’s also nice to change things up every now and then and ride a different route.
The third and final highlight came on Friday morning before work. I arrived at the pool just before 7 am. Most of the squads finish around that time, which meant I actually had an entire lane to myself for my four-kilometre swim.
While I was swimming, the sun slowly came up over the trees and, for the first time since the race, I felt really comfortable in the water again. That was the icing on the cake. I finished the session feeling relaxed and could head into my workday in a really good mood.
Port Mac or Stay Home?
And with that, another week comes to an end. By next week, I’ll know whether I’m making the trip to Port Macquarie or staying home and continuing to train.
More and more, I’m wondering whether the better decision is simply to give my body the time it needs and only return to a start line when I genuinely feel ready. There will always be another race, and I know another opportunity will come.
Until I make the final decision, I’ll keep doing my foot exercises and gradually building up my running again. More than anything, I’m simply enjoying being able to get outside and run again, breathe in the fresh air and slowly get back to something that feels normal.
I hope you all have a great rest of the week and, for those of you in the Northern Hemisphere, that you still get to enjoy a few warm autumn days. Over here, we’re enjoying more sunshine and warmer days as we move further into spring.
See you next week.
Cyrill
