post-workout
location: home
currently: nursing my wounds from today's practice
it pains me to say it BUT today's workout was KILLER! i won't lie or mislead you all; today was no joke. my day started off normal as can be. i woke up around 8:30ish, checked my email and such, brushed my teeth and washed my face, put some clothing in the washer, packed my bag for the day, ate a bowl of yogurt and granola, then jetted to the bus stop to head to campus.
i was in a fairly good mood. it was a bit brisk out, around 25 degrees and windy but i braved the cold as i do every morning. feeling great, wearing my new glasses, singing, waiting for the bus. the day just seemed so normal. i went to work, pretty chill day, "kinda slow for a Wednesday", i thought. in any case i got off 30 mins early, so i headed to practice.
in the locker room i got dressed quick and strolled into the gym confident and prepared for my workout. i was sure that i would easily conquer it and bounce. being that i had practice most of the break i figured, "shoot im about to show out today!" to my surprise, i did show out just not how i had planned to.
i went through my warm up, taking my time being sure not to miss a drill and making sure i worked up a good sweat. also to my surprise coach "changed" the workout to 300's and 200's which i saw as "cake". i thought, "no sweat i got this. i've been training, this will be money in the bank."
i ran my first 300. i thought, "not to bad, i got a little loose at the end but i can fix that on the next one. i still hit the time, so far so good." breathing was good, i was feeling better than normal. ran the second 300 and hit the time. i thought, "okay this is getting tricky now." breathing picked up. i ran my third 300, it became a little harder to finish this time. i finished 1 second off pace. i thought, "okay d let's hold it together, 1 second off isn't that bad. you just have to work harder on the last one." breathing heavy but nothing to crazy.
lined up to run the final 300, before i took off i told my coach, "im going to try to keep this one in the 40's. got out good but halfway through something was wrong. i didn't panic though, i just tried to relax and finish. 3/4 the way there my legs begin to tire but my arms were still pumping. i'm breathing heavier now. i head "40!" and im thinking "i'm not going to make this one, time to run for pride." i finished in 48, 4 seconds off pace. i wasn't upset at all, i was just happy to be finished with the first half of the workout.
"8 minutes rest", i hear. im thinking, breathing almost uncontrollably, "i don't know about these 200's." 8 minutes went by fast. my legs still weak, breathing slowed a little, not much. i got set and took off, i finish on pace. now im thinking, "crap, they only get faster from here!" i darn near collapse. i realize that im not going to make my next two times and im like, "crap, so much for showing how hard i worked this break."
in any case everyone is leaving because they had finished minutes before me. so its just me and my coach. as he walks by me he says, "this is your last one." im thinking, "that's what's up, maybe he'll take more pity on my and not time this one." yeah right, he timed it lol and i was off pace yet again, go figure."
i write all of this to say this: i am just a man and as a man sometimes i have to hurt. i now realize that i haven't been pushing myself as hard as i should have. it shouldn't be a rare occurrence that i feel as if im going to pass out after or even during a workout. if i want to be the best i have to hurt every practice. today i felt like i had no more in the tank. i worked hard and i know it will pay off. thus today's workout beat me BUT the lesson learned was a personal one that must be applied to my life as well. i MUST work as hard as i physically can in order to be the best.
this is the same for anything that we do in life. we must work diligent and as hard as we can in order to receive a return investment. no one who's ever done something great has waited and said, "oh, i'll work hard tomorrow." tomorrow isn't promised for anyone, so we must work while we can with what we have been blessed with. it must be a conscious effort, not a passive one.
"dont put off tomorrow what you can do today". i heard that quote somewhere and since that day it has stuck with me. i pray that you too will realize the small battles in your life that you sometimes loose but in defeat you become a winner if you take something positive from the experience. today was the turning point in life. i plan to change my mentality and thus changing the outcome of situations in my life. i plan you do as well.
godspeed,
d
