The morning afterBy Alison Colavecchia
1.6.03 (www.slowtwitch.com)
As I slowly begin to get back into my training routine in preparation for the new triathlon season, I am beginning to feel those aches and pains that come with the building process. There are days when I wake up in the morning and my first thought is not, “What’s on the list of events for this day?” It is, “Will I still be sore? What will be stiff or tender? Will what ached yesterday still ache today?”
There are two kinds of days. My first clues come when I put my feet to the floor in the dark and make my way to the bathroom where my morning rituals begin.
There are days when as I walk, I marvel at the capacity of the human body to adapt. What was sore yesterday is ache-free today. What worried, panicked me the night before is gone. These are the days when I am convinced that the slow and steady, patient and persistent strategies I am learning to adopt are indeed the secret to a long active life. These are the days when I chuckle smugly, for I know how far I have come. In 5 years I have gone from someone unable to run a mile to someone who can maintain an aerobic heart rate for more than two hours of running. I am in awe. What an incredible machine the human body is. What a remarkable machine my body is!
Then there are days when parts of me ache like they cannot forgive me. My muscles, joints, bones and tendons are all on strike with no interest in resuming their regular functions. They seem to be saying to me- “We quit.” I have a rotator cuff, a hamstring and an ankle that seem to take delight in reminding me that no matter how far in the endurance world I dream of getting, I am still Alison, “Molly Domestic” woman of flesh and bones, more naturally built for childbirth than Ironman. These are the days when I require slow unfolding just to climb out of bed.
For the rough days I have an armament of goodies to assist me. I have a bottle of Advil in my purse, bedroom, bathroom and in my desk drawer at work. As it can bug my stomach, I have learned to use this tool judiciously. Next up in the toolbox is caffeine. I could be creaking when I first roll over in the morning but tell me the tea has been steeping for 15 minutes under the tea cosy and I become one spry chicken! Nothing motivates me more to keep forging ahead with the morning routine despite aches and pains than the thought of that large Tim Horton’s coffee (milk only) awaiting me at the office.
Massage is the next way I love to restore a little order to my body. I have settled into a nice routine here, diligently making a full hour appointment immediately following any race, short or long. Follow-up appointments are made depending on the status of things and my finances. I have also adopted my past massage therapists’ motto, “Alison, ice is your friend”. That’s why after my first marathon I resisted the urge to rest on my laurels and promptly made my way to the little kiddie pool filled with ice. I gingerly sat down on a chair, parked my bare feet in the ice and put ice bags on my knees. Then I moved on to the Advil and coffee!
Of course the final method for attending to the aches and pains, and the one I have had to work the hardest at incorporating, is rest. Slowly, I am learning that for some aches and pains the only and best way to attend to them—indeed to ensure that they remain a mere blip in the year—is to take a workout or a day off. A nap here and there, bowing out of added commitments or declaring a couch potato evening, are acceptable versions of the rest strategy. This is especially so when the rest of life heats up.
I am grateful that for the last few years, despite the volume of training, the good days have outweighed the achy ones. I still marvel at this. Perhaps all of the frustrations of the first few years (see Sports Medicine) and diligent attendance to the sources of the problems have finally paid off.
Three cheers for making it to the start-up of yet another triathlon season!
Still Tri’n
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