Pushing Through

I was feeling under the weather last night at practice. Knowing that it would be a "Tuesday", I was not sure if I could manage to complete all those rolling 200 sprints and the 10k points race coach AH had in store for us. Before we began the 200s, I told myself "I can do alternating sprints so I only do half of the assigned drills". Well, that did NOT happen. I pushed myself to do those sprints one after another. They were hard and towards the end, I'm not sure what I did can be called a "sprint" at all.

The rolling 200s have been frustrating so far. It is a daily reminder that I am at the bottom of the barrel and that there is a significant difference between my ability and the next slowest person in the pack. I don't know what I can do differently to change that.

Before we began the 10k points race, I told myself that I would sit this one out. Well, that did not happen either. I ended up skating a straight race, mostly solo. I was exhausted but I just kept pushing myself to continue skating lap after lap. I have that nagging feeling that I will need to skate 10k solo in one of the many upcoming track races because I will get dropped inevitably. So I need to be tough enough to be able to finish this distance without feeling like it is an insurmountable feat. In the end, this drill was cut short because of time.

I was very tired by the end of practice yet it was not the sort of good exhaustion after a satisfying practice. Rather, it just felt like I did a lot of work, the extent of their success and what they contribute to my overall progress as a skater are unknown. This is not a criticism to the practice program at all because I do think the program is fantastic. More accurately, it was the way I handled the drills.

I woke up this morning with sore throat, stuffy nose, and congested sinuses. This is the early onset of a cold. It is the last thing I need.

Comments

[Aaron Richard]

I think you train too much.

-A.

[Candy]

Hi Aaron! Thanks for dropping me a note. I guess I didn't realize I was getting sick. All those fatigue accumulating in the last few days....I thought I was just tired or not motivated. Just had a whole day of napping and eating. Think I'm starting to feel better.