Journey to Kona Day 156: Healing

This year has been about healing.  I've still got a ways to go.  I was quite scarred by my experience last year.  Some days are better than others.  The key is not to dwell or get caught up in reminders of the mental injuries.  Similarly, I've been in a relatively constant healing mode in regards to my training.  The SnowDrop Ultra did significant damage and required a solid month of recovery.  It probably didn't help that I was still in the depths of my mental injuries.  Even my coach noted that I hit a bottom that I'd never hit before.  I've subsequently had my two rib injuries, the first one setting me back a week, and the second one setting me back three weeks.  Were they setbacks?  Or were they breaks in training and opportunities to heal?

My rib injury from Sunday seems to be resolving quickly.  I was able to do a solid bike ride this morning. While only riding 45 minutes, I could have ridden for three hours.  However, I realized that I still needed some rest from last week.  Again, we need to take time to heal.  It's been a constant refrain for me this year.  I'm often reminded that ironman is a metaphor for life, and the need to take time to heal is just as true for life as it is for training.  I anticipate that I'll be fully recovered from this small setback (was it really a setback?) by the time I get in the water for the Santa Rosa 70.3.

I had a meeting today where a question was posed to me about what's important and what I want to do.  That seems to be a pretty regular question for me, and I've been avoiding answering it.  One thing I have been certain of.  Kona is still at the top of my mind as a singular focus for this year.  I've allowed a few other things to take up time in my life, but at the end of the day, I want to devote the necessary time to train in order to give Kona my best shot.  The last box to check off before entering the last stage of training is my next race.  It will allow me to see where I'm at both mentally and physically.  I need to heal in both realms to be ready.