"The easiest way to convince your body that sitting in traffic is not worthy of a stress-induced freakout is by showing your body what real stress feels like, in the controlled setting of your daily workout."
Joe De Sena
I doubt very much that my body will ever freak out in traffic again!
After a very enjoyable recovery day - foam rolling, resting and feasting on fantastic food, my body received a healthy dose of real physical stress with the Day 15 Spartan Fit Workout.
Today I have some blisters on my fingers tips and a few scraped knuckles, and the record of the slowest 400m I have ever done at a speed of 44 minutes total.
But here is what I have learnt.
1. What may appear easy on paper can have a very different physical reality - delay your judgement
2. Time and planning are key to success - be realistic
3. You are capable of more than you can be bothered with - complete the task that you have set for yourself.
At first glace I was happy with the look of the Day 15 workout. 400m completed with sandbag throws, slams and a few sit ups. Whilst I don't love sit ups, and they have not featured in a workout for over 5 years, in the interests of becoming Spartan Fit I was ready to do what was planned. After the very first throw of the sand bag I knew this workout was more than I had anticipated, and was likely going to take me a whole lot longer than I planned. I had to readjust my mental game straight away and adapt.
Yesterday I had a window between clients to do my workout. It was enough time I thought, but halfway through I realised that I was cutting it fine. I made some adaptations in my head about what 400m would mean - reading it straight from my TomTom - and decided to stop when the watch said 400 (the watch adjusts when body parts move and includes some of this as distance). Upon doing this my coach said quietly - 'dont sell yourself short' - we both know that the measured track that I was using to complete the distance, was in fact not yet complete. My timing and lack of planning was causing me to make some bad decisions, in so doing wasting time; and at the same time I was cheating myself of realising the good feelings that would come from properly completing the workout. Having hauled my sandbag on my back to the finish line from 50m, I calmly picked it up again and walked back to finish the workout.
I completed the set task. Every piece of the last 50m took huge mental resolve to ignore the blistering and grazing on my fingers each time I picked up the bag to throw it. Lifting the bag to slam it during the last 2 rounds was gruelling - my elbows reluctant to extend above my head and the weight seemingly heavier each time I picked it up. The final throw which legitimatly took me over the 400m line was rewarding, challenging and extremely liberating. Today I am proud to share my workout with whomever is interested because I did the whole thing and I did not sell myself short. I have personal learning and experience to share.
So, whilst I may feel a little fragile today as a result, I am proud of my efforts and looking forward to the 30 minute run programmed for today. I have learnt a lot and am committed to giving it all for the 2nd half of the Spartan Fit 30 Day Challenge.
Aroooo!!!!
