I Could Have Said Something Snarky, But...

I promised myself last night that I would not event attempt today's training run if I had ANY pain in my ankle. And, sure enough, I have pain in my ankle. And the day is PERFECT for running. And I have friends running in two different all women's half marathons and me? It was like the universe was testing me on my promise to myself.

As I packed up my swim bag to head for the pool, I made the mistake of checking Facebook. One of my acquaintances lives in the heart of a nearby town that is known for its very active running, cycling and tri communities. Today they were having another race and it was blocking some of the streets near him. He was very upset that yet another busy Sunday morning in his life had been inconvenienced. He didn't understand why race organizers always booked so many races in his immediate neighborhood.

I posted a quick response half-joking that he should become a runner and then he would understand, assuming my tone would be taking as usual social media banter. But it was not. He was very angry about these races and asked me, " So being a runner makes you think you can inconvenience everyone else? Interesting." 

I responded with, "Na..but after you have been yelled at, sexually harassed and literally hit by drivers while out training every other day of the year it helps you appreciate the occasional inconvenience of having to wait or add 20 min to a drive home to give people the chance to have a few hours to reach the goal they have been working towards safely. I get it, I live in DC." And I said he was actually lucky to live where he lived, because it was such an active community.

Then he called me bitter and said I was taking things out on people who didn't do anything to me.

Wow. Oh the things I wanted to say back. I had a hundred responses to try to explain my position, prove my point, show that I was right and in better shape and superior and how wrong and arrogant he was being.

But I stepped away from the mobile phone. Was he being inconvenienced by the frequent races in his neighborhood? Absolutely. There are quite a few there. And that isn't really his cup of tea, and it interrupted his agenda, so in fact, he was right. 

This was just a disagreement about whose experience was more inconvenient and annoying, his or mine. I tried to put myself in his place, thinking about me in the middle of an awesome bike ride and being held up or detoured by a caravan making their weekend trips to Costco or P.F. Chang's. And guess what? I would be pissed. I would...

BUT what I realized is that in the past six months there has been a big shift in how I personally handle inconvenience and I think it has a whole lot to do with training for the triathlon. When you break down inconvenience it simply means that your path is being detoured by a condition that you didn't expect - it might be because you didn't prepare or something that is completely out of your control. Or maybe you just have to work a little harder than you expected. Whatever it is, it surprises you and you have to react and adjust.

Triathlon in its very definition is inconvenient. I wake up between 4:45 and 5 am every day except Friday to train. And I usually have evening workouts too. Most weekends I spend at least six-seven hours training or traveling to and from training. There is the equipment planning, the laundry and don't forget the food... oh.. and doing all that while still making it to work, taking care of your dog an bills and remembering to wear pants to work. Each and every day of triathlon training is training in inconvenience.

Also, in triathlon, the universe doesn't owe you anything. You work for every little bit of success and progress. If I went out there today and tried to do a full Iron Man, there is no way I could do it and I wouldn't be surprised or angry that I couldn't, because I know that I have not done the work yet to deserve it. The failure of my attempt would not be an inconvenience. It would be expected. On the other side of that, however, is that you do the work, it pays off and you see it and it feels great and it makes you really appreciative and thankful -- which makes it SOOOOO much easier to deal with the occasional perceived inconvenience.

A race running through your neighborhood and shutting down your streets every other weekend absolutely can be inconvenient. So can a severely sprained ankle caused by simply walking out your door two months before your first half iron man. Both interrupt scheduled plans. The difference is just in how you deal with that interruption.

Here is how I did this weekend with my inury inconvenience:

And now on to the dishes and laundry and bills and starting work on my nutrition plan (how many carbs when? electrolytes? protein? stay tuned...)

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