Giving back and doing less

I heard somewhere that it's always important to know or at least ask yourself what are your going to get out of your workouts. It should be always the case that the answer to the question "I am going to be a better athlete after this workout?" is YES, it doesn't matter the capital letters, at least a tiny yes will do. It wouldn't be wise to do a workout that is not gonna make you better, would it?.

Today I had scheduled 100km plus ride, and also had to do a bit of work for the tri club during the last race of the NZ tri season. The idea is to support the club, as the club does support many of us subsidising part of the run coaching and many other things. When I realized the morning was gone and even though we got great results by recruiting new members and getting to know some that I didn't, I still had the workout to be done and other work commitments that required that I was in a 1/2 hour riding radius of my place in case I was called for an emergency. In those circumstances a ride of 3 to 4 hours was looking pretty unlikely. And it was past lunchtime.

As soon as I started beating myself about it I realized I've done a good thing for the club and although the planning of my day wasn't the best, the ride will go ahead and I would be a better athlete at the end of the day. Out I went to do my ride, and even though it was a bit shorter, I managed to put a bit of intensity on some patches and without being knocked (I have to give my body recovery time between the long bike and tomorrow morning' swim) I got another tick in the box, and indeed I did get something out of the workout, which means I am step closer to be in the best shape for Budapest.

I could have opted to do a make up ride tomorrow and skip the swim, or to have another day off, or to feel bad about the shorter workout. I opted to feel good about what was done, and to ask myself if I was a better athlete. I'm happy to say I am.
Date: 18 Apr
Sport:  Bike
Time: 150min
Dist: approx 55km
Comment: I didn't know I could ride so much so close to home.