When obstacles abound, opportunities knock

If every week you ran 20Km, swam 9,000 meters and rode your bike an average of 200Km, it wouldn't prevent you from breaking your arm two weeks before your first triathlon.

At least that's what the experts say.

Obstacles are everywhere.

As you set foot along the paths toward each new goal you set for yourself, land mines lurk waiting to alter your course.

When you need to get to class on time, your car keys make themselves hidden. When you meet someone wonderful, he or she moves 100-plus Km's away.

And in a culture where a 70-hour work week is not rewarded with praise, but considered the norm, the obstacles to establishing a healthy, fit lifestyle can be numerous.

It becomes a problem, however, when these obstacles become an excuse to not get started or to stop you from getting back on track once you've strayed from your routine.

"I never have time to work out. There's no healthy food. It's too late to start now at twentysomething," you whine.

If you're going to use time as an excuse after reading this week's profile on the guy who finds time to run despite 12-hour workdays serving his district as a city council member, you're going to look pitiful.

Finding food that is healthy and tasty at the same time is a struggle most can identify with. But don't you think you can find some middle ground before you're ready to resign yourself to a double-bacon cheeseburger with curly fries?

And as for the too-late-to-get-started-with-this-health-stuff excuse, well, we know how that feels.

If that's not good enough for you, we also met and interviewed a 60-year-old who started running at 48. In the 12 years since, he's put more than 50 marathons under his belt.

Instead of concentrating on the obstacles, make opportunities.

It's the same thing you do when you make a point to leave your keys next to your wallet the night before, when you put aside money for the airline ticket to make that long-distance relationship work or when you visit a counselor every semester to make sure you're taking the right classes to graduate on time.

A broken arm may seem like a worthy excuse to give up exercise for a while. But if we had been looking for an excuse to stop, our training wouldn't have been for the right reason.

When we took our eyes off the obstacle, we realized that our goal wasn't completing a triathlon, but maintaining a fit lifestyle.

Regardless of your athletic skills, there will be peaks and valleys in your sports career. Whether you compete or not, there could be long-lasting slumps of several months, perhaps longer, where you just know something isn’t right, what can you do about it.

The answer, in a nutshell:

Not much.

Granted, there may not be a lot you can do if you’re experiencing a slump (especially if you are doing everything “right” and yet still can’t get out from behind the eight-ball, as they say). However there is a lot you can do to prevent yourself from getting discouraged, losing interest, or giving up to frustration and heartache if things aren’t going “swimmingly.”

Many a great athlete have been so shaken by their lack of success during one of these down periods, that they have fallen deeper and deeper into the mental abyss, never sticking with, and salvaging, a promising career. What we hope to do with the ideas below is give you hope, and give you some ideas, of how you can turn such a negative slump into a positive experience.

Appreciate the peaks

When you are performing above and beyond your expectations, it is easy to want more success, because you feel on top of the world. Victory seems easy, almost expected, and it makes sense in the athletic equation: You’ve worked hard, and now you rightfully reap the rewards.

While it is healthy and even necessary to enjoy such success and rest on your laurels now and again, it is equally important to remind yourself that you are experiencing a “peak.” Appreciate it, but know that it is usually followed by a valley of sorts. This downturn need not be drastic (it may even be a plateau from your recent success), but know that it is coming — so re-evaluate your goals. Set higher standards, intensify or alter your training to accomplish the next rung on your ladder. If you are equipped to handle a slight dip in your success, you will soften the blow of a disappointing performance and be able to bounce back much quicker.

Evaluate your life

No, we don’t mean this in the Go-to-Tibet-and-Search-For-Higher-Meaning way, we mean it as an analytical dissection of what you are doing in your life that may be causing your lack of success. Is your diet right for the training you are doing? Are you getting enough sleep? Is your job or personal life adding to an unhealthy level of stress?

Perhaps a doctor’s appointment is in order, for it’s possible you have an illness (like acute mononucleosis) that you are unaware of. The good thing about a self-evaluation like this is that if you know you are doing everything possible to ensure your success, you can take solace in the fact that you’ve done your best. So relax! A valley is normal and it too shall pass; but in the meantime take comfort in knowing that you are providing yourself with 100 percent in the preparation department.

Make improvements

If you’re in a valley and there’s no sign of a quick turnaround, there is no better time to focus on a (perennial) weakness that you have wanted to improve. Let’s say your endurance is great but your speed needs work. Alter your training to focus on speedwork (which could mean more strength training in addition to different intervals and sets). The change in routine could be the catapult that bounces you out of your rut, while rectifying the weaknesses that may have been holding you back in the first place!

Learn a new sport

If you’ve plateaued in your chosen athletic field and are losing motivation to stick with it due to constant failure, take a break. Learn a new sport. If you’re a swimmer, take up running and cycling (two handy sports to have in your back pocket should you ever decide on pursuing biathlons or triathlons).

Some of you may be in a swimming rut so enter several triathlons as a way of keeping from getting discouraged in the water. You will find the results are extremely positive.

Keep it in perspective

As low as you can fall during an off-season, always keep in perspective how lucky you are that you are able to compete, or train, in the sports that you like. Exercise should be seen as a privilege: a privilege in that you have the time to do it, a privilege in that you have the capabilities of doing it and are not hindered by a serious injury or accident.

On the worst of days, remind yourself how happy you are that you actually have the time and energy to be working out, and consider it special. Guaranteed that in the worst of seasons, this reminder will serve to boost your sagging spirits.

Last resort

Finally, if you just can’t seem to get out from your current funk: STOP! Don’t quit, just take a break. Sometimes the mental pressures you put on yourself can be more debilitating than the physical breakdown your body endures with each workout.

Just like your muscles need recovery time to heal from intense activity, so does your head. If you begin to resent your training while dreading competition, it’s time to step away from it for a couple of weeks and not worry. The best time to recharge your batteries is, of course, while on vacation. However, many athletes think vacation is the time to ramp up training given the added free time. On the contrary, a relaxing week with no training logs or stopwatches allows you to decompress and even miss the sport.

Force yourself to take a week or two so that you yearn to get back into your athletic routine. Once you do, you’re ready to tackle success once more.