By Dr. Joshua Stevens
Usually, this time of year my wife, Kara, is getting ready to celebrate another successful fall 5K season. Unfortunately, she was injured late this year and it derailed her racing. Begrudgingly, she settled into a three-month routine of pool running to maintain her fitness. In spite of her initial distaste for pool running she persevered and even convinced my sister and I to join her for many of these sessions. We all had a great time pool running together and were pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed these tough workouts. Seeing the value in this training and adding it to our own routine my sister, Dr. Angelina Stevens, and I have recommended it to several patients.
In the end, we all agreed to incorporate these injury-inspired pool workouts into our regular training routine. Kara was able to return to land running with a huge amount of fitness. She was happy she kept her focus on the bigger picture of next year’s racing season and not simply the loss of this one. It serves as lesson to all: what may discourage you, often has just as much power to inspire you. It matters more than the short-term results we often crave.
As you look forward to the Ramblin’ Rose this year, you may face many obstacles en route to and including the race itself. While your body, at times, may hurt from training be assured there will be new ways to cope with pain or heal from injury, which can also be the inspiration to improve on next year’s race. Good luck to everyone participating in Endurance Magazine’s Ramblin’ Rose Women Only Triathlon Series in 2010. We’ll see you out there!
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Joshua Stevens, D.C., is a holistic chiropractor in Chapel Hill and Durham where he utilizes chiropractic, acupuncture, detoxification, nutrition, and cold laser therapy with patients. A two-time Ironman finisher, he focuses on racing cyclocross and mountain bikes… much easier!
