last week on one of my morning rides to work, i saw my first leaf of the season fall from tree to ground. as i watched it gently land on the rec path that i was riding on, i looked at the tree that it had just been released from and noticed that, along with all of the other trees sharing that bit of grass, the leaves had started to turn from their rich, summer green to deep, rusty oranges, yellows and browns. in addition to the leaves changing colours, the air is cooler in the mornings, the sun rises lower, sits closer to the horizon in the evenings; the days are shorter, the winds have changed directions. fall is on the way.
as i patiently wait to get my MRI to acutely assess and diagnose my fractured tibia, my seasons have officially changed, too. i've finally accepted the fact that my racing year is over. early this year, when i had originally put my 2009 duathlon plan together, i had hoped to still be training for two more races at this time. racing from april to october split my year nicely in two: 6 months focusing on base training and building, 6 months focusing on speed work and racing. however, with one bad pair of running shoes my racing season has been cut short by two months, and the upcoming running portion my off season training has been set back dramatically to allow for injury recovery. before the severity of my injury came to light, i was hoping that i could have a few easy weeks of downtime in race season and still be able to get some end-of-year competitions under my belt. but now that i've been told by my sports chiro that i likely won't be running outside until december, i've humbly accepted that there's nothing i can do but be patient. a stress fracture can be a recurring injury if not treated correctly, so with my ambitious goals over the next few years in the sport of duathlon in focus, i'll take all the time necessary to ensure i heal properly. i got through my big races in 2009 before being sidelined, and my big race next year, the world championships, is at the end of next year's race season. that means that i need to ensure that i'm fit enough and strong enough to get through an entire season of racing before competing in my 'A' race.
so as summer changes to autumn, autumn to winter, i'm turning the intensity down and cranking up the duration of my workouts. for running, all i can do for the next three months is continue to run in the pool, but my cycling workouts won't be affected. i'm hoping to make some pretty huge strides this off season and want to come back in 2010 better, fitter, faster and stronger than ever. because of the downtime necessary to heal, it's likely that my running times won't come down to the point that i want them to be until about this time next year. which is fine. i'm perfectly ok with that. my focus for next year will be to remain injury free and i'll be taking a much more holistic approach to training from here on. all of my injuries this past year seemed to be caused by too much running and riding in a straight line. it's time to re-assess my game plan.
and i'd like to thank everyone out there that has offered me support after hearing of my season-ending injury. many have offered me advice and guidance, many sharing their own stories of dealing with their injuries and how, ultimately, sitting out with an injury helped them to grow as an athlete. some truly inspiring words of support came from a comment on one of my blog entries. magali tisseyre, a professional female triathlete from quebec, wrote, "ALL OF US get injured once in a while, it is part of being an athlete, part of our evolution, part of getting stronger! I think that the athletes that make it are not those that stay injury free, they are those that stay positive and consistent through adversity! In my opinion, you can evercome this for sure and will come back stronger mentaly and physicaly."
although my off season is starting almost two months earlier than i had planned, i'm more excited than ever for my 2010 racing year. i'll learn from this injury, heal, and bounce back from it stronger and faster than ever.
