Think Long Term

The weather was so good this morning. It was bright and sunny. It was a perfect day to go out for a ride... but I couldn't. My knee is still injured so I have stopped running and cycling; and recently, even swimming because it was aggravating my injury.

The past few months have been quite depressing. After I started my triathlon training in university, I became hopeful that I might be able to become one of the fastest triathletes in Singapore during my university time because I was training with really good triathletes and I was working really hard. However, because of my knee injury, I have not been able to run or cycle properly for the past five months. My knee felt better over Christmas; but as I rushed back into training, I injured it again.

To an athlete, not being able to train for such a long time feels insanely horrible. (Sorry for the depressing start! This post will get better, I promise!)

The racing season is starting soon. Every day, I wonder if I would be able to do well for the races, or if I could even race when the time comes. Recently, I started to think if it is good to have such an attitude. I quickly came to the realisation that it is a huge no! Having such a negative attitude is not helpful at all! It does not help my knee to recover faster nor make me feel good. What a retard, I was!

Talking to my teammates has been very helpful in correcting my mentality. Specifically, one of my teammates, Elo, asked me what my main race for the year is and focus on working for that. After thinking about it, I realised that my main race for the year is my half ironman in August. As it is still 5 months away, I should be focusing on resting and recovering for now. Also, I realised that I should not be too worried about the other races that are coming up soon because it is likely that I will not do well; but it is alright as they are not my main races for the year! :)

This experience taught me the importance of thinking long term. As I know that I would become slower immediately when I stop my training, I did not want to and did not stop my training. While I might have maintained my speed, my knee did not get the rest it needed.

Thinking more long term, I recognise that my main race (half ironman) is a good 5 months away and the training that I do now would not matter as much as the training that I do over the next 5 months. If I rest and allow my knee to recover properly, I would be able to train harder and perhaps become faster!

Having this right mindset is very important for me to get through this tough period and I believe that I can do it! C'mon, Alfred! :)

(On a side note, I feel that this could be applied to other aspects of our lives too. Many a times, I feel that I'm too focused on the daily grind and missed out on the bigger picture. Fortunately, this year, I decided to reflect weekly and monthly and review my progress against my goals. I found that it has been very helpful to ensure that I am reminded of the big picture regularly.)