Pushing Through Pain; Exhaustion

More often than not, you will deal with some sort of minor, short term pain during training, such as leg or stomach cramps, exhaustion, or even lack of sleep.  Battling through these minor pains are essential during training, because you never know when you may have to deal with the exact same situation during the race. This makes you comfortable so that you can conquer every situation that is thrown at you, because you have the experience of dealing with the problem.

For instance, yesterday I fell victim to a terrible foot cramp about a half mile into my 1 mile swim.  I swam through it, because I wanted to know what it would feel like, just in case I had one during a triathlon or a long open water swim. It is especially important to know what any cramp feels like during a swim, because if you get one during an open water swim, chances are, you will not panic.

If you feel a cramp coming along or are completely exhausted druring a run or swim, push through it and do not stop. These types of situations can happen during a race and if you think something will never go wrong, you will be in for an unpleasent suprise.

Take cramps, minor pains, or exhaustion as something you could do get better. If you get cramps frequently, you are not taking in enough water or are not doing a good enough job during warmups before your workouts. For proper water intake, please refer to a past post by Nicholas Norfolk, “Water Is Your Friend.”

Remember, all minor pains are temporary. You may feel uncomfortable, but sometimes when it’s hard to put one foot in front of the other, that’s what improves you the most.

“You must break out of your current comfort zone and become comfortable with the unfamiliar and the unknown.” – Denis Waitley

The ICEdot Crash Sensor attaches to a helmet and notifies emergency contacts of a crash and your location. Be the first to own one. Sign up for our Crash Sensor newsletter and we'll email you when it's ready to purchase.