Nick Symmonds: Setbacks
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry #4)
Posted January 14th, 2008 at 4:00 PM by Nick Symmonds
Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Elite Athlete Blogs, Nick Symmonds
Welcome to the official blog of elite American middle-distance runner Nick Symmonds. For more information about Nick please visit: www.nicksymmonds.com
There comes a time during every runner’s training where they are blind-sided by an unexpected setback; a sore muscle, a blizzard rolling through, a cold or flu. These are always difficult to deal with and I definitely feel that one’s ability to cope with setbacks reflects the kind of overall athlete that person is.
Over Christmas break I felt like I was doing a pretty good job of managing these challenges. I had a sore hip and through icing and heating was able to maintaining my mileage. There was a snow storm and though I had to shift my workouts from the track to the streets, I persevered. However, when I got back to Eugene I was laid low by one of the worst gastrointestinal viruses I’ve ever had.
I had a fever and was throwing up for three days strait. When the fever finally broke and I got my appetite back I was ten pounds lighter and very weak. Last Monday I began my recovery after taking four days off. I am happy to say that I am now again running workouts and have gained much of my strength back and throughout this whole ordeal I tried to remember the lessons I had learned from previous setbacks. They are as follows:
- Roll with the punches
- Patience is key
- Always remember the big picture
Unfortunately, I learned these lessons the hard way, through trial and error, and in an effort to pass on some of my knowledge gained through experience I will better explain myself.
The first lesson is perhaps the most important. In many aspects of my career as a professional runner I am forced to remind myself to roll with the punches. Whether its a meet that is running an hour late, a flight that is delayed, or a rouge storm, I try to just go with it. There are some things that are simply out of your control and all you can do is make the best of it. When it came to this flu, the virus had to run its course and that was that. I was tempted to try and run through the illness, but that probably would have prolonged my time off.
This leads me to my second point, patience is key! Elite runners are an interesting breed of athletes. There is a common saying that the only thing harder than running is not running at all. A five mile tempo run is tough but not nearly as tough as sitting on a couch sipping chicken broth and imagining my competition on the track killing a set of intervals. Fortunately, I have the wisest coach on the planet in my corner. Coach Gags is the perfect balance to my neurotic, obsessive compulsive behavior and without him I would probably still be ill. I begged him to let me run after my nausea had passed, and he insisted I stay off my feet until I had regained my appetite and put some of the weight back on. I know he wanted me back training as bad as I wanted it, but his 50 years of coaching experience told him a relapse could cost me my entire indoor season.
And this, of course, brings me to the third and final lesson. Never let your short term goals get in the way of your long term goal. At
the beginning of every year Coach Gags and I sit down and decide what our ultimate goal is and we then work back from there, setting up workouts and a race schedule that will help us achieve it. For me, 2008 is my year to be an Olympian and to represent the United States to the best of my abilities. The indoor season is an important part of getting there and my upcoming race in Boston is an important part of my indoor season. However, Gags was ready to pull me out at the drop of a hat if he though for a second I wasn’t ready to go out there and come back with a win. I am, at times, blinded by my short term goals and am grateful to have Coach Gags by my side.
Everyone must deal with setbacks their own way and draw upon the resources available to them. I find that ability to deal with setbacks is directly proportional to number of setbacks tackled. So, perhaps I’ve got one more under my belt now and am good to go for the indoor season.
Back to the track!
-Nick
To comment on this entry please click here and to send questions to Nick, please fill out the form below:
***Note: We encourage EVERYONE to see a doctor before altering their diet, taking a supplement and/or performing athletic, fitness or other strenuous physical activity. It is your responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, completeness and usefulness of any information, instruction, opinion or advice contained in the content. Please also see our complete disclaimer.***
Tags: coacg gagliano, elite athlete, elite athlete blog, elite athlete blog series, elite runner, gags, Nick Symmonds, olympic year, professional running blog, tfs elite athlete blog series, the final sprint elite athlete blog series, thefinalsprint.com elite athlete blog series, track and field
Like what you see? Subscribe to our feed!
The Final Sprint
[…] Read the rest of this great post here […]
January 15th, 2008 at 7:32 amhey nick what spikes are you wearing in the picture above? are they milers?
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:10 pm