Be Like Bamboo

“Bamboo is flexible, bending with the wind but never breaking, capable of adapting to any circumstance. It suggests resilience, meaning that we have the ability to bounce back even from the most difficult times.Your ability to thrive depends, in the end, on your attitude to your life circumstances. Take everything in stride with grace, putting forth energy when it is needed, yet always staying calm inwardly.”  Ping Fu

This week started beautifully. I got out the door at 5:30 on Monday and had my run, strides and lift done by 7:00 and was in my chair for class at 7:30. I got an extra hour of biking in when I had some reading to do. Sure, I had the beginnings of a cold and had sneezed through the entire day, but I didn’t feel THAT bad.

Today I feel THAT bad. Due to freezing temps, I swapped my workouts and planned to do an indoor tempo run tonight after coaching. I felt horrible while I was skiing (nauseous, dizzy) but thought it was just the temps. I headed to the gym as planned, warmed up with Joey then hit the treadmill. Where I made it exactly 8 minutes. When the display started spinning and I felt like I was going to die, I called it and came home deflated.

What I’m trying to remember is that above all else, I need to respect my body and I need to respect the weather. It’s hard, with forecasted wind chills of -40, but it is what it is and I just have to make the best of my cold and the cold this week.

Be Like Bamboo.