Knowing when to say when

So in the last couple of weeks I have DNF'd my first race ever, and won a weekend long challenge that involved a 5k run, reverse tri, bike TT, and duathlon from Friday to Sunday in pretty brutal conditions.

I learned a lot the last couple of weekends of racing, I learned the most from the DNF though. It was my first, and in a 5k of all things! The last 6-8 months have been a struggle for me. Knee issues, then knee surgery, and now still, recovery. Recovery is hard, you need patience, you need to create a understanding with yourself that you have to accept what is ahead of you even if it wasnt what you were "planning" in your head. My "plan" for this particular 5k was for a TT effort, and to set a baseline 5k to then train all season and run one again end of season and see if I can hit my open 5k goal. It was a warmer, very windy day out at Metro Beach and I tried to push into the wind. While I wasnt running quite as fast as I knew I could, that push into the wind and altering my running style tweaked my knee in a way that did not feel right at all. So, at mile 2, I stopped, dead stopped, and walked it in. Humbling. I felt bad watching everyone else run by me and offer words of encouragement to keep going, "come on your almost there!", etc, knowing that I should have been finished long ago, and you cant exactly explain the situation to them! Granted, it was the right decision, but humbling still.

Considering I came back that week feeling good, and was able to pull off the next weekend of racing just fine, I know it was the right decision since its consistency that pays off and not one workout alone. A year or two ago, I would have not made this decision, so mentally, Ive come a long way. Dont get me wrong, I still know when to keep pushing when its the mind playing tricks, but Ive learned when the body is truly saying no and not just playing tricks on me. I consider this a very valuable lesson learned :)