While foam rolling in our screened porch on Friday evening, I got bite by something (perhaps a small spider) and it caused my left foot to swell. And then came the full body itches that continued for almost two hours. Finally after taking some Benadryl and Zyrtec, the reaction calmed down.
Although I felt a bit off on Saturday morning, we continued with our plan of mountain biking for ~3 hours and following it up with a 45-minute trail run. My foot had calmed down and I was no longer itchy.
Once I calmed down, we went on riding. Karel took me up another trail that I had never done before but one he felt I could do. I hit my ankle trying to get over a big rock. I cried. I was so frustrated and dissappointed. I was not having fun.
Karel tried his best to keep me positive but after another hour of riding, it was just not my day. I was worried I would hurt myself more by trying to ride with no energy and no confidence in my skills. I didn't like that I couldn't shake my negative mindset and how I was feeling. For the past 9 months, I have loved my MTB journey. Even when I struggle, fall or fail to do something, I'm able to do so with excitement to try again - or move on. But today was not that day.
Eventually we decided that it was best to head back to the car after almost 2 hours of riding. I felt good with this decision because my head was just not into this ride and my body wasn't feeling it either. I felt bad that Karel had to cut his ride short as well (I told him to continue on and I would just wait for him but he was ok to stop). We ended up salvaging my bad workout with a productive 50-minute trail run off the bike - which was one of my better trail runs off the bike.
Although I had several valid reasons for having an off day, bad workouts happen - and that's ok.
We cannot expect our bodies to be physically primed and mentally engaged for every single workout. Life is constantly changing and we are constantly evolving.
It's completely normal to have workouts that don't go as planned. Sometimes the body does not want to cooperate. Let it go. Learn from it. Move on.
While I was able to easily move on, it can be hard to challenge your inner voice during and after a bad workout. You may find yourself.....
- Being extremely self-critical
- Forgetting your strengths and improvements
- Comparing yourself to others
- Using harmful words to describe yourself
- Thinking negatively, with blame and criticism
- Making radical changes or quick fixes to cope with uncomfortable emotions and feelings
- Blaming yourself instead of taking into account other factors
But you are not your workout.
Don't let a bad workout stop you from recognizing your strengths and abilities.