I had forgotten the workout. Well, that’s not entirely true. I knew had the usual 300 yard warmup and 300 yard cooldown. And I knew I had to do 150-yard sprints seven times. But I had forgotten to check the time goals before heading to the pool deck. Not in the mood I mentally said, “forget it” (or some version thereof) got in the pool and put my head down.

This is not how I typically approach my workouts, but this was the place I was in. So instead of fighting it, instead of trying to change it, I just went with it. My first interval felt OK. I was more focused on the second interval and improved my time by 10 seconds. Ten seconds? Really? Let’s bring it then. I pushed and pushed the final intervals. When I got home I realized I was way too fast — about 10-13 seconds too fast — than what my coach had asked me to do. I smiled.

Granted, this is not always a good thing. Every single workout, even interval workouts, are not designed to go as fast as you can. There are lessons to learn about pacing and ways to train the body. Plus, I’ve just upped the ante for my next interval workout. While I mostly like the challenge, there’s that part of me that knows going faster means faster expectations are coming down the road. That’s how growth happens. It doesn’t have to be a struggle, but it is uncomfortable and sometimes hard.

It’s true in training and true in life. Where am I feeling uncomfortable? What is hard to me right now? That’s a sign on the verge of a breakthrough to something wonderful. And not knowing exactly what it is? Well that’s the adventure part of it all.

Congratulations to John who won the free set of Hit the Deck! workout cards from Powerhouse Performance Coaching.

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