Looking for positives

No coaching today, so instead it was a day for a bit of me time.

Me time today consisted of a paddle out on the stand up board on the river.

If I am honest it was not the nicest morning to be doing exercise outside today. Perth has decided to have winter this week (and last week by the sound of it) and so the weather this morning could best be described as wet, windy and wild. Not the sort of morning that invites you out the door and definitely not the sort of morning that invites you out onto the river. Still, if years have sport have taught me anything about myself it is I am nothing if not stubborn, so out the door I went.

I will admit to doing a double take when I got down to the river and I very nearly turned around and walked right back home again such was the unpleasantness of the conditions. A strong head wind and wind chop greeted me straight off the beach. The sort of morning where it can be hard to imagine what possible good a session could bring.

But, you know, besides learning that I am stubborn, years of training has also taught me something else too. Training has taught me that there is always something to be gained from a session. Sometimes you have to look pretty hard to find it, but if you approach a session with the right frame of mind every session will contain a positive, no matter how negative it may appear.

For me this morning the positive was the opportunity to do a bunch of out and back efforts off the beach, focusing on strength work heading into the wind and downwind work heading back to the shore. On top of that, rough water is always a great opportunity to work on stability, which is a major factor in just how well you can paddle a board.

If I hadn't been paddling, but running or riding instead the session could have contained similar positives. Opportunities to work on strength and pacing both into the wind and with it. Not to mention the mental strength and confidence that comes from knowing you are out training on the sort of morning where everybody else has rolled over and stayed in their blankets. The benefit that comes from that knowledge is not to be underestimated.

If I had been planning on riding but the weather had truly been too wet and wild for me to get out on the bike safely the the positive of the session would have been the opportunity to get on the trainer instead. Giving me the chance to do a beneficial session while staying warm, dry and safe.

In the end there is always a positive side to a training session, you just have to be willing to look for it.