Yesterday was the day I had scheduled for my VO2 Max testing and while I think (or perhaps wish) I could have done better Coach Bob Flanigan said I did excellent. According to him my VO2 Max for my age group was in the superior/excellent range which after his explanation of everything made me (and the competitive beast inside of me) feel better.
I did somehow manage to tweak or aggravate my ankle towards the end of the testing as I came down a bit hard/awkward on my right foot. I have been dealing with minor issues with that ankle for 20 + years which the doctors say is probably due to a break that wasn't caught when I was stationed in Honduras during my military days so I am not worried about it. However as a result of that Bob decided that I should take today off and hit it again Friday. When I first saw Bob's message to take the day off I immediately thought I didn't want/ need to take the day off as I didn't want to affect my training in any way but my wife was able to talk me off the ledge and I acquiesced.
This morning after yoga (something I must admit I am enjoying) I asked Bob if I could run a little longer tomorrow since I was resting today and he told me no. I have to admit initially I was taken aback. See I was always the guy in high school and college that after practice was over would spend another hour or so taken ground/fly balls or hitting in the cage. Not sure if that was because I felt I needed to do it because I didn't feel I was as naturally talented as the other guy, if I thought that if this much practice made me good than a little more would make me even better, or if I was worried about the guy behind me taking my spot but I was always there doing it. I guess the competitive beast (or as Hannah referred to it, my ego) was alive and well even then. After hearing Bob explain to me that this training program was like a book and that missing a paragraph or a page is nothing to be worried about but missing an entire chapter was another story all together I kind of understood it better. Pushing myself to do more when banged up or even even skipping ahead to a place where I am not ready to be at yet could affect me reaching my ultimate goal. I signed up for this team as I had no idea what I needed to do to get better and achieve all I could and while at times the road may be difficult or hard to understand I am sure when I reach the end of this journey I will fully understand why I was on the path
As for that competitive beast living inside me, for now his role is to push me to my fullest at whatever the coaches want me to do and nothing more.
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