My Most Challenging Training Year was also the Most Important One

If you’ve read a previous blog (Great Family, Great Coaches=Great Accomplishments: Why 2014 was My Greatest Training Year), you already know I had an incredible 2014 in my personal and professional fitness goals. Everything seemed to point toward a better year in 2015 and I was primed to pick up where I left off in 2014. Unfortunately, I had some setbacks early in 2015 that taught me some valuable lessons. Because of my competitive nature, 2015 was my harsh reality check...I'm older (seriously, when did that happen) and that meant:

• I needed to realize my training mortality
• And I needed to find and embrace a balance away from athletic pursuits to allow my body to rest and recover

With age comes wisdom...and I know better than to
wear that outfit in the gym.

There’s a scene at the end of Rocky III between Rocky and his former rival turned mentor and friend, Apollo Creed about getting old. “Just keep punching Apollo”. It's a simple (somewhat cheesy) outlook given the stakes but it's something we can all relate to. I can't be as ignorant about exercise as I was in my early 20s. Luckily, with age comes knowledge and experience. The trade-off of placing an importance of gaining knowledge in health and fitness has been improvement in movement, strength and my physique. I can do things now that I couldn't do when I was in my early 20s. Learn from past experiences to make improvements and prioritize things better.

And I get it, it’s easy to look at a setback with self-pity (all I can think of is Nancy Kerrigan blubbering, “Why” over and over in my head). I’ve never had a training injury until this year. I was fortunate because my injury was minor and happened when I wasn’t prepping for anything special. I’m very thankful that:

• No surgery was required
• No long-term rehabilitation was needed
• No emotional letdown from bailing on any goals

I’ll put all of those in the win category.

Look, if this is the worse thing I experience in my training, I’m a very lucky man. I’ve had better years and greater successes but I believe that teaching and learning moments are invaluable. We rarely learn very much from our successes. It’s our failures and setbacks that define us and give us the greatest ability to learn, evolve and come back better and stronger than before. 2015 may not have been a fun year for me, but regardless, it was my most important one to date. Be smarter, be safe and best of luck in your training!