sports May 5, 2003 Issue

Finding the right momentum

By Pamela Guthman Kissock

As a triathlete, I know how wonderful it feels to be right on track (no pun intended) with your training. I also know how out of sorts you feel when you're not maintaining that level of discipline, and stray from your program or plan. The common thought about this is that the longer the break in training, the more difficult it is for you to get back into a regular routine.

Recently, in the middle of training for an Ironman event (which includes swimming, biking, and running), I fell in love, enjoyed a whirlwind courtship, got married, and moved across the country. The last thing on my daily agenda was working out, and this change of routine soon made me feel stressed—even guilty—about disrupting my regimen. I felt I was breaking a rule of some kind and damaging my goal to take part in the upcoming Ironman.

It was at this point, though, that my years of mental and spiritual training, through the discipline and study of Christian Science, kicked in. In my resolve to gain control over my feelings of stress, I began to reason in the following way.