Solving For X: a puzzle and a mindset

I’ve decided that I want to train for a Spartan. A Spartan sprint race is a 3 mile run with 20 obstacle courses scattered throughout—everything from scaling walls, carrying sand bags, and crawling through mud under barbed wire. More than wanting to do the race itself, I want the skill and strength to be able to do those kinds of things.

Spartan races require power—the ability to produce a lot of force in a shorter amount of time—so my trainer started me with some jumping work which is something i haven’t really done much of since a being a kid. A couple of weeks into the training, I developed a knee twinge after one of our workouts. It persisted throughout the day on my bike and climbing stairs. On the surface level of things, I slowed my day down a bit, took the escalator instead of the stairs, and tried to pinpoint exactly which movements triggered the pain. On a deeper level, I was panicking, I felt dis-abled in the most basic sense of the word, and I was extremely frustrated at being slowed down in my day and in the future plans I had for my body.

There are two ways the rest of this story can go. I could either decide that jumping isn’t for me, and maybe I shouldn’t train for a Spartan. Maybe I decide that I have weak knees, or maybe I completely avoid the loaded bent knee movement that I feel brings on the pain.

Or.

I can set out to solve a puzzle. The puzzle is based on the premise that instead of being a nuisance that should be avoided, my knee twinge is a message. It’s an alert from my body to just do things differently, because at the end of the day, jumping is actually a very natural human movement. So, how do I do things differently? This is where some good ‘ole self exploration comes in. The key thing I have to remember is that solving a puzzle, just like solving anything, is trial AND error. Error is part of the process of solving the puzzle . This means that some days, I try something new, and it clearly doesn’t work. Either the knee twinge doesn’t clear up, or it even gets worse. But the error is part of the research. It’s helping me solve the puzzle by helping my navigate my options.

May you think I’m crazy for my Spartan goals, keep the story relatable and substitute the Spartan race with any physical activity you’ve picked up of late or that is causing you pain (race training, yoga, hip hop dancing, jumping rope with your kid, rock climbing, literally anything). If you develop pain, or if you have already developed pain, can you frame your situation as a solvable puzzle instead of allowing it to create a new status quo of physical being? On the surface, the puzzle solving approach seems more daunting and a whole lot more work. But in the end, working with your body like a partner on your team rather than avoiding it may induce less fear (which has a positive effect on pain reduction), it may help you feel like you have control over the situation, and it will teach you a whole lot about your body in the process!

There are amazing personal trainers, physical therapists, and movement coaches to help guide us through processes like these — I am by no means suggesting we go it alone. But the mindset will define our experience, and only we have the power to change our mindset. And just to be clear, I’m also not suggesting that changing your mindset will magically make everything ok. It can totally still be frustrating! I’ve definitely gotten discouraged this week, but I’ve also celebrated some wins. Most importantly, I don’t hold the belief that I’m weak or broken. I don’t feel hopeless, I know the body is resilient, and I’m thankful for my body’s alert system, even though I’m still solving for X.

keep moving.