Posted January 14th, 2008

Welcome to the official blog of elite American middle-distance runner Nick Symmonds. For more information about Nick please visit: www.nicksymmonds.com

There comes a time during every runner’s training where they are blind-sided by an unexpected setback; a sore muscle, a blizzard rolling through, a cold or flu. These are always difficult to deal with and I definitely feel that one’s ability to cope with setbacks reflects the kind of overall athlete that person is.

Over Christmas break I felt like I was doing a pretty good job of managing these challenges. I had a sore hip and through icing and heating was able to maintaining my mileage. There was a snow storm and though I had to shift my workouts from the track to the streets, I persevered. However, when I got back to Eugene I was laid low by one of the worst gastrointestinal viruses I’ve ever had.

I had a fever and was throwing up for three days strait. When the fever finally broke and I got my appetite back I was ten pounds lighter and very weak. Last Monday I began my recovery after taking four days off. I am happy to say that I am now again running workouts and have gained much of my strength back and throughout this whole ordeal I tried to remember the lessons I had learned from previous setbacks. They are as follows:

1. Roll with the punches
2. Patience is key
3. Always remember the big picture