In training and general health/nutrition advice that we give, we are almost always telling people to focus on the basics: Be consistent in your training, eat your vegetables, prioritize sleep over fancy recovery modalities. But there are time when small stuff—the tiny, niggling worries—really shouldn’t be ignored. These are the knee tweaks that have been happening on every ride for the last few weeks, the constipation that has become more chronic than you’d like to admit, the dull toothache that won’t go away, the furnace that’s making funky noises. The stuff that has the power to really derail your training (and the rest of your life) if it’s actually as bad as you fear, so in order to avoid getting that diagnosis, you just… ignore it.
Now, I am from an admittedly extremely avoidant family. We really, really like to pretend that things aren’t happening, whether it’s our health (“what, I feel fine!”) or the fact that the septic/roof/car/et cetera is on the verge of disaster (“what, it’s fine”) until things are really, really wrong, or until a doctor sends us for extra tests or lightning strikes the air conditioning unit and the entire HVAC system needs to be overhauled (true story).
House-wise, this gets expensive when you don’t check on things early on. Health-wise, it can not only be expensive, it can be everything from “longer recovery” to “dead.” Women are even worse about this, since we’re often taught (myself included) that to have a high pain tolerance is something to be proud of, and to power through any aches and pains.
This is a cycle I am trying to break, and have been for a while. It’s not always easy since often in the medical system, that doesn’t just mean one appointment, it means advocating endlessly for yourself and, yes, spending money.
Case in point, I’m writing this from yet another dental appointment for an ongoing issue. It may be nothing this time, or it may be a recurrence of the same thing I’ve been dealing with for the last couple of years. I could wait a little longer and see if the discomfort grows, or if it is just part of the healing process. Or… I could make time for a 10 minute appointment and actually know. Is it going to suck if I need to get more stitches? Sure. But would I rather wait for it to be an emergency and painful minor procedure vs one on my own time?
There’s another version of myself who absolutely would not have booked the appointment. She’d wait it out because she just didn’t want to hear she was in for another round of stitches.
Worried about that sore feeling and think it might be a fracture or a tear? Better to know. Feel something that *might* be a lump? Better to know.
Heck, even with the house stuff… it’s way better to call the electrician to check on that wonky outlet now versus waiting for it to really start sparking when you plug stuff in.
I admit I’ve put stuff like that off because I convince myself that it’s probably nothing and try to bury it in the back of my brain. But the reality is that no matter how hard I try, it’s still taking up headspace, it’s still something that’s adding that extra drop to the stress bucket. And sure, that drop may turn into a deluge if the worst is confirmed, but it’s that whole stoic philosophy thing where “A man who suffers before it is necessary, suffers more than is necessary.” Seneca sort of nailed the problem with worry here: stressing about something, even if we try to ignore it, is just a waste of time and valuable anxiety. Let’s save it for the stuff that actually matters.
Even if the appointment hopefully ends with a “nope, nothing to worry about,” it’s always better to KNOW. Sometimes, you win and all it cost you was some time (and likely some money, depending on what we’re talking about). But the cost of the electrician telling you it wasn’t a big deal and making a minor repair? Way more cost-effective than worrying about it for weeks.
Book the dentist appointment, the doctor appointment, the electrician, the physio, the bike fitter—whoever. Just stop ignoring it pretending it will go away.
