While I was a swimmer at university, our coach often told the team, Fatigue makes cowards of us all. Since we were young, determined and ambitious, we listened to him and battled the exhaustion we inevitably felt after spending 30 hours a week in the pool while trying to study and retain some semblance of a social life. Although we were fit, really fit, by the end of the season, we were all mentally and physically spent, and our year usually ended in disappointment.

When I switched to triathlon after university, I applied the same determination and discipline I had learned in college to the pursuit of moving up through the pro ranks of multisport. But, even though I had a degree in physiology, I failed to apply the principles of human limitation to my own body, and I eventually developed a case of chronic fatigue as a result of overtraining.

Continued...