I've been sleeping very well over
the past two weeks. Not that sleeping is normally a problem for me, but
considering the accumulated fatigue from a busy summer topped off by a maximum
effort at an ultra-marathon and it is no wonder that evening bedtimes have been
rather earlier of late.
The human body has its limits, the
recognition of which is something many athletes have trouble accepting or even
acknowledging. I have learned the hard way over the years, where not paying
attention to those little signs telling me to ease back have tended to come
back to bite me later on down the line. Reigning in the impulse to do more or
go faster has proved and continues to be a challenge at times, although I do
feel that I'm getting better at tempering my impulse.
Training by feel and intuition might
be scoffed at by many but, if properly applied and embraced, can be a truly
growing experience, both physically and mentally. A few post-race conversations
of late have left a few people exasperated at my seemingly laid back approach.
After a recent intense 10km road race, a fellow competitor relayed how he would
rather run hard every day thus maintaining proper running form and eliminating
“junk” mileage. My lack of consistent speed-work was my “problem” in his eyes
and was holding me back from faster times.
What is “junk” mileage? The term
means different things to different people. My own understanding of this
“almost cliche” is exercise that is in the all to common grey zone, i.e. 70-90%
of maximum effort.
As I limped away from the finish of
the aforementioned ultra-marathon one week after the above chat, another fellow
runner wondered why I wasn't considering participating in a fast and flat 15km
the following Saturday after I said I would probably only see him at the third
cross-country league race in late May.
I honestly couldn't even imagining
lining up for an event so soon after such an endurance test of 35 miles on
foot. A classic example of the mind controlling the more impulsive nature of
giving into peer pressure. It just takes a little bit of reason.
Both of these examples validate the
“more is better” mentality that is so rife in sports. While my peers compete
week-in and week-out, I simply do not have the will or desire to follow their
example. For me, competitive sport is truly enjoyable when I'm truly inspired
and motivated to push my limits. This means only racing when I really feel like
it, which in turn requires me to give a 100% effort and nothing less. I
probably could try to keep up with the racing schedules of others, but at what
cost? Health and fitness is what I strive for after so many years of
exclusively pursuing the former. I do understand that this approach may seem
fluffy to the hardcore tri geeks out there but my sporadic maximum effort race
performances are just the right amount of “red-lining” for me; I look forward
to them and I take them as seriously as any other racing snake.
On the flip side, recovery from
short or long distance competitions is taken equally seriously, although I rarely
cease daily exercise during these periods; I just go slower than my usual slow
and shorter than my usual short. If I took inventory of my own minor ailments
post-Two Oceans, the list may look something like this:
- a mild case of tight adductors (cause: extreme road cambers).
- stiff and sore left calcaneal bursa, a permanent battle scar of mine from years of wear and tear and tight soleus muscles (cause: excessive hill climbing and race pace).
- excessive hunger and thirst after four hours on the road (cause: glycogen depletion).
- a feeling of general weariness, understandable after a running race of such distance but more of general fatigue accumulated from the previous few months of work and adventure (cause: extended period of burning the candle at both ends).
Remember the old adage of not
running before you can walk? I took that saying seriously and walking normally
without soreness became the basis of my daily regimen for the ensuing few days.
Some gentle pilates movements complemented the time on foot, with a dry needle
treatment releasing the 56km of stress in my lower left calf muscle. Cold dips,
consecutive nights of ten hours sleep and lots of nourishment had me feeling
fairly normal a couple of days later. Wednesday dawned bright and sunny and
with it an urge to see how the body was feeling. A jog of around twenty minutes
followed by some drills revealed residual tightness but a general feeling of
well being.
Perhaps the key indicator of my
daily physical condition is the basic push up. This simple exercise almost
always gives me an honest assessment of how I'm feeling. Sometimes I can fly
through fifty repetitions like it is nothing; other days getting to my minimum requirement of thirty-two is an effort
in itself and a signal to scale back considerably. It is amazing how a
seemingly asinine little exercise can be so accurate in determining how we
feel. In fact, I think we all know deep-down how we are feeling and just need
some form of physical validation for peace of mind.
It has been fourteen days and I have
yet to achieve that effortless set of push ups. I'm feeling pretty good
physically and mentally, no doubt influenced by the great autumn weather and my
return to cycling after an enforced three month hiatus. Daily jogging is evolving
into running at a very comfortable clip.
It never ceases to amaze me how the
basic principles of endurance training have remained pretty much the same over
the years. While searching my bookshelf for the dictionary the other day, I
came across an old copy of the now defunct Triathlete Magazine circa 1995,
containing an article that had a lasting effect on me. Written by a former pro
triathlete and then Masters World Champion, this short piece extolled such
principles as proper technique, excessively slow training pace and weekly stair
climbing in a high rise building. Possibly among the best two hundred words
ever written on the subject of physical preparation, with the opening paragraph
reading as “his experience, and results, launch him into the position of sage,
ready and willing to help others excel, while avoiding some of the common
pitfalls of the sport.”
A great read, which I had trouble
digesting two decades ago but now fully endorse.
Keep it simple. And sleep.
