Saunas, ego and nurturing personal instinct
When does education stop?
This was the title of a stirring essay by the late James A. Michener, a highly acclaimed author of family saga novels with historical and geographical themes. I've got a printed out copy of Mr. Michener’s piece at home and have re-read it many times. I must admit to a feeling of intense motivation each time I read the essay, although I’m not always sure exactly what I’m motivated for. One thing I do know is that writings like these have led to a constantly evolving personal perspective of many things over the years as well as an unquenchable thirst for knowledge.
A famous former Le Tour winner once related how he loved testing his limits. In an attempt to understand his own physiology as well as the equipment he had at his disposal, the rider in question referenced such seemingly mundane examples as seeing how far a seat pin could be tightened until the thread stripped to observing his how his sleep patterns evolved through intended bouts of over training. One of his contemporaries even gauged his personal physical “hardness” by seeing how long he could stay in a sauna at pre-Grand Tour training camps!
Nefarious chemical practices aside, there is still much that we as amateur sporting enthusiasts can learn from those at the top of the sport. Even if meeting our heroes can inevitably leave us somewhat disappointed, there is so much to take from their knowledge and experience. Knowing just what to take and how to interpret the endless snippets of information available depends on the individual of course.
More importantly though is developing one’s own knowledge base through the much underrated and under-appreciated process of trial and error. An emerging passion of mine is the development of my personal instinct in the realm of my chosen sporting pursuits. As the years go by, I’m finding that the joy in the actual activity and journey of running and cycling are fast replacing the actual outcome (read: results/oneupmanship/”king of the hill”, etc.). Now this doesn't mean to say that I don’t care about how well I do relative to my peers in selected sporting contests - far from it in fact. Making the effort to pay an entry fee and line up at a race requires me go as hard as I possibly can relative to my fitness level. It’s just that the process of and being satisfied with this personal maximum effort mean more to me than the actual race result. Call me an existentialist if you like.
This sort of personal satisfaction and embracing the journey ties together with the aforementioned instinct development. And there have been some interesting instances in 2014, although not all euphoric.
The first week of August saw me feeling as flat as a pancake, although I’m not sure why. The last Saturday of the previous month saw my competing in an intense cross-country race in stormy conditions. As far as personal effort and actual results go, I did pretty well especially given the fact that I hadn't raced for about six weeks. Yet I was excited to be there; I was raring to go despite the wind and rain and eagerly anticipated the next round the following week upon crossing the finish line “maxed” out!
Contrast this positive and vibrant demeanour to one week later and I was a shadow of my former self. Feeling out of sorts and literally as flat as the proverbial pancake, my mind was elsewhere seconds before the gun went off. My usual body-language and penchant for starting hard with the front bunch was replaced with being content to follow my usual competitors. While trying to justify my following as tactical, the reality was that I didn't have the excitement or willpower to go with the group and I struggled with a below par result. A similar mindset prevailed two weeks later season finale. My race was over before I ran as I departed from my usual doddle of a warmup to a faster jog at a fellow competitor’s pace. In short, I gave my energy away right there, going against my natural instinct to warmup at a crawl.
But why was this?
Personal ego and departing from a pure approach are evident in the above two paragraphs. If you read between lines, a case of “this is nothing, can you imagine how good I’ll be next Saturday” in the first race cultivated a sense of attaching everything to the outcome of the last two events. A true case of ego and peer-pressure colliding. Interestingly, the very next day after the final race was bright and sunny and I reveled in a long run up in the local forests with totally different attitude. Free from the shackles of ego and personal expectation, I almost felt a sense of relief that the cross-country season was over. This emotion of elation is telling and reminded me of the sheer joy of the activity versus getting caught up in an unhealthy mindset amid the pureness of amateur sport. We participate for the love, remember?
Learning from my own mistakes – even recurring ones at that – is critical to personal development. Sometimes one really does have to take a couple of steps back to move a few steps forward. Such is the rollercoaster of life and boredom would no doubt set in if everything ran smoothly.
With a full marathon looming in under two weeks, I’m starting to get excited. I've had some great workouts, particularly over the past three Sundays, which have been breakthrough in nature. One critical aspect of developing one’s instinct is embracing the circumstance instead of trying to force things to happen. Synchronicity only happens if one lets it. I hadn't really planned to “breakthrough” on those particular Sundays; it just sort of happened that way as a result of an underlying - yet positive - momentum building over the past few months.
It is amazing how things start to fall into place if you just let them. An iconic athlete once related to a younger protege how, if he planned too far ahead, he wouldn't listen to his body. How profound a statement is that! Having a loose template that adjusts with the flow is far more practical and mentally easier than a rigid training schedule of miles, miles and more miles. Step by step, day by day.
Such is the flow of my own life that several commitments have cropped up, making the following ten days rather busy and to be honest, I wouldn't want it any other way. This Friday and Saturday will see me away working in the Boland area and the following Saturday calls for a strapping and taping course that afternoon. Were I to be following a conventional marathon training program I would no doubt be forcing several sessions to happen and a little stressed no doubt. An educational course the day before a major athletic event may not be the best thing for a conventional taper but I’m looking forward to it. Besides, I don’t like tapering anyway; the inevitable “cabin fever” is just not worth it. Personally, I prefer to seize the day, but that is just my opinion. Luckily the taping course is in the same suburb as the race registration so I can “kill two birds with one stone.” I’ll definitely train that day, and although I’m not sure when or how, I most certainly know why.
And that is the essence of enjoying the process whilst utilizing one’s own instinct in doing what is best on any given day.
It’s lekker being busy.
*Note: Header image borrowed from www.dailytelegraph.com.au
