I’m in nostalgic mood thanks to a couple of present day podcasts. It often seems to be the case that something I see or hear in daily life triggers a memory of something profound, or even trivial for that matter. Music, for instance, is synonymous with times past and one can often make a direct connection to a month, week or even day by hearing a single song. At least I can anyway. Then there are the cases of conversations – or podcasts in this case – that bring back things long forgotten, which can have relevance in the present day.
Phil Gaimon’s recent Real Talent podcast with Mike Creed is as entertaining as it is insightful. Two of professional cycling’s more no-conforming and offbeat characters, Gaimon is currently riding in the pro peloton while former-rider Creed now coaches USA Para-cycling after a two year spell with the now-defunct Team SmartStop. Both interesting guys with a world of knowledge and insight gained from an oft-trial-and-error approach in finding their respective ways.
Creed and Gaimon bemoan the over-reliance of quantifiable gadgets such as power metres, which they deem as an oft-limiting factor in maximizing a rider’s performance and reaching the next level. “I don’t want you to analyze your every footstep,” Creed would impart to his former charges pre-chrono effort. “What I want you to do is promise me that this will be a hellacious TT effort…and not hope it will feel good.”
Over in the sport of elite triathlon, Joel Filliol and Paul Westwood were recent guests on the excellent Physio Matters show. Filliol and Westwood work with such triathlon luminaries as Richard Murray, Mario Mola and Rachel Klamer, all major players in the World Triathlon Series and recent Rio Olympics. One might be forgiven for assuming a high-tech approach is part-and-parcel of their coaching and physio practices, one which involves lots of bling, outlandish mobility and flexibility regimens and sophisticated recovery tools but that is not necessarily the case.
Deemed by host Jack Chews as mavericks in their respective fields, coach Filliol and physiotherapist Westwood’s being labelled as such was actually complimentary in nature due to their eschewing of the “fluff” and “crap” that tends to get in the way of maximizing athletic potential. Both of these guys refer to themselves as “bullshit filters,” which in essence means that their job is to protect their athletes from the unnecessary, such modalities, therapies and/or interventions that don’t really add value in the long term. An athlete in pain doesn’t always require a physio intervening reasons Westwood, but can often indicate an adaptation process actually taking place. Tight soleus muscles are sometimes what it takes to reach the next level in running.
Both podcasts, while specific to different sports, do have a common message. Elite athletes – and athletes in general – can get stuck in idiosyncrasies and habits, believing that any deviation from these practices and reliance will be detrimental in their performance. Often hear cyclists going on how they can’t train without a heart-rate monitor or power metre and runners talking of their addiction to their GPS watches. Exact times and distances and intensities – the list goes on. Then there are the rituals that precede a race, time trial or even a simple training run: shoes have to be put on in certain way or their bike needs to be left in a certain gearing. As Gaimon says, it is all very well having these sequences and rituals while at home but once you arrive in Girona (adopted Spanish home to many English-speaking pro cyclists) to a tiny apartment and no water one has forget all of that and adapt.
This brings me back to the opening paragraph of this piece and why Gaimon and Chew’s informative audio has made me nostalgic. It has been just over twenty years since I began strapping my left foot and ankle before every run. The reason? I suffered from what I thought was shin-splints in April 1996 and reasoned that my world was about to end. After a few weeks of lower limb pain I consulted an orthopaedic surgeon who said I just needed to strengthen by calf muscles. He prescribed a daily dose of one hundred calf raises and was encouraging of desire to bandage my left foot for added support. This worked well for a while but what I failed to comprehend was that I had become totally reliant on these two solutions. I felt that I couldn’t run without my bandage and would make sure a step was handy for the compulsory calf raises and corresponding stretching post-sessions. My running revolved around this pre and post ritual, any deviation from which could spell imminent disaster. The reality was that perhaps I was going through an adaptation process or that something was amiss - or too commonplace - in my training. Maybe the solution to my shin-splints was to weather it out instead of rushing to seek medical advice. Who knows?
I laugh now when I think back to this time and listening to Gaimon and Creed and Filliol and Westwood recently brought it all back so clearly. No matter the level or ability, athletes in general could do well to give these two shows a listen. And get away from various self-limiting trends, gadgets and behaviours.
