Tuesday, February 28, 2012
One step at a time.
Last week I had a frantic call from a client, panicking that she would not be ready for her big race in 2 months time. It brought me back to my days of training for Ironman Canada. I could fully relate to her fears as I had them myself. Even as I handed over my credit card to register, a full year before the event, I really could not fathom how it would be possible to swim 3.8km, bike 180km and run a full marathon. If I hadn't just witnessed 2000 other people do it just less than 7 hours ago, I would never even have attempted it. But I hired a coach who I trusted - so that is exactly what I did. I stopped stressing about whether or not I would be ready for the race and put my trust in my coach. I looked at each workout as an individual step getting me closer to the day when I would put it all together. Finally on race day, as I was singing the National Anthem, I had to laugh because it felt like "just another training day" and I had no doubt that I would finish that day.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Monday Morning
It was a Monday morning like any other - nothing special. But on this particular morning, as I awoke, I knew that something was amiss. Even before I had opened my eyes, I had a very unfamiliar feeling. As I rolled over to turn off the alarm clock, my body didn’t hurt. When I put my feet on the floor I didn’t almost fall over with fatigue. Standing up I noticed that my head wasn’t in a fog. I double checked my iphone to make sure I had the right day - was it really Monday? Bouncing into the shower I continued to mull over the situation, trying to make sense of it all.
Finally it hit me! This was what “normal” feels like! This is what a regularly sane person who uses their weekend to rest and recover for another hard work week feels like! Wow! A Monday without pain; what a concept! If you have ever trained for a big race, competition or event, you will know exactly what I am talking about. And if you have never experienced the Monday morning blues and you think I’m insane, I will try to explain.
This particular Monday morning marked the last few weeks of my two month recovery phase. It took one full month for my body to fully heal from the abuse (training) I had been assaulting it with since January. But it took my mind another month recover from constantly having the thoughts of training and racing at the forefront of my thoughts.
During the training season, Monday to Friday is peppered with weight training, yoga, spin classes and intensity rides and races. By the time you get to the weekend you are already tired. But if you have a full time job, these are the only two full days where you can get in your endurance rides lasting from three to six hours.
For me, like many others, Saturday morning begins at 6am with a 30min power walk with the dog. I eat a quick breakfast of oatmeal and then I’m pumping up my bike tires and rolling out the door to meet the Glotman Simpson group ride at 8am. By the time I make it back home again it will be well past lunch. After a quick bite to eat, it is another dog walk for about 60 to 90minutes this time and then dinner with friends and finally bed. Sunday is something similar but I swap the road bike for my mountain bike with friends and my dog. So at 5am when the alarm pulls me from my warm bed on Monday morning, I am far from “bouncing into the shower” to start another work week and my mantra that gets me through the day is usually,”It always gets better after Monday....”.
This tightrope balance of training to gain new strengths and recovering enough so you don’t drive yourself into the ground is a very fine line and often crossed unless closely watched by a coach and monitored by the athlete.
... and so with a sad sigh, I say goodbye to happy Monday mornings and hello to another exciting year of training and racing because the reward is worth a bit of grumpy mornings!
Finally it hit me! This was what “normal” feels like! This is what a regularly sane person who uses their weekend to rest and recover for another hard work week feels like! Wow! A Monday without pain; what a concept! If you have ever trained for a big race, competition or event, you will know exactly what I am talking about. And if you have never experienced the Monday morning blues and you think I’m insane, I will try to explain.
This particular Monday morning marked the last few weeks of my two month recovery phase. It took one full month for my body to fully heal from the abuse (training) I had been assaulting it with since January. But it took my mind another month recover from constantly having the thoughts of training and racing at the forefront of my thoughts.
During the training season, Monday to Friday is peppered with weight training, yoga, spin classes and intensity rides and races. By the time you get to the weekend you are already tired. But if you have a full time job, these are the only two full days where you can get in your endurance rides lasting from three to six hours.
For me, like many others, Saturday morning begins at 6am with a 30min power walk with the dog. I eat a quick breakfast of oatmeal and then I’m pumping up my bike tires and rolling out the door to meet the Glotman Simpson group ride at 8am. By the time I make it back home again it will be well past lunch. After a quick bite to eat, it is another dog walk for about 60 to 90minutes this time and then dinner with friends and finally bed. Sunday is something similar but I swap the road bike for my mountain bike with friends and my dog. So at 5am when the alarm pulls me from my warm bed on Monday morning, I am far from “bouncing into the shower” to start another work week and my mantra that gets me through the day is usually,”It always gets better after Monday....”.
This tightrope balance of training to gain new strengths and recovering enough so you don’t drive yourself into the ground is a very fine line and often crossed unless closely watched by a coach and monitored by the athlete.
... and so with a sad sigh, I say goodbye to happy Monday mornings and hello to another exciting year of training and racing because the reward is worth a bit of grumpy mornings!
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Giro to Whistler Race Report
My race started at 6:40am. I was awake at 4:30am. As soon as I heard the alarm go off, I was out of bed and in the kitchen making my first cup of coffee. Usually I am nervous about how I"m going to perform in a race. This morning, I was nervous about whether or not I would even be able to finish! I had spent the season, focusing most of my training and energy on the Tuesday night crit races, trying to gain enough points to move up into Category 3. I succeeded in doing this - just one month before the race. My long distance training consisted of three 120km rides and one 160km ride to Baker - not ideal. I knew I didn't have enough long distance base in my legs so I knew I was going to suffer. This of course came true but although I expected to suffer - I honestly didn't think it was going to be as bad as it was......
At 6:30am, I lined up with the other 23 girls in front of 7,500 other bikes and riders. It was such a thrill to roll out with the crowds cheering on either side. It was a beautiful morning. The sun had just risen and the air was already warm. It was a perfect day for riding. I was carrying just enough food and water to get me into Whistler in 4 hours. My race plan was to try to hold on to the pack until Squamish. After that, I knew it would just be a suffer fest to get to Whistler. I sat in the back of the pack, trying to conserve as much energy as possible. All was going well until the Furry Creek hill. They slowly pulled ahead and I couldn't force my legs to stay with them. I watched them glide over the top and then they were gone.... There were 3 of us left behind but we were too far apart to be able to work together. We all suffered alone. And suffer we did. As soon as the pack was gone, it was just you, the ever growing hills and the relentless headwind! My body wanted to quit and I still had 2 hours to go until I was in Whistler!!!
Although I had drove that road hundreds of times, my mind continued to play tricks on me. After every hill and every turn, I thought this HAS TO BE THE LAST ONE!!!! I just wanted to see Function Junction so I would know that I had made it - but it continued to elude me. It took all my effort to remain on the bike, continuing to pedal and keep a straight line. I played games with my mind to keep it focused and tried to ignore the screaming pain coming from my legs. Focus. Focus. Focus. At 3 hours, my bike computer stopped working which gave me some relief as I couldn't count down the seconds that ticked by. I tried to look at the beautiful scenery but I didn't have the energy to take my eyes off the road. The only other time that I can remember being this tired was in Ironman 2009. It was the same feeling of complete fatigue.
With one hour to go a friend rode by and told me to jump on his wheel. At this point I wasn't a contender in the race so I took the chance for a rest. I focused on the distance between our two wheels and worked at maintaining the smallest gap possible.
Of course much more happened in those four hours on the road, but I won't continue to bore you with my crazy racing thoughts, the drama of the effort and the people who passed me. In the end, I finally made it into Whistler, riding across the finish line all alone in 4:04:04 - my official time. It was the experience of the race that I wanted to have and that is what I got - an experience to remember. Although I placed and raced exactly as I thought I would it - it was a humbling experience and one that I am happy to have taken the chance to experience. It helped to remind me that you can't expect great results without putting in the proper training but also that the sky doesn't fall when you lose.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Taper Week
Taper weeks can be one of the most mentally difficult aspects of training. So I am writing this blog as a reminder to myself of the importance of taking the taper week(s) seriously and the benefits I hope to achieve if I am successful.
Every training season consists of phases. Each phase builds upon the other until you finally arrive at your peak fitness (once or twice in the season). However your actual fitness lags behind your training. It is not instant or immediate. You don't ride up a hill one day and become faster tomorrow. No. It takes repetitive and consistent strain on the muscles to force a change. And it takes time for the body to rest and recover before that change can be realized. We don't get strong when we tear our bodies up. We get strong by tearing them up and then resting, allowing them to adapt to the changes you have made so the next time you ride up that hill, you are stronger than the first time. This is our body's method of protecting itself - by getting stronger.
So far, it sounds pretty simple- right? And in reality the concept is simple. But lets put it into real life. For the last 8 months, I have been pushing myself to ride long (3-5 hours) on the weekends, do interval work at least once a week and ride 2-3 one hour to 90 minute segments on the other days. I weight train 3 days a week. So now, that I have to sit and recover, my body and mind are rebelling. Now that I have had a chance to stop, my body is realizing the aches and pains I have been ignoring. My brain is feeling lazy from not going from one activity to another at warp speed. What do I do with 6 hours of extra time on a Sunday morning? My instinct is telling me to train hard to get faster but my smarter mind knows that it will only be to my detriment. I have done all the training I can to be as fast as I can on September 10th. No more riding, weight training or amount of exercise is going to help me be faster on race day. It will only make me slower. My only focus at this point - 7 days before the race is to follow these 6 simple rules:
1. sleep lots
2. eat well
3. stay hydrated
4. continue with very light activity less than one hour in length
5. reduce stress
6. use my extra time to envision my race as I hope it to be because if I can see it happening in my mind - it has a better chance of becoming reality
On race day, I hope to wake up, anxious and ready to ride. I want my body to be itching to hurt on the bike. I want my mind to be prepared to push into the pain zone for at least 4 hours and not cave in. I want my skin to feel like it is going to crawl away from my body because it is so bored with the time I have forced it to stay still - to chill - to rest. I want to feel the jitters of the race but the feeling that it is time and I am ready for whatever the day brings. I may finish successful. I may finish with a new learning experience. Or I may not finish at all. But I will be ready.
Every training season consists of phases. Each phase builds upon the other until you finally arrive at your peak fitness (once or twice in the season). However your actual fitness lags behind your training. It is not instant or immediate. You don't ride up a hill one day and become faster tomorrow. No. It takes repetitive and consistent strain on the muscles to force a change. And it takes time for the body to rest and recover before that change can be realized. We don't get strong when we tear our bodies up. We get strong by tearing them up and then resting, allowing them to adapt to the changes you have made so the next time you ride up that hill, you are stronger than the first time. This is our body's method of protecting itself - by getting stronger.
So far, it sounds pretty simple- right? And in reality the concept is simple. But lets put it into real life. For the last 8 months, I have been pushing myself to ride long (3-5 hours) on the weekends, do interval work at least once a week and ride 2-3 one hour to 90 minute segments on the other days. I weight train 3 days a week. So now, that I have to sit and recover, my body and mind are rebelling. Now that I have had a chance to stop, my body is realizing the aches and pains I have been ignoring. My brain is feeling lazy from not going from one activity to another at warp speed. What do I do with 6 hours of extra time on a Sunday morning? My instinct is telling me to train hard to get faster but my smarter mind knows that it will only be to my detriment. I have done all the training I can to be as fast as I can on September 10th. No more riding, weight training or amount of exercise is going to help me be faster on race day. It will only make me slower. My only focus at this point - 7 days before the race is to follow these 6 simple rules:
1. sleep lots
2. eat well
3. stay hydrated
4. continue with very light activity less than one hour in length
5. reduce stress
6. use my extra time to envision my race as I hope it to be because if I can see it happening in my mind - it has a better chance of becoming reality
On race day, I hope to wake up, anxious and ready to ride. I want my body to be itching to hurt on the bike. I want my mind to be prepared to push into the pain zone for at least 4 hours and not cave in. I want my skin to feel like it is going to crawl away from my body because it is so bored with the time I have forced it to stay still - to chill - to rest. I want to feel the jitters of the race but the feeling that it is time and I am ready for whatever the day brings. I may finish successful. I may finish with a new learning experience. Or I may not finish at all. But I will be ready.
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