Ol' Tendencies Starting to Cry for Attention
I'm new. Love the place, the system, and the people.
But, I'm noticing something that may come as no surprise to some of you. As the weeks have gone on (since Oct), I'm beginning to feel a little more tired. Maybe its the holidays, but whatever. But, here's the deal....the more tired I get, the more I feel like I need to be UPPING the volume. I am keen to this, you heard me right, the MORE tired I get, the MORE time I'm itching to train. As if, I'm going to train myself out of this 'funk'. Like, exercising away a cold or something. Any other newbies relate to this? I recognize the value of recovery and well positioned off days, but like most self 'coached' trigeeks, I want to bust thru them...cuz I'm different, right?! I'm starting to consider 2/days or extending workouts, for example.
It's an odd awareness. But, when, I signed up with EN, I committed to listening to the coaches and people who had much more experience than I. And, because of that committment, I will....stand down. I will work hard, within the scheme of the planned workouts, and train smarter, not longer.
It's because of you guys that I have this chance. Finally, for once, maybe I won't make this same mistake that I seemed to have made every year since I started this stuff.
Thx for the opportunity,
Chris
Comments
Chris,
Trust the system and enjoy this time of the season. You'll get plenty of what you are craving once you get into the race specific plans. If you think your tired now, just wait. Whe you start dropping 50 minutes of FT intervals into a 2.5-3.0 hour ride with the remainder of the time at 85%, you'll look back and be glad you took the rest now. This stuff really works, but its different than the stuff you hear all the time about volume.
Anyone can follow a plan for a few weeks. Only the motivated and dedicated are able to stay the course. Of course those are the ones that make the biggest gains. Thats ok though as there is only room on the podium for 3 people. Triathlon is littered with people that make the same mistakes year in and year out. It is just as true about training as it is about race day execution. I have often been included in that group.
How about this, give it the entire season. Follow the plan. Do not think for yourself. If at the end of the season you think you left a lot on the table, that you wouldn't have been as tired if you trained MORE than you can adjust accordingly. Point being that if you do not give it a chance you will never know if it will work for you or not.
If you are tired you need sleep, recovery, better nutrition. I think the "rest" days can really cause many of us to go nutty because we aren't used to doing "nothing". That's OK, if you must fill that space, fill it with good self care. Stretching, core stability work, an easy Yoga class (no Hot Yoga), even (shhhhhhh- I didn't say it) swimming (focusing only on drill work and form- no hard intervals). Your head likely has the bigger problem than your body does with this whole thing.
It's refreshing to know that the right thing to do, in this case, is to 'stay the course'. Well said.
I did most of the OS last year (my first time) before exiting for race prep - and I know what you feel like as far as the 2 a days, etc. that I could or should be doing more, that 45-60 min a day wasn't all that much... so, I added strength training and some pool time (once a week for each). I didn't kill myself doing either.
Not sure if you have a SO or not, and i'm not sure when your A race is next year... but if you have a special someone, spend the time with her bc come summer, when you're spending 4-6 hours training on Sat morning and another 2-4 on Sunday, that won't really be an option.
HTFU! Work harder, not smarter! Show that brick wall who is tougher!
wow, that was very, very funny. I so wanted to fit in there. Alas...I never will, I live on the east side.