Backing Away From the Edge.
One of the first things Janice did at our meeting was check my recent training history. Good practice, because she needs to know where I am before dumping a whole lot of workouts on me. Then she called me an idiot for doing so much volume and intensity during the couple months I have set aside for doing nothing. Instead of resting and generally not training, my profile shows I've been doing nothing but training. Training for what? Mainly burnout.
So, she laid out a recovery week with easy and moderate intensity sessions. None of that "sprint until you puke" stuff. Crank out a stable effort for an hour and then walk away. Sounds easy, right?
It's harder than you'd think. The puking is effective for breaking up the monotony of grinding away on a trainer. Maintaining a steady power level for a hour is mind-numbing. I constantly glance at the clock to see how long I have left before I can stop.
I know I need this. I know my intensity and recovery had meshed into "meh", and I was starting to feel a little bit dead. It's a dangerous time to feel that way, because blowing up before the habit of riding the trainer is fully ingrained is a sure-fire way to kill a good thing. The problem is that my mind and body aren't always in sync. The mind sees a number or other target and wants to chase it. The body doesn't always want to, but tries to gamely hang in there until it can't anymore. Mine fails in spectacular fashion at the worst possible moments.
So now I get to de-train myself a little bit to back away from the edge. I plan on being bored and frustrated for a week. When it comes time to do some work, the body will likely be ready to hammer away, but the mind won't want to. Fleeting moments of alignment are rare, so I've learned not to expect them.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to take a coach-mandated nap. This part I will totally rock.
So, she laid out a recovery week with easy and moderate intensity sessions. None of that "sprint until you puke" stuff. Crank out a stable effort for an hour and then walk away. Sounds easy, right?
It's harder than you'd think. The puking is effective for breaking up the monotony of grinding away on a trainer. Maintaining a steady power level for a hour is mind-numbing. I constantly glance at the clock to see how long I have left before I can stop.
I know I need this. I know my intensity and recovery had meshed into "meh", and I was starting to feel a little bit dead. It's a dangerous time to feel that way, because blowing up before the habit of riding the trainer is fully ingrained is a sure-fire way to kill a good thing. The problem is that my mind and body aren't always in sync. The mind sees a number or other target and wants to chase it. The body doesn't always want to, but tries to gamely hang in there until it can't anymore. Mine fails in spectacular fashion at the worst possible moments.
So now I get to de-train myself a little bit to back away from the edge. I plan on being bored and frustrated for a week. When it comes time to do some work, the body will likely be ready to hammer away, but the mind won't want to. Fleeting moments of alignment are rare, so I've learned not to expect them.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to take a coach-mandated nap. This part I will totally rock.
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