First off, today marks day 39 without taking a day off from some type of training. I am feeling both really good and really tired. This season I vowed to make changes, make things better, and try to bring up the areas which will yield the biggest outcomes on race day, triathlon race day that is.
Some years ago one of my long time triathlete buddies turned me on to a term known as muscle memory. He of course was explaining how he was not too concerned over his lack of training going into a local tri because, as he put it, muscle memory would just take over when the gun goes off. I guess he had a point because when the dust had settled he had done pretty damn good. So, for the past few seasons I feel I have done exactly that race merely on muscle memory, not really doing too much to get better, but not really not training.. Seems sorta strange to write it out and try to explain it, but I am sure the seasoned athlete knows exactly what I am talking about. It's a self imposed limbo of satisfaction with doing the minimum to achieve an outcome which is pretty much not deserved, and if the outcome falls short then it's your escape out the back door of "Damn, I should have trained harder"! The problem lies in the fact that the outcome is usually off the charts because if someone has the confidence to race this way then they probably have the confidence and drive to push through the pain to will themselves to a podium finish. Truth is they are gifted in a way most people will never experience or have put in the time and effort to build such a motor through hard training year after year to be able to take advantage of such results. So yes I had fallen into this trap and probably used up a few years where I could have raced better, but like I said before, this season I am doing firsts, training and feeling better then I have in years. This week I am sitting at double figure hours with a whole day to go, that hasn't happened in quite some time. Expect what you deserve and deserve what you receive has been a motto of mine for quite some time and this year I am going to put it to the test!
As for the PR's, I have this thing where I will go the pool, jump in, and immediately swim a 2k for time. At first I was around 28 and a half minutes. I thought it was pretty good. For a few seasons I stayed there, especially during the winter months. Then I was creeping closer to the high 27 minute range and I remember thinking 26 minutes is on the radar. Last night I went to NMSU pool, jumped in, and swam a 27 minutes flat..Dammit! Was the first thought, but that was quickly replaced with Next Time!! I have managed to shave about :45 seconds in the last month, why? I attribute it to another first, Hot Flow Yoga class. I have never ever stretched my shoulders like that before nor have I held the type of strength poses we do in there. It has had a total and direct effect on my performance (after only three weeks). This season will also see me run in at least 4 half marathons (prior to my first triathlon) in an effort to keep the pain threshold high...and the muscle memory fresh!
Tour of the Gila has me excited about cycling again, so excited that I in fact took the aero bars off! Today was pretty windy in Cruces and I decided to ride outside...Ouch! The wind took it's toll, or maybe it's the fact that I haven't had a day off in a while. I am a good tired tonight thinking about some possible future posts, past cycling experiences, and feeling that burning in the my belly again...you know the one that tells you how bad ass you are going to be this season;)
Rubber Side Down!!
Interesting what you have to say about muscle memory Mike. I have never thought about training and racing that way but it seems clear(er) now. The only way to "truly" improve is to move out of one's comfort zone and try new things.
ReplyDelete