Training Notes
Falling in love, then out of love, then in love again...
11:53 AMFor most roadies, the fall and winter months are a special time to take a break from training and racing. For some, this involves heading out and participating in the much more laid-back atmosphere of cyclocross racing. For others, it involves reconnecting with friends on long, steady road rides and warm cups of coffee. It is the time when many head back into base training mode (and considering the holidays that abound during this period, it is a blessing that also helps us combat the excess intake of food).
Yet I always find the transition into the winter training months to be particularly challenging.
During this period, I am extremely demotivated. Maybe it's my goal oriented nature, but without anymore races to work towards, I find it difficult to want to saddle up. Or go for a really, really long run. Or to even bring myself to jump in a pool and swim (it is mental anguish to overcome the shock of a cold pool when it's only 40 degrees outside!). I can feel my new-found fitness there, bubbling away just under the surface. But I have almost no desire to access it. Running and cycling are basically all I know, so what do you do when you need to maintain fitness, but you no longer feel any love for your sports?
After years of this cycling through race season --> intensive training --> peak racing --> no desire to do anything --> couch potatoing --> begrudgingly beginning base training --> race season --> OMG I love to train!, I have finally found my solution for breaking the winter doldrums:
Seek Adventure.
It sounds pretty simple, and it really is. During that period when I'm trying to rest up and before I get back into pre-season structured training, I try to find a way to fall back in love with cycling and running again, and I do this by signing myself up for every type of adventure ride and run I can find. By doing this, I get to see my sport in a new light. Or reconnect with my sport in a way I haven't since training.
It shows me a side of my sport I have forgotten about, or not yet had time to explore, and it helps me remember why I fell in love with it in the first place.
Over the years, I've found myself competing in hard as nails trail races (and nearly breaking my legs in the process)... or riding the single hardest one-day cycling event in the region with two of my best cycling friends (I complained and bitched the entire time and wound up with mild hypothermia, but it's still one my favorite cycling memories)... or going out for a solo run on old, favorite routes (miss you, Jana!)... or trying something new and cycling in the snow with a friend (okay, that was really fun)... or getting my ass kicked nine times over as I spend an entire weekend cycling with the team at a camp that is definitely too hard for me (but I at least made some really good friends)...
Whatever it is, the point is that I get out there and try and do something that makes me extremely uncomfortable, all from the vantage point of my saddle or on foot.
It's amazing what a little R&R can do. By the time structured training comes back around, I've seen enough beautiful things to remind me why it is I want to train so hard in the first place, and I'm usually ready to hit it again.
That's my strategy anyway. What's yours?
After years of this cycling through race season --> intensive training --> peak racing --> no desire to do anything --> couch potatoing --> begrudgingly beginning base training --> race season --> OMG I love to train!, I have finally found my solution for breaking the winter doldrums:
Seek Adventure.
It sounds pretty simple, and it really is. During that period when I'm trying to rest up and before I get back into pre-season structured training, I try to find a way to fall back in love with cycling and running again, and I do this by signing myself up for every type of adventure ride and run I can find. By doing this, I get to see my sport in a new light. Or reconnect with my sport in a way I haven't since training.
It shows me a side of my sport I have forgotten about, or not yet had time to explore, and it helps me remember why I fell in love with it in the first place.
Over the years, I've found myself competing in hard as nails trail races (and nearly breaking my legs in the process)... or riding the single hardest one-day cycling event in the region with two of my best cycling friends (I complained and bitched the entire time and wound up with mild hypothermia, but it's still one my favorite cycling memories)... or going out for a solo run on old, favorite routes (miss you, Jana!)... or trying something new and cycling in the snow with a friend (okay, that was really fun)... or getting my ass kicked nine times over as I spend an entire weekend cycling with the team at a camp that is definitely too hard for me (but I at least made some really good friends)...
Whatever it is, the point is that I get out there and try and do something that makes me extremely uncomfortable, all from the vantage point of my saddle or on foot.
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| Getting my ass kicked on 100 miles of "fun", but hey, check out the view! |
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| We climbed. We conquered. Wait to see what we do next! |
That's my strategy anyway. What's yours?
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