Human beings are programmed to want more. More food, more money, more sex; we are greedy by nature. There are a few people who still buck this trend and I envy them. Being comfortable with what you have is (I think) a good thing. But thats not the way my brain works.
Going back to last week, I had an easy couple of days after my race in Kingston and then I was suppose to pick it up mid-week on. Well everything was going according to plan except my legs would not heal. I’m use to feeling heavy or “dead” but this is the sort of pain you feel after a really hard ride. Lots of sharp muscle pain in the legs. These are my usual first signs of too much racing or hard training. I was getting ready to hit the panic button.
Where do I go from here? Keep going as planned or take “gulp” sometime off. This is the part where the human brain has Jesus and the devil. Jesus says, “Brother, you gotta sit your ass down and take sometime off. You’ve had some good results and your not going to lose fitness. Have a nap oh and start going to church.” The devil says ” What are you crying about? Look at what everyone else is doing! They race every weekend and put in 30 hours of training a week and have kids and still have time to write a novel! Quit your complaining, have a smoke and get on with it!”
Both have valid points. Yes you can probably guess that I followed the man from aboves advice and it seems to be working. But did I ever have a hard time going against my brain saying go, go, go!
I think back to previous years and it seems at this point in my year I get caught up in always wanting more. Faster times or going harder when it should be easy. The balance between the two is what I’m discovering this year. How much ahead can you go without putting yourself behind? Or on a stretcher…
Looking further into last weeks issues was a level of underlying stress. I think from my rampage approach to Kingstons race and being left out in the rain aftrwards with no help really took on my body mentally. I needed to just relax and get rid of the bad vibes that were inside. So you can probably guess I slept them away.
Keeping your goals week to week really helps keep you in the now. This also helps keep the brain in check and not by its typical greedy self. And as always, if you need a day take one. Maybe you don’t need a full one but just a morning where you get to sleep in. Oh, and go to church!
Happy Trainin’
Cliff
