Monday, November 17, 2008

Monday 0 miles

Busy day with mortgage stuff, Benny, inspection on the house.. not running has been a good thing with all this happening. I think if I had had a moment to myself today I may have went out and exercised. The feeling that I am ready to start back is creeping in again but I often tell my athletes- wait until you are dying to exercise. My body is feeling ready but that is only a small part of the equation- although I think it is (literally) larger now. The mental break is critical and I want to wait until it is ready to go again. It'll let me know..
This time of the year is always the hardest with the holidays looming. It seems like December is the hardest month to train, sort of like an evening after a hard day's work... but there was fudge and cookies and 2 huge turkey dinners in the break room. January it seems, sees athletes raring to go again. I've always liked sunrises and Januaries, they're beginnings.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the insight on when to feel ready to get back to it.

I cane myself all season then, when it comes to the off season I get a guilt that I should be training but know that I need a break. I struggle with that every year, this year the guilt has turned to depression.

But you know what? After a number of false starts, I am starting to get 'that feeling again'. I swam breifly yesterday and I even got the bike out this morning to commute.

"January it seems, sees athletes raring to go again. I've always liked sunrises and Januaries, they're beginnings."

Guess I'll keep it light and unstructured until January then.

Cheers.

CT

PS I came to your blog via beth at Californiatrainnig.

Lucho said...

Oy- Thanks for comment on my blob..
I think end of season depression is common. I have learned though to really look forward and focus on the next season. You should be excited! Look back at last year's training logs and note all the good things that seemed to work for you, then note all the mistakes and make a point to correct them next season. I find that keeping myself 'busy' in this way allows me to keep a positive outlook.
The end of season break should also be planned around your 'A' race of next year. The ideal focus for a training period is usually ~20-24 weeks. This is plenty of training time to peak appropriately. Between now and January you should be training as much as you feel like with a 'fluid' schedule.. let it flow around your life's commitments and motivation. Relax man ;)
Cheers!

Anonymous said...

YW!

Thanks for the pointers. and the relax man commemnt. Just what I need. :)

Despite logging my training on line at Beginner Triathlete I have never really used it for analysis, more as just a record.

Next year my A race is looking to be in October, 20-24 weeks prior to that is May, so plenty of time to relax.

Anonymous said...

now you've really gone and got my interest piqued. how'd you know? training...blah-blah-blah. a million blogs out there like that. keep yours real. i agree, the mind, body and spirit need breaks until january. final thought: glad you chose the mountain home.
-ds

Lucho said...

Thanks ds.. was there REALLY any other choice? ;) Our hearts were in that home the second we walked in..
I'll try to keep it real.. I agree with the "training...blah, blah, blah".

chr15- training logs are super useful to learn patterns that are specific to you. They're the #1 tool for improving from year to year.
It looks to me that you could pick another 'A' race for late April? That would give you some motivation for the winter. Take another 1-2 week break after the rest and start over..

RUNssel said...

love your current tracklist lucho. perfect tracks. THX