So, it’s Off Season & Base Training time for most of us, right? - and I’ve been thinking about '06. And now I’m wondering what you guys think…
Brief backstory: My Training Plan for IMLP '06 starts in less than 5 weeks, and I CAN’T WAIT! Prob’ly because '05 was a washout due to injury. And without focus & a clearly defined goal I felt LOST.
My question for you guys: Do you…
1. Look forward to, feel comforted by & thrive when you’re faced with the structure, routine, and dedication required to train for your Next Big Race?
Or
2. Feel suffocated & stressed by the discipline & single-mindedness required, for however many months your Training Plan lasts?
Me? I LOVE it. Love having something I can count on. Love having a clearly defined path, and a goal.
Please share your thoughts…
** I am soooo digging everybody’s responses. Okay, I’ll fess up one last thing - I usually dread going to the pool, (unless it’s summer), but am almost always very glad while I’m swimming, (once I warm up), and am always very glad I did it!
Love it! The only time I dread it is when I have an injury. Then I get super pissed I can train the way I want to. It is weird because I get pissy about training, like I don’t like it and never will again, when I am hurt.
It varies from day to day. I cut back my training in October and started doing trail runs and mountain biking in lieu of road runs and road cycling to keep it fresh, but stayed on a 5-day/week regime. Now, 16 weeks away, I’ve decided to go for Ironman Australia on April 2nd, so i have to start ramping up the training really fast.
Some mornings, I get up and feel like (oh shit, time to pump the tires, get the water bottles, put on the clothes, get the cell phone, helmet, shoes, blah, blah, blah), but other days, I look forward to it. Without fail though, I always feel GREAT after I finish my workout for the day. I didn’t really take any time off, but this is my first full year of triathlon.
As for me, I can’t describe how excited I am with 2006 season. I hope to have a thrilling year and that keeps me totally focused and locked in this off season period. But the Christmas holidays usually hard the worst for me since I eat a lot, gain weight and somehow get desmorolized. But I’ll survive this year. I’m sure of it.
Above all I learnt to have a lot of fun and really enjoy training and that is keeping me moving.
mmm, it goes in cycles, sometimes I love it, well at least like it, sometimes it just draaaaaaags on. Luckily I have no real training plan;) Maybe a planned track session every week (which funny as it is I really look foward to). Don’t think I could stick to a plan even if I tried. What I really do love is racing, I train just for that. And none of this big goal setting for a big key race. It’s race as often as I can! I raced two weeks ago (got my first tri off-road tri win!), last weekend (local 5K win) and will probably race a sprint tri this weekend on about one ride and run per week for the past month or so:) But man the swims are starting to hurt… Either I’m getting faster without training or everyone else is even more on vacation than me! I have a nickname “Santa Claus” because I’m usually fastest every year near Christmas when there are no races going on.
An occasional workout I may dread but overall my training is my play time. I do worry about my husband’s response. Like many people’s SO he likes the trainng but wishes he could cut the volume in half.
At this point in my life I actually have the time to train and I really enjoy it. I spent years stressed that I might be taking too much time to train, sacrificing sleep, training at 4 am etc. Now if I need to train, I do it. It’s AWESOME!
I love riding my bike and running, and that is why I do it almost everyday. The time I spend out running or riding is a chance for me to get away from the stress and strain of everyday life and experience a couple of hours of peace and quiet that I need in my life. This gives me a certain amout of time everyday that I can turn my brain off from the issues of the day and just enjoy the simple pleasures of these sports.
I absolutely despise “training” and that is why I am not as good as I could be if I were to set a plan and focus on making the most of every workout. I still have days when I go hard and days when I go easy, but it is very flexible depending how I feel on a given day. Less structured training is a trade off that suits me well and keeps me in the game long term. When I have to focus on a strict training plan, the enjoyment of the sport goes out the window and training becomes a burden, just like anything that I am “forced” to do. When I used to race bicycles many years ago that is what I would do, plan all of my workouts and then work the plan regardless of whether I felt like it or not. Granted back then my results were much better than they are today, but after a while I would just become miserable and have a hard time getting on my bike and getting out the door day after day.
Since I am not a pro, or even a top level age grouper, I don’t want to take away the enjoyment I get from my lifestyle by forcing myself into a highly structured plan. I run and ride because I enjoy running and riding, not because my training plan says I need to. Even if I didn’t race at all, I would still keep the same level of training that I have today. When the enjoyment goes away, its time for me to hang up the bike and put away the running shoes until the urge returns.
Registering for races 12 months in advance is the carrot to get me out there. But I absolutely love the training. Even the 120 mile rides are fine (unless you ask me about 90 miles in).
Training is part of my life. When I have periods where I can’t do it…I start getting cranky within a few days. I might be able to get used to not training, if forced…but I’d have to have something happen like, maybe, becoming a quadriplegic…even then I’d probably be working every day trying to move. Training is a state of mind.
Similarly, I really don’t understand the need some folks have to distract themselves with music or videos while training, especially running. I hate running treadmills at the gym precisely because there is all that racket going on. When I run, I’m zoned in to my body, breathing, etc.
Every workout should have a clearly defined purpose, even if it is a simple 1 1/2 hour recovery spin on the trainer deep in the dark depths of January on a cold, 0530 morning in the garage. If I couldn’t answer why in the hell I was doing that workout, I’d be damned if you would find me out there at that hour. And no amount of computrainer or TDF DVD video or blasting Metallica could get me up and at it.
Lets say its November 15th, 2-4 weeks after your biggest or last race of the year…you’ve taken that time off, getting back in touch with the rest of your life. You head out to the garage to take the bike out for a couple of hours. If you can’t answer why in the hell you are getting on that bike, then why go? But don’t go thinking I’m saying that you have to be able to say “because this ride is important to Florida 70.3 next MAY” That isn’t what I’m saying. Maybe the reason is to reconnect with the bicycle in preparation for more serious base training in December and you haven’t even really set out goals for next year yet…whatever…
