I’m returning to triathlon after 10-11 years off and I’ve noticed something about training methods for the sport, and endurance sports in general. Minutiae.
Because of advances in science and technology, we’ve become obsessed with, heart rates, LT thresholds, zone 1…2…3…4 ½, all these data-intensive ways to monitor and govern training . Gone are the days when you go out and either train hard or easy–or somewhere in between. Everyone has got so much crap strapped to their body that I sometimes wonder if they’re even aware how to “feel” different efforts without the aid of a gizmo. And then there’s the time consuming interpretation of that data after a session or race is done!? I realize that some people actually get a kick out of that sort of thing, more power to them. But personally, I like endurance sports because of their simplicity…basically it’s about who can get from point A to point B the fastest—how you do it is entirely up to you. I like to feel what my body is doing versus reading it on a watch. Sick as it may sound, I like the metallic taste of capillaries popping in the back of my throat on an ass-cold Minnesota morning, sweat stinging in my eyes on a hot day, nausea induced hard efforts, the sheer beauty of the hills, sky, sun moon around me…and I wonder if some if that is being lost when consumed/bombarded with data and not paying attention to and enjoying the moment.
Really, do you guys think that our obsessions with details, complex training/monitoring, and gadgets takes away from the raw, pure fun of endurance sport?
Matt