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Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Oh, the "Off Season" Part II

Part I of The "Off Season" was about the type of workouts that are done this time of year. Now, I'll talk about the Mental Game of actually doing the workouts! Planning races, reviewing the last season, and hanging out with family keeps motivation up. It really does. But staying motivated to complete the arduous task of long workouts with no discernible race in sight, cold weather, and lack of sunlight hours, requires a strong mind.

Someone once said to me, "Yeah, well it's easy for YOU." I was shocked. Really. In fact, I still gasp when I hear those words in my head. As if there is some special brand of person that WANTS to get up at 5:00 a.m., put on a swimming suit in freezing weather, only to be yelled at from the deck; "OK, go. OK, go," every time you hit the wall. And then, put sweats on over the wet swim suit (because I still haven't learned that this is not a good way to leave the Rec center in 20 degree temps). Literally freezing, I walk out to the car and SCRAPE THE SNOW OFF THE WINDOWS WITH MY KICK BOARD! I take it personally every time. The injustice of it all when everyone else is sleeping!
This is my trusty snow scraper
Then, I drive to the next gym, stick my bike on the indoor trainer, stare at a wall for hours and hours until it finally comes to an end and I go home to eat real food. Are you kidding me?

Note: I do enjoy the lifestyle, even during the winter. Honest. But, it isn't always easy. This is to let you know triathletes are human and we like warmth, donuts, and hot chocolate as much as the next person. But we also like to train.

This is the wall I stare at for hours on my indoor bike trainer
By turning my head slightly, I can stare at a different wall, as seen above

Well, news flash here. I don't think I'm alone when I say this is a difficult time for even the most hardened, soul-less triathlete out there. A) It's hard to convince yourself to do this and B) It's hard to convince yourself that it will make a difference in the long run!

Talk yourself into walking out the door:
This is a frequent conversation in my head--

Self 1: Go do your workout.
Self 2: It's cold/wet/freezing, snowing, raining/hailing, icy...
Self 1: Go do your workout.
Self 2: No.
Self 1: Do it.
Self 2: Nope.
Self 1: I'll let you have a cookie.
Self 2: Hmmmmm.
Self 1: You don't have to do all of the workout. I know it's long...
Self 2: OK

Self 2 falls for this every time even though I've never been rewarded with a cookie and I can't remember the last time Self 1 let the workout be cut short. Well, maybe once or twice in the last "I can't remember how many years". But anyway, Self 2 is gullible and doesn't learn from experience.

Talk yourself into doing the whole workout or the actual assigned workout:

Since I love math and logic, I'll insert a scientific fact here.

*1 hour in the pool feels like ---1 hour in the pool
*2 hours on the bike outside feels like--- 1 hour on the bike.
*2 hours on the indoor bike trainer feels like ---2 hours on the bike.
*2 hours running outside feels like ---2 hours of running.
*2 hours on the treadmill feels like ---FOREVER!

This is the treadmill I spend FOREVER running on.
There are times when I want to do 3 sets instead of 4. Sometimes I want to do 8 reps instead of 10. Does it really matter? Really? So Coach is totally crazy. She's actually not. Not completely, anyway. It just helps when I think of her like that. (Once she sent my workouts with the statement, "Insert maniacal laugh here.") Coach gives me workouts of 93 minutes. Or 99 minutes. Who does that? Whether she knows it or not, this is good for me. It makes me accountable for every minute. I figure that if she extends a workout from a "normal" time like 1:30 to 1:33(!) those 3 minutes MUST be important. Or they wouldn't be there. I'm kind of "Monk-ish" about things like that. So I don't cut any workouts short. Those 3 or 9 minutes dangle out there in a very unfinished fashion. They wouldn't be there if they weren't important.

After a year of swimming by myself, I swam with some friends. They were amazed at how strong I had become. One friend tried to do my workout which was timed 20x100m's. After 8, she declared, "I've got to do this workout with you every week. That's got to be what made you stronger." I thought about it for approximately 2 seconds. Nope. Pretty sure that workout isn't the "magical" workout. So which one was it? Could it be all the push-ups? Maybe it was all the rhomboid flies? The sit-ups? The miles of swimming in the pool over the year? Do you get it? There isn't a magical workout. I think it truly is about consistency. So, rather than chance it, I talk myself into the additional odd 3 minutes.

However, I have to admit that I don't stop at 99 minutes. I CAN'T. So I just do an extra 1 minute, hit 1:40 on the clock, and let my Monk-ish tendency rule. And hope I don't over-train.

Finally, the most important mental hint I can give. I tend to over-think things. Shocker, I know. This is not news to Coach, who says I ask too many questions (sorry) or my closest associates inside and outside of triathlon. So, I attended a clinic by a fantastic, local Sports Psychologist. (I probably should see him one-on-one weekly for about a year, but that's beside the point!) Anyway, out of the many fabulous, wonderful things I have learned, I've only retained one. And it has served me well through many off-seasons and many races. It's actually my "Mantra". It's lame during the middle of a race, but the brain thinks what it wants when the body is over-loaded with caffeine, quick sugar and too many miles....

Ok. Here it is: Focus on the Process. Not the Results. Brilliant, right? During this cold, icy, bleh time of year, when faced with countless hours staring at the walls on your bike or treadmill, just focus on the process.

The Process is a beautiful thing. It just is. Nothing to judge or evaluate. I go into a rote-like state. I stop over-thinking and just swim, bike, run.

The Technical part of the "Off Season" is the best, but more about that soon!

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