Brain Freeze

 

I usually update this blog a little better than I have lately, but I’ve had a case of brain freeze. By now I usually have taken at least 1 trip to escape winter and get some training in and avoid brain freeze, but my first trip out is still a few weeks away so I believe I am suffering from a frozen brain caused from:

making snow angles after shoveling, and the kids weren't home

~ true winter deciding to make an ugly appearance in February; running into that cold wind, standing on the pool deck in a frozen suit can be mind numbing

~work being so busy its hard to think about anything else, I walk out of there after such a crazy day and my brain is frozen

~ the Midwest mid winter routine of mega indoor training or layering it all up to go out and still be cold is enough to cause ice to form in my head

~wondering if all the getting up early to fit in training before work, and you train and you train but a race still seems so far away, and you wonder if you are making any progress

~fatigue from getting up at the at the crack of early then working all day

I’ve tried to overcome winter a few times with some fun. We took the kids skiing in the middle of a wickedly busy weekend of training, Jack’s basketball and throwing a big super bowl party. Even though it was cold it was a blast and made me want to go home to ski the big hills again.

staying warm

keeping the drinks chilled at Super Bowl

 I started goal mile track workouts again at the Vaughn Center and realized…..with a few layers off and the absence of the bitter wind I am running better than I realized. Its just sometimes hard to tell when you are getting blown backwards or sideways and can barely move thanks to all the layers. 

 WattieInk race kits, KSWISS shoes, BlueSeventy wetsuit will soon be arriving so thats motivation to keep the dark cold training going. 

There is light and warmth at the end of the dark cold tunnel though. Its already light 3 days a week when I leave work now!  March will definitely thaw my head beginning with a Tuscon training trip put on by TBC coach Ryan Bolton and......gulp...... a lot of very fast athletes! That will heat things up.  Several very cool projects are coming together in March which are very exciting, along with another trip to California at the end of the month to train, have a little fun and  cheer on AZ and a bunch of WattieInk Elite Team at Oceanside.

Extremes

Sometimes I like a little extremeness to make life exciting, and I’ve noticed things have been a bit extreme lately. If you were to draw a graph of the extremeness I’ve been observing going on around me it would look like a jagged edge sword.

Lets start with the weather (always good for conversation with my patients who inform me of the weather prediction daily) One day I bundle up and head to the somewhat sheltered trails layered and smeared with Aquaphor to be protected from biting freezing wind, to a few days later riding outside in 60 degrees and swearing because I overdressed!

60 degree ride in Jan

layered up

winter trails

Extreme is: going from multilayered running in cold wind feeling slow to doing a timed mile on the indoor track and seeing a fast split not seen for a really long time and realizing the hard work is paying off

Extreme is: going from smashing myself on the trainer with  snot, sweat pouring out of me while listening to loud inappropriate music, to carpooling four  9 yr olds to basketball practice, driving quietly and laughing inside to what is extreme to them

Extreme is: getting excited to run a 5k in February, just because you haven’t toed the line with anything involving running for a long time

Extremes make life more exciting, less boring. But huge extremes in training aren’t ideal and will only take you so far. Consistency is key.

 If you train so much over the weekend that you can’t get up to fit the training in for the next 4 days of the work week, that extreme weekend effort will only give you so much race day.

If your trying to get power on the bike by pushing so hard or fast but can’t hold it and let up, then realize you are slacking and pedal so hard to get the watts up again, is taxing and burning up your legs (cyclocross style, which is extreme!), but for time trialing you might have fried your legs. Smooth steady pedaling with little extremes and a smooth graph is going to lead you to a better, run  vs. an extreme blow up.

yellow line is steady power

Extremeness adds variety to life and keeps things interesting for sure, but consistency in training will give you and extreme performance!