V10 Engine

            From late April to early May I forced what felt like a few too many meets into a short block of time, the results of which proved to be physically daunting, but mentally empowering. I even have entries in my training log stating that I should probably not push my body that hard for the rest of the season, or ever again. So without having too try too hard at a guess, what do you think I did once I got down to Southern California…… three competitions in six day’s. You can see that I didn’t exactly take my own advice. What can I say? I got bit by the bug immediately after arrival, and momentarily lost site of the big picture. When there are opportunities to succeed, it’s hard to pass them up despite your better judgment.

            After failing to clear a height at the third meet, I knew it was time to reassess my diverted path. Before contacting my “voices of reason” (a few very important people), I was struck with a strong curiosity, how much rest have I actually been taking?  So back to the training log I go. Minus resting with the flu (because that doesn’t really count) in the past 4 weeks I had taken exactly 3 days rest, and even on those days I did some kind of warm up or activation. So I pressed further into the pages of my journal 5 weeks 6 days rest, 6 weeks 8 days rest, 7 weeks 10 days rest, 8 weeks 12 days rest. I finally stopped. It seemed though the further back I went the more logical my training had been. It’s clear that the week of the flu throws the rhythm off. After feeling recovered enough, the anxiety of having missed 5 days of training took over and I began pounding away to play catch up everyday for 10 days straight, including 1 competition in the mix before I finally took a day off, only to compete the following day again, then again 2 days later…..idiot.

            So what does it all mean? Well for starters the negative outlook is that I’ve broken myself down a bit, and have now forced an involuntary rest along with this revelation of sorts, but there is nothing so terrible that it won’t heal in a few days. I do see a massive benefit too all this, having gone far enough back into the pages of my journal I’ve realized that I haven’t truly rested for a competition outdoors. In other words, I’ve been traveling around with a V10 engine, but when I compete I’m only firing on about 7 cylinders. Which was always the plan, and appears to still be on track, but the frustration associated with poor performance results easily clouds the big picture allowing me too veer off at times, but not anymore. 

            Pat Manson once told me that you should look at training like putting money in a bank account (maybe I’ve told you this before, or he has) all the hard time you put in, is an investment in yourself, and its building interest daily. At some point you have to stop investing, make a massive withdrawal and go on a spending spree. He may have phrased it differently, but you get the point. My investment days were high quality and now reach back years, not months. In my opinion I’m sitting on a sum greater than ever, meaning that my days of manic spending are just over the horizon, and that its time to engage those last 3 cylinders.