Monday, March 19, 2012

Make Every Day An Important Day

How about some bike porn to start this post. Those red tires on the Reynolds wheels, oooouiiii! I believe consistency is the best way to improve and get fast, and for the past three seasons, I've strived to make every day an important day. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of defining an important day as a day chock full of training. If you follow me, you know that my racing season was pretty much a bust last year, and I now think it was in part to this belief that an important day has to involve some type of training. The past couple of weeks of training has taught me otherwise, that in fact, an important day might include no training whatsoever, but instead a lot of relaxation and recovery.

Since coming back from my mystery ailments, I've been averaging about 6-8 hours of training per week, way down from the 16-24 hours of training I was doing this same time last year. Not only am I training way less hours, the number of days where I take completely off, meaning no physical activity, has been averaging 2-3 days per week. And if you recall from my last post, I'm hitting season PR's and my numbers are no worse than what they were this same time last year. I'm not stressed about missing workouts and going for days without training, and as a result, I'm more relaxed and rested for when I do hit the pavement. Last season, I think I was training to train, in other words, I was training to be able to do more training. This season, I'm training to race. Granted, if I had an ironman on the schedule, I would be doing a lot more hours, but maybe not as many hours as I used to think I needed. Because when it comes down to it, you can't do the same thing over and over and expect different results. Make every day an important day.

And somehow, this blog is becoming a foodie blog. First, I discovered blossoming baby bok choy which go great in your pasta, and how about some low glycemic potatoes? I can now enjoy roasted potatoes with my grilled veggies again. Finally, I leave you with a pic of my post-run, pre-swim meal: paleo tea service (herbal tea with duck, beets, carrots, and kale), squash dumplings, curry egg salad with fuji apples, and a quinoa waffle.

7 comments:

Steve said...

I guess our bodies can only do so much. I bet you will have a great season.

I hate food blogs. ;)

Anonymous said...

Your food photography is impeccable, Tran. Making me hungry...

LeAnn said...

I love your blog! First time visit. :)

LeAnn said...

I love your blog. First time visit. :)

Kim said...

I like both.. First that you're listening to your body and taking some time.. you need it.. it's very important. I have a full day off tomorrow.. can't wait :) Two that it's becoming a foodie blog! My fav too! I WISH we had access to what you do out there though.. so cool!

Libby said...

I am SO jealous. where is this paleo tea service you speak of?! again. same page :) love that you are finally getting it! I don't mean that in a bad way but that you learned from the dark period of your mystery ailments and that you are trying something different with training (which is healthier mentally and physically in my opinion!)
oh and same page on the paleo. been doing it and for the first time ever I didn't get sick to my stomach after racing. sold!

JC said...

mmmm that food looks good!
Sometimes less is more - I also think "shocking" your body is good too - every once in a while.