Hui Koon reported on how he found naps before training benefitted him immeasurably. I tend to agree with this approach, since I sleep less before my training workshops. David Greenfield, Master Bike Fitter of Elite Bicycles agrees with me that sleep makes a great deal of difference in training performance. I function adequately with six hours of shut-eye, and best with nine hours. Albert Einstein used to subsist best on at least 11 hours of sleep – it must be because of prime numbers and the massive amount of thinking he did whilst awake.
Training is a destructive (catabolic) activity; we damage muscles fibres and other soft tissues in the process of exercising. It is during rest that our body recovers and recuperates – this is the anabolic (build) stage. Training prepares us to meet race day conditions, and sleep allows our body to recover completely so that we can repeat the process of the grind. Fail to meet our recovery requirements, and we flirt with fatigue and exhaustion; this can stall your training efforts significantly.
This morning, a group of 13 swimmers gathered at Tanjung Beach. Led by Matt, we did 4-5 sets of swim-run bricks. A brick is a back-to-back, combination of two activities done with little rest between. We swam a lap of about 350m followed by a short shoreline jog. This session was to prime the group for the Singapore Biathlon that occurs on 12 February. Bricks can be demanding on the body despite it mild, short appearance. Time for my Big Nap (one nap followed by another) now! My Duathlon beckons me. I start at 11.15am. Since it is the weekend, get some well-earned rest, too!
To the riders at Desaru tomorrow, ride safely!
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