Doing That Thing You Do

I am referring to rest. You know – that thing that you do (sounds like an oxymoron) when you do almost nothing physical.

Athletes need rest when they are not training; this excludes actual rest days in a week. The older the athlete, the more rest they require as their recovery and recuperative abilities diminishes with age. In your 20’s, you can probably recover reasonably well within 24 hours. In your 30’s, it is about 24-48 hours; in your 40’s and beyond, about 48-72 hours after an intense workout or race.

Rest is not defined as complete inactivity. It may mean spending a few days off from the actual cause of the soreness and fatigue. A long season of training can take its toll on your body through neural and physical fatigue. Physical fatigue stems from muscular stress and depletion of energy stores (over-arching), whereas neural fatigue is about the boredom and fatigue that stems from repetitive action and being adaptive to one type of sport. Cramping has also been attributed to neural fatigue due to overuse of the same muscle groups.

It is about two weeks away from Ironman Western Australia 2011, and the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2011. Some runners are still doing their long runs of up to 30K, which do not leave much room for full recovery. If our recovery experience and injuries can teach us: it is better to rest more, than bludgeon the body more. That is why a tapering period was designed prior to a race. It is a systematic way of reducing mileage but retaining the intensity of the activity. Just before the race, you can do short, sprints to activate the muscles lest the passive recovery and rest reduces muscle tone. You want to taper yet keep your muscles attuned to racing conditions. I tend to spin on the stationary-bike for about 20 minutes and do a 10-minute treadmill run, focused on my gait and landing. This is a pre-race rehearsal that prepares my muscles for the run about 12 hours before the race; I applied this approach over my previous two 3:30 marathons.

To ward off delayed muscle recovery, consider the formula for exercise known as FITT: frequency, intensity, type and time. This systemic approach to designing exercise programs can also be transferred to leadership and workplace processes such meetings, giving feedback, coaching, and measuring performance.

Leadership Lessons: How FITT are you as a manager? How often do you make time for proper rest? When do you know when to engage in argument and then ‘give it a rest’? How often do you call for a ‘timeout’ when things do not go well within your team?

Making Clear & Calculated Preparations

This morning, I took a 90K midday ride. Having touched down early yesterday morning, I had to fulfill my lack of sleep. In recent months, I have benefitted fully from slightly longer sleep and naps. When you are in your forties and competing in sports, you will want to gain as much advantage as possible from your recovery. Your fully recovered body can perform optimally and to your expectations when it is completely topped-up.

This morning, I am aware that some of my friends are doing their last long rides, before they begin their taper. My concern is, many of them (who are self-taught and self-directed) are not scientific in their training efforts. Some have bludgeoned their bodies with too many intense running races 8 weeks out from the big dance. Running does the most damage to a body that is already struggling to regain its health after weeks of endurance training. More red blood cells are destroyed from every footfall than with any other sport. Here to four weeks before your A-race, you should be completing your power workouts rather than taxing your aerobic fitness. More can be impeding. Less is impending.

Our personal ‘engine’ is vital to our athletic achievements. Feed it well, nurse it back to health, take it to task occasionally and it will reap rewards on multiple levels. You cannot continue to break the cardinal rules of starving it during training and competition, and depleting it continually with long-duration, high-intensity, physical challenges. Include rest and recovery when you are injured. What is up with the pain-stricken runners, who bind their knees and ankles with artificial support and sports-taping? Do they expect to improve by race-day wrapped up in pantyhose swathes? They could possibly benefit much more with cross-training (lower-impact sports selection) and active/passive recovery.

I am certain that some will continue to turn a deaf ear to such suggestions, so they will make their fair share of mistakes (thus, earning wisdom). Others will rely on their faith in mechanical technology; a few will really listen to their inner voice and outer voices to establish a clear sense of purpose. Do ask ‘why?’ occasionally to affirm, confirm or dismiss our hunches and thoughts.

Leadership Lessons: What do you do if when you have experienced static performance results for a while? How open-minded are you to changing your plans? Make breakthroughs with tweaked preparations instead of punching through each workout with dogged determination. Sometimes, less is more and it applies to aspects of our lives.

Why Batter Yourself When You Can Better Yourself?

I have been asked why I elected to do triathlons and marathons? Wouldn’t I harm my knees? Isn’t it time consuming?

Yes, triathlon training during on-season can take up a lot of time. With a specific training and racing plan, your body can withstand progressive physical challenges. With adequate rest, you can become stronger. In your off-season, you can taper off your training yet retain most of your fitness. You deserve to rest after a lengthy season of racing and personal best timings.

Actually, my knees are in reasonably healthy condition; my plantar fasciitis has almost cleared. I never had a history of weak knees or injury, and I have met many younger athletes hobble home after a training session. I am most concerned with those who have their knees wrapped up in braces and struggling in pain. Why would you train through an injury? Isn’t rest the best way to heal your battered body. Their technique suffers most definitely, and their pronounced poor posture purposely places undue stress on other parts of their joints such as ankles and lower back. Walking would have been preferred and safer; running in the pool is another option.

My thighs are still aching after last Saturday’s 50K however that’s part of the deal I signed up for. Do the deed, got to have sore feet! Instead of bludgeoning yourself prematurely, rest and recuperation matter most in salvaging the body from additional and prolonged stress. I learnt to stretch more deeply, continue to feed my body good nutrition, and maintain normal activity.

After hearing that at Olympics-level, swimmers train up to 65,000 metres per week, what we train for triathlon sounds relatively minor. That is a whopping 10-12K per day of stroking up and down the chlorinated pool. You have to do a heap of mind games to stay sobre and centred. It can be almost insane chasing the unwavering line in the 50K choppy waters of the pool. However, that is the price of pursuing athletic achievement and accomplishment. Train with the best, rise like the rest!

Another 42K – Sounds Like An Eddie Murphy Sequel!

How long should you rest for your next long race?

It has been tossed around for a while that a 42.195K marathon can tax your body for a whole month. Can you imagine how long an Ironman triathlon can sap your physical resources? Anecdotal evidence suggests three months before another similar race. Be that as it may, we need to rest and recover in order to resume our training regime after our A-race.

The 48-72 hours after a race can be the most physically crippling. Termed ‘Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness’ (DOMS), finishers of this killer-of-a-run (ask legendary Greek messenger Pheidippides in the Battle of Marathon) can be seen walking sideways down stairs, or walking with straight knees. Every eccentric (meaning muscles stretching under tension) action jolts bolts of pain up one’s legs, and incapacitates us. It may look funny but it is not, I assure you. Thankfully, after last weekend’s Ironman triathlon I walked reasonably well on the first and second – it used to be a whole lot worst!

To ensure full recovery (accelerated recovery is still inconclusive), we can:

1)    Do active recovery a day after the vent: cycle on a bicycle for about 30-45 minutes.

2)    Walk or stand in cold water (less than 20 degrees Celcius, or as in water mixed with ice-cube). The cold reduces inflammation of the damaged muscles; known affectionately as cold baths, in the physiotherapeutic sense.

3)    Use compression attire to enhance lactic acid removal: wear full, or half-tights (example: Skins, 2XU) especially when you sleep.

4)    Avoid running for at least three days after a major event. When you do any ride or swim, keep the distance short and intensity light. The main idea is to flush waste products out of those sore muscles.

5)    Load up on food and nutrients: water, carbohydrates, and natural foods (for protein, fats and carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals).

6)    Stretch, assisted massage and self-massage are useful. Trigger Point Therapy, deep tissue massage and lymphatic draining help - in heaps.

7)    Lean your feet against a wall to allow waste products to drain back to your heart/liver for metabolism. This approach was popular with Lance Armstrong and Greg Lemonde as a post-race recuperative method.

8)    Sleep is the ultimate anabolic steroid: sleep at least 7-8 hours a night to allow your tissues to fully restore and repair itself.
*****
I walked a fair bit over the last few days; some of which was on the beach. My calves took a workout. This evening, I did 30 minutes of running in a small pool, and 15 minutes of swimming (combination of front crawl and breast stroke). After a hearty dinner, my legs feel better now.