Easy Option

I took the easy option today.

I have been tempted to stay in bed many a morning since Ironman WA, but I have got myself going each time. This morning though I let myself listen to that little voice inside my head, rolled over and went back to sleep.

If I am honest though my decision to be lazy and stay comfy in my bed wasn't that much of a spur of the moment decision. I am rapidly approaching the point where I will need to find the motivation to get myself out of bed when I feel like staying put. Training is going to return to my regularly scheduled program much sooner rather than later. That means that days that I can take the lazy option are numbered. Part of me decided to make the most of it while I have the chance.

On top of that, I was pretty tired. The tiredness is entirely self inflicted, due to not getting enough sleep. However, the tiredness being self inflicted doesn't make it any less real. The lack of sleep was making me feel pretty run down and I sort of felt like I was just a badly aimed sneeze away from getting ill. In short I felt like I needed to give myself the chance to catch up. This morning seemed like a good chance to do so.

Before staying in bed, my plan had been to head down to Bicton Baths for an easy swim. This is a session that I usually quite enjoy and so it didn't pose a great motivational burden. However, the above reasons, combined with the knowledge that at the moment the swim isn't a super critical session was enough to keep me in bed. The session would have been a nice one, but I feel no guilt about by lazy decision. I am quite comfortable that it was the right call for me.

Really that is what a lot of training successfully over the long term comes down to. Knowing your body well enough and having enough confidence in that knowledge to do what is right for you. I would say 90% of the time when your mind is saying 'I can't be bothered' then the right thing to do is to gather your mental reserves and get yourself going anyway. Doing well at any sport, particularly endurance sports, means you need to do a certain amount of work. You can't do that work if you don't get out the door. I talk all the time about 'doing the work' and I think that it a big key to improvement. Day in, day out, getting yourself going and doing the work.

However, I would also say that the remaining 10% of times when your body is suggesting you take a rest, you probably actually need to listen to it and take the rest. You might be really tired, you might be nursing a niggle, getting ill etc. Whatever the issue, your body might be requesting that you take it easy and you probably need to.

The real trick is knowing when to rest and when to push on.

Unfortunately I don't have an easy answer for knowing that. I do think that the more you train and the more experienced you become then the better idea you have of what your body is telling you, so perhaps that is the answer. It isn't a quick answer, it takes time to learn, but often the best answers do.