Down time

Sorry for no post yesterday, I was a bit beat after the race.

For anyone wondering what the race actually looks like, have a watch of this.

Downwind race last night

Pretty neat footage. And no I don't appear in the video, most of those people look like I think I look, but I suspect I really don't. Still it gives you a good idea of what we were doing. Loads of fun. The race went okay too, nothing stellar, but like I indicated I was treating it as a training session and so given that I was pleased with the progression and really that is all I am going for at this stage.

Other than the race it has been a busy 24 hours.

I made it to the Swim Smooth session this morning and managed to limp my way through that particular session. Met with a couple of athletes this morning and will shortly be going to the Swim Smooth Chistmas party. All go here.

One of my meetings with an athlete this morning threw up a very interesting conversation. When is the right time to have a break from training?

This particular athlete has really been struggling with motivation recently. Struggling to get to training and then struggling to train when they are there. This lack of go has prompted them to withdraw from Busso 70.3 next weekend knowing they simply wouldn't be able to put together the race they wanted.

This athlete has been looking at all sorts of solutions to their lack of motivation, having a bunch of medical tests done and other things to diagnose why they aren't feeling the magic. However, all the tests have come back clear, leaving them a bit baffled. What we decided this morning was that part of the problem may simply be that they have been physically and mentally ready for a break. This particular athlete has been on the go since the beginning of the year, basically without a break, including the 70.3 World Champs. They are a fairly typical triathlete which means that even 'down' periods in their program tend to get filled with a bunch of unscheduled training and exercise. This has meant a relatively sustained period of intense training.

So, if mental and physical fatigue is a factor, how are we supposed to know?

Like all these questions this is another one that has no simple answer, it is different for every person and every circumstance. What worked for a person one time, may not work for that person the next time. When I felt it most back in 2015 the symptoms were just that everything became hard. Getting myself out the door for training became a real struggle, I wasn't enjoying the training, it was becoming a chore. I started getting more and more niggles that didn't recover properly. In the end I probably pushed a race too far and by the end I simply knew I needed a rest, physically and mentally. The athlete I met this morning had a similar experience.

Why is the downtime important? Well, while we know that consistent, long term training is where the gains come from, it is also true that if we try and push too hard for too long something will give, either mentally or physically, or sometimes both. I don't care who you are, you can't train full on for ever, I just don't think it is sustainable. If we want to make our training journey truly long term, then having some downtime to let ourselves recharge is a necessary part of that journey. Rather than seeing it as a stop in training, I see it as part of training, a necessary break to enable training to continue and improvements to be made in the next season. Triathletes in particular get obsessed with maintaining their fitness, they never want to stop training, in case they get 'unfit'. However, athletes need to move past that concept and realise that by losing fitness for a short time, they will in turn enable themselves to make bigger gains in fitness, strength and speed long term. It is all part of understanding the role that recovery plays in long term training. It isn't giving up, it is a necessary part of the training cycle.

So when should this downtime be taken? Well hopefully people don't wait until they are mentally and physically collapsing until they take it. I like to keep it simple building that downtime into each season, so it happens at least once a year, the off season is the obvious time to do it. Based on nothing more scientific than my personal experience I think that 10 months of solid training is pretty sustainable, perhaps a bit more or a bit less, assuming proper recovery practises. A few weeks of break, a bit of lighter training to start building again and that more or less fills a year. Simple.

And don't get me wrong, when I say downtime I don't mean go and sit on a couch and eat chips all day. Perhaps that is what you need, but hopefully not. Generally when an athlete needs a break they just need a break from what they were doing, not exercise all together. Going cold turkey on exercise will probably just make most athletes feel worse. Usually what I recommend for athletes is to go and do something they enjoy. If that is easy riding, then go do that. If they enjoy surfing, then do that. Certainly be active, but don't hold yourself to any schedule or plan, if you feel like doing it then do, if not then don't. Get in some cross-training, try a new activity, the idea is to give yourself a break from always having to find the motivation and drive to train, let that part of your brain rest and recharge, you will need it again during the season.

And after a bit of a break you will find that you start to have the desire to train again, the drive to get out there and race. Once you start to feel that burn then that is usually a good sign that you are ready to get back to it. Once that happens then you are good to go and continue the journey.