BlogJuly 14, 2008 Mid-season adjustments It's now officially mid-July and the Tour De France is in full force. Michelle surprised me with purchasing the Versus network in our new apartment so I'm now spending pretty much all day watching the Tour de France, usually more than one time per stage. It's been a while since I have followed the Tour this closely and it's been quite entertaining. Most days in the desert I'm working out at 5:00 AM and usually done by 8:00, so I can catch the end of the stage. Usually about then, I take a nice nap and catch-up on whatever sleep I didn't get the night before and then wake up refreshed and perhaps head to the gym. Historically, I've struggled in Arizona this time of year which has lead me into a full-fledged-fall-funk. I believe this is due to early morning lack of sleep, not getting enough rest from training/racing as we're approaching mid-season, and too much work in the heat exhausting the body. This year I've taken steps so that this wouldn't occur. The first thing I did, was to take it easy last winter. I wanted to enter the season slow and build all the way up to Hawaii. Last year after mid-May I became so cooked that my results and training sensations were laughable, honestly I don't know why I even attempted to compete. This year, I didn't have quite the peak I did last spring but I trained substantially less and still got the Kona slot. Now, I'm still resting post Ironman and getting myself mentally and physically prepared to start with some serious Ironman Kona workouts. There will also be races in there too, but they will not be my focus as that day will come on October 11th. I've become quite the control freak in my quest for triathlon success. I keep telling myself that it is required to reach the highest level. I'm not sure that a super laid back approach can take one all the way to the top. Everything from nutrition, to training, to equipment, to sleep environment, I'm studying and examining in an effort to improve. Luckily I feel mentally fresh and my passion for the sport grows every day, it certainly doesn't feel like work. After a certain point success is in the details. Half a percent here, half a percent there, that's all the difference there is between the champions and the pack filler. My goal for Kona this year is not result oriented. I hope to do the best I can possibly do. This doesn't mean the best I can do on the day, but the best I can do with the passionate approach of doing everything I can to improve between now and then. If I do this, I'll be elated. Time to stretch, Lewis « Back to Blogs |
-- Sponsors --
|