The OTHER side of the PEAK
I was thinking today on my ride: How cool is the body? You can totally prepare it for an event, everything can be perfect, you are totally fit, you are 150% mentally prepared, you have all your ducks in a row! You get my point. You are PEAKED for your event. I was peaked for Nationals in Louisville, Kentucky. It was great!!
But let me tell you, there is the OTHER side of the peak. That is the mental and physical recovery time necessary after hitting top form. And, brothers and sisters, I was on the OTHER side this week. My cycling this week – Monday: off. Tuesday: attempted a long ride, no go, no juice! Wednesday: tried another 2 hours, felt like poo! Thursday and Friday: OFF, I had too! Saturday: 3 hours and starting to feel a bit better. I went up a hill Saturday where two weeks ago I would have flown up. Today, I felt okay, but my power was down and my HR was still not hitting the higher numbers it should have on this hill. In other words, I am still recovering.
NOTHING wrong with this. It was my intention to hit peak form for Nationals. Here is the cool part – for every action there is a reaction. My action was peaking, my reaction is the total fatigue and tiredness I have felt all this week. What does this tell me? It tells me that I WAS ready for Nationals. If I would have felt great, or even normal, all this week it would mean that I wasn’t prepared. I have heard some say you have to train at 100% ALL THE TIME to be good. That way you are good all the time! Well, if you do that, how can you find your PEAK???
Eat Well! Sleep Well! Train SMART!!!
Coach O’B
