Everybody feels like shit every now and again. Recently, I've been feeling that way more frequently than usual.
That sounds pretty bad right? Right.
More specifically, I've been feeling stressed and tired.
That sounds a little bit more manageable than feeling like "shit".
See what I did there? I gave you information and it changed your perception a bit. First you might've thought "aww thats shitty Tim", but after that, you maybe thought "well you better sleep more and take some time to relax". This is the power of information.
So when I'm not feeling so hot, I try to figure out why. I read stuff like this article and it puts things into perspective for me. Number three on the list is the one that I'm confident I've been suffering from.
Around the time I raced Welland, I realized that my body felt bouncy and healthy, but my head just wasn't in it. I blamed things like the stress of school and a long distance relationship. I also blamed the pressure I put on myself to train hard and perform perfectly.
These things almost certainly were playing major factors, so since I didn't feel like training anyways, I took some time away from sport to recover.
So now that I'm starting to feel better, I'm starting to make sense of this whole mess. Burnt out adrenal glands (and quite possibly other hormone secreting glands as well) make perfect sense. Hormones are imperative to arousal which is what allows you to perform. Without arousal, you end up tired all the time, stressed and in absolutely no condition to train or race.
I'm fairly confident that if you looked at my training (including nutrition and other recovery activities) as a separate entity from the rest of my life, it would be fairly manageable. The problem is that sport is only a part of my life and I don't care who you are, you can't just leave everything behind to go train or race. It doesn't work like that.
If you're stressed at school or work, your body is full of stress hormones** and you they don't go away once you hop onto your bike. Stress is physical as well as psychological.
**cortisol is usually one of the main offenders here. It is also produced during exercise because its job is to free up energy through the breakdown of stored fats, glycogen and muscle tissue. When it is produced at rest (work, school, etc), it slowly eats away at your body. This is why stress is so bad for you.
So back to the original idea. Information is powerful. You can't fix anything without knowing what it is you're fixing first. Find out what the exact problem is and then do what it takes to feel better.
Whats my fix? My goal is to become a master of moderation and efficiency.
I'm starting to get back into training and I'm going to simplify my training as follows:
-Lifting weights: 3x/week boost muscular and joint strength, avoid injuries, reduce recovery times
-Endurance workouts: work up to one of each a swim bike and run per week
-Speed work: 2-3x/wk boost economy, very little recovery required, can be added to an endurance workout and break up the monotony
Thats it. Easy peasy.
Also, some stuff to do with studying, but nobody is interested in that...
So whats in the future? Deep River Tri is a maybe right now. I was initially going to skip it, but I'm so very tempted to race it now that I'm starting to feel strong again. Then on September 11, Muskoka 70.3 and October 1, the Toad, a 25km trail run with my bro. Following that, XC ski season all winter with probably some swimming and the occasional indoor bike and some type of running.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-diB65scQU
Wednesday 27 July 2011
Sunday 24 July 2011
Riding In Traffic
One issue I deal with on a daily basis is navigating our road system on a bicycle. As anybody who does this on a regular basis knows, it can get pretty dangerous. In my opinion, its one of the most dangerous things I do, more dangerous than driving on high speed highways in my opinion.
The real problem with biking around cars is that neither cyclists, nor motorists know what is expected of each other. Usually there are two extremes: too passive or too aggressive, but to be in the safe, you need to know when to be passive and when to be aggressive.
Cyclists
Cyclists that are being too passive on the roads are the ones that don't stick up for themselves. They'll be found riding along the very edge of the road to get as far away from traffic as possible. This is an issue for two reasons. First of all, this allows cars to pass them without exiting the lane which means that if the road is around the same width as the car, there is a temptation for the driver to risk hitting the cyclist. Now say there is a hazard on the road and the cyclist is forces to swerve while a car is going past the cyclist. There will be no room to move, so the cyclist will either be hit by a car or crash into the hazard.
On the flip side, aggressive cyclists get fed up with this and decide to ride right down the middle of the lane, or even closer to the centre. There IS a time and place for this, but it's a small percentage of the time. Taking the entire lane is generally only a good idea when changing lanes, turning, or the road is thinning ahead (a bridge, ramp, etc.). Taking too much of the lane causes traffic to slow down so much behind you that drivers get too impatient and again, will be liable to pass too closely to you or run you off the road to avoid oncoming traffic.
One extremely effective way of controlling the traffic around you, other than by choosing the right place in the lane is to always look behind you in heavy traffic. This accomplishes two things: (1) it lets drivers know that you see them coming and (2) it makes them pass you at a "greater" (read: acceptable) distance. I'm not sure what the reasoning is for the latter, but it could be that they think you might take a left turn or maybe I just have an intimidating face. Either way, it works, so I won't complain.
Cars
Just like bikers, cars can be too passive. This is generally better than being too aggressive, but it at times it can be just as dangerous. A couple examples:
A car slows down behind you, waiting for an extra perfect special time to pass (or maybe looking at your bum). This confuses other traffic, which may result in an aggressive move from another driver, or just hold you up in your workout because you want them to pass you. This could be particularly dangerous if the cyclist is also being passive on the right hand side of a lane, but is waiting to take a left hand turn.
A car on a two lane street stops so that you can take a left turn. All the cars behind it, move into the other lane making it unsafe to cross anyways.
Drivers are usually too aggressive though. Passing cyclists too closely is probably the single most dangerous move a car can make. Another one would be passing a cyclist and immediately stopping to turn.
Transport truck drivers are usually the worst for this, because if they pull back into the lane too soon, they can easily run your off the road. I've been in more close calls of this nature than I can count.
One that happened to me just the other day was when I was travelling up a two lane street, trying to move from the right lane to the left in order to make a turn. The problem was that once I moved to the left hand side of my lane, waiting for a chance to make a lane change, all of the cars behind me changed lanes to pass me. This left me sitting between lanes, going slower and slower and cars passing me faster and faster. In the end I gave up and took the next turn.
The problem with drivers is that most of them don't know what it's like to ride on city streets, so they don't know how to treat cyclists. My solution: everybody needs to ride a bike more often.
One final piece of advice: cyclists need to communicate clearly with body language. For example, when you are turning, you use signals, when you come to stop signs, do a track stand and look straight at the other car, letting them know that they can take their right of way without hitting you and when you are passing a side street, you stair the driver waiting to turn into your lane down, making sure they see you so you don't get side swiped.
For more info, Road ID does a great series on how to ride in traffic.
The real problem with biking around cars is that neither cyclists, nor motorists know what is expected of each other. Usually there are two extremes: too passive or too aggressive, but to be in the safe, you need to know when to be passive and when to be aggressive.
Cyclists
Cyclists that are being too passive on the roads are the ones that don't stick up for themselves. They'll be found riding along the very edge of the road to get as far away from traffic as possible. This is an issue for two reasons. First of all, this allows cars to pass them without exiting the lane which means that if the road is around the same width as the car, there is a temptation for the driver to risk hitting the cyclist. Now say there is a hazard on the road and the cyclist is forces to swerve while a car is going past the cyclist. There will be no room to move, so the cyclist will either be hit by a car or crash into the hazard.
On the flip side, aggressive cyclists get fed up with this and decide to ride right down the middle of the lane, or even closer to the centre. There IS a time and place for this, but it's a small percentage of the time. Taking the entire lane is generally only a good idea when changing lanes, turning, or the road is thinning ahead (a bridge, ramp, etc.). Taking too much of the lane causes traffic to slow down so much behind you that drivers get too impatient and again, will be liable to pass too closely to you or run you off the road to avoid oncoming traffic.
One extremely effective way of controlling the traffic around you, other than by choosing the right place in the lane is to always look behind you in heavy traffic. This accomplishes two things: (1) it lets drivers know that you see them coming and (2) it makes them pass you at a "greater" (read: acceptable) distance. I'm not sure what the reasoning is for the latter, but it could be that they think you might take a left turn or maybe I just have an intimidating face. Either way, it works, so I won't complain.
Cars
Just like bikers, cars can be too passive. This is generally better than being too aggressive, but it at times it can be just as dangerous. A couple examples:
A car slows down behind you, waiting for an extra perfect special time to pass (or maybe looking at your bum). This confuses other traffic, which may result in an aggressive move from another driver, or just hold you up in your workout because you want them to pass you. This could be particularly dangerous if the cyclist is also being passive on the right hand side of a lane, but is waiting to take a left hand turn.
A car on a two lane street stops so that you can take a left turn. All the cars behind it, move into the other lane making it unsafe to cross anyways.
Drivers are usually too aggressive though. Passing cyclists too closely is probably the single most dangerous move a car can make. Another one would be passing a cyclist and immediately stopping to turn.
Transport truck drivers are usually the worst for this, because if they pull back into the lane too soon, they can easily run your off the road. I've been in more close calls of this nature than I can count.
One that happened to me just the other day was when I was travelling up a two lane street, trying to move from the right lane to the left in order to make a turn. The problem was that once I moved to the left hand side of my lane, waiting for a chance to make a lane change, all of the cars behind me changed lanes to pass me. This left me sitting between lanes, going slower and slower and cars passing me faster and faster. In the end I gave up and took the next turn.
The problem with drivers is that most of them don't know what it's like to ride on city streets, so they don't know how to treat cyclists. My solution: everybody needs to ride a bike more often.
One final piece of advice: cyclists need to communicate clearly with body language. For example, when you are turning, you use signals, when you come to stop signs, do a track stand and look straight at the other car, letting them know that they can take their right of way without hitting you and when you are passing a side street, you stair the driver waiting to turn into your lane down, making sure they see you so you don't get side swiped.
For more info, Road ID does a great series on how to ride in traffic.
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