The Power of Information

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