My wife told me yesterday that we both need to endeavor not to take things too seriously. It’s probably an easier task for her, because I have 6 decades of habitual seriousness to deal with! She’s right, as usual. In some regards, seriousness is part of my DNA, but linking it to my emotional self has probably never been healthy. Hence, my instinct towards ironman. I’ve always said that training and racing ironman’s have been a healthy outlet for my seriousness and OCD. More on that later.
Two weeks ago my coach heard a depressed athlete who wasn’t in a really good place. That wasn’t too surprising, having been 2 1/2 months removed from quitting a job that was taking a huge emotional toll on me, and 3 weeks after my first 100 miler. Needless to say, my mind, body and spirit were still recovering. Today, I spoke to my coach and he heard a new, rejuvenated, person! It’s all coming together, which is a reminder as to why we all need to listen to our bodies.
The focus of my weekly call with my coach today was on form. I’ve been focused on my run cadence, which used to be a plodding 160. I had pushed it closer to 170 a couple of years ago, but the last two years of reduced training had caused me to revert to my old form. Yesterday and today, 2-3 mile runs with cadence ~175. No focus on pace, or even heart rate, just on form and breathing comfortably, which for me is breathing every 6 foot strikes. I also got into the pool today.
I can, and recently did, jump in the pool and swim an hour at 1:50/100yd pace. Doing that for hours on end is not going to help me right now. On the instruction of my coach, my near hour long pool workout today consisted of 50 yards of kicking with a board followed by 100 yards of pulling with a buoy and paddle, then same, but kicking on my side. I spent some time kicking with a board for 200 yards as well. By the time I was done, I’d kicked 1000 yards, and pulled 1500 yards. Swimming is about form, but as my coach reminded me, for Kona, I’ll need a good kick, in particular to keep me balanced in the water. Now I’m off to a great start!
How does form relate to seriousness? The only person that we can truly be accountable to is ourselves. I have always spent too much time worrying about everyone else, and that hasn’t been healthy emotionally. While well intentioned, I can only be responsible for what I do, whether it’s training and racing an ironman, or advocating for older adults, which is my major life’s passion. All too often, I want to help others get to solutions, and I know that in doing so, can come across too strong. I’ve worked on toning that down over the past few years, but now it’s time to find my ultimate balance point. Similarly, I’ve counted on my swim form, but also need to get my balance back! I’m sure that there’s a role for mindfulness in all of this, of which I’m feeling as I write this.
This coming week is about maintaining this balance, focusing on my form and increasing my swim and cycling volume. 10 hours total last week, 15 hours or so should be well within my reach. I also need to develop the same discipline for the major project I’m working on. It’s time. Something has held me back, but it’s time to let go of that and get to work on my form! Funny how I always seem to come back to my “ironman is a metaphor for life,” mantra.
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