Successfully taking it to the next level...Insights?

[Starfish]

I am attempting to step up my training this year. (As an aside, I am working with a coach, with whom I am very happy...feel free to PM if any questions about this.) I also have a challenging career.

I would love to hear from those of you who have consciously taken your capacity for training to the "next level," whatever level that is.

I am not so much looking for the extremely practical how-to stuff of creating schedules, calendars, etc. I am more curious to hear musings on how you handled the effects of pushing through barriers, both mental and physical. (Edited to add...I guess, unless all the practicalities are what enabled you to handle the new physical/mental challenges!)

For instance, learning to stay mentally disciplined and focused at work when your body is experiencing a new level of training, and makes you want to nap! Or, as you have added volume, how has it been to mentally juggle more transitions in time/focus throughout the day (like adding 2-a-day workouts, or sneaking in workouts during the workday). I guess, just what was it like learning to handle the increased physical and mental demands of stepping it up in a structured way?

I guess this is kind of a long, rambling, open-ended question about sort of growing the capacity to handle all aspects of what it means to take your training to the next level.

Thanks for any insights!

[Veronica]

I like to sleep. Seriously, I structure my time around making sure I get enough sleep.

I also think shorter, intense workouts are good.

But this year I'm being a slacker so you can just ignore me.

V.

[solveig]

I'm in the same boat, so I'm not sure I can offer much advice, but I'd love to hear some!

I guess most of all I've discovered the early-morning workout. And from there, just making progressively harder workouts just a normal part of my life, so skipping or sandbagging seems out of the ordinary. It sure helps to have a supportive partner! (And it helps that it's not quite busy season yet...)

[Starfish]

you can just ignore me. V.

Yes...such a shrinking violet...NOT!!!

I hear you about sleep...tonight it is Tylenol PM and I am off to bed soon to see if I can get in 10-11 hours.

[Veronica]

Well, I have decided to bag the doubles for now, not just because of my knee but also to have more time to ride with Thom.

Yoga has really helped me get better sleep. I often wake up in the middle of the night with my mind whirring on some work related thing. I've had good success with putting myself into relaxation pose and falling back asleep.

I know when I don't get enough sleep I turn into a sleep deprived monster that no one wants to be around.

V.

[maillotpois]

So you want to know, not necessarily what people are doing NOW, but what we may have done at some point where we pushed through some barrier (mental, physical or ecumenical) and did something we otherwise may not have thought possible....

I'll think about that....


Anyone else?

[bouncybouncy]

my coach (hubby) always asks "so I guess you don't want to get any faster???" in a loving, sarcastic way...which guilts me into a workout!!!

We have been weight-lifting lately since he broke his ankle...so weight-lifting is a new way for me to "take it to the next level"...will see in a month how that is working for me.

Going to include more interval training...

Using my dog as a guilt measure...she likes to run so I take her running!...you should see the look on her face when I pack up the mtbike for a ride and she does not get to go...pathetic! (btw: not often)

I WANT SCHWAG!!!!!! (gotta get on the podium to get schwag!)

[Starfish]

Sarah, yeah. How do people adjust to the changes it takes to really handle a new level of training and all that it requires (both in the training, but also the changes it requires in other areas...like sleep or work or ?).

Maybe I'm the only one struggling with the capacity to up the ante.

[KSH]

Well, to add to the discussion.... you need to have good nutrition to take you to the next level. You need to eat enough, eat the right stuff and at the right times to get a good training session in.

I know if I don't eat enough during the day, my training session at night suffers.

As far as taking it to the next level... you have to come to understand that even if you are sore you can still pedal a bike. You can still run. So many people have sore muscles and think "I need to rest". Being a little bit sore, doesn't mean you get to rest. Especially if your training plan doesn't call for it.

We have become a society where pain is not embraced or seen as good or helpful. Now, there is a difference between pain and suffering. I guess what I'm talking about more is suffering. If you have accute pain, which will lead to injury then stop. But if you are simply suffering... keep moving forward.


With my IM training, I have 3 hard weeks of training and then I get a recovery week... that is what my coach has me doing. Those 3 weeks are hard. I'm sore. He doesn't care. I have to keep training. It's how it works.

[Tuckervill]

My husband coaches my our in baseball, since our son was 4. They've gone through lots of painful things--getting beaned by the ball while batting, throwing the arm out (son is a pitcher), etc. Sometimes you don't know whether to stop the game or not.

So they developed a code so they can tell the other how "bad" it is. They ask, "Are you hurt or are you injured?" Hurt is just pain you can keep on going through. Injury means you have to sit out an inning or two (thankfully it has never been worse than that--anything worse, and they wouldn't have to ask).

It was a revelation to my son when he was smaller that he could be "hurt" and keep going. Getting hit by the ball hurts! To a 5-year-old it can feel like imminent death for sure! But it usually doesn't injure you. Just keep going and it will get better. A good workout can get all the soreness out, too.

Karen

[GLC1968]

I'm giving my thoughts not from my current training (which is pathetically non-existent) but from a previous time in my life.

In my case, it wasn't cycling, but other forms of activity. I was working towards getting extremely lean and potentially going towards a figure competition. To do so, I had to make a lot of sacrafices because the training time was intense. I was exercising a solid 600 to 700 minutes a week (intensely...this does not count warm up, cool down or any stretching...which I also did). I was doing 2 workouts a day (usually early and late...but occasionally at lunch) and these were either weights, cardio or a combination of them.

My sacrafices centered around time. I did have some tiredness and soreness issues in the beginning, but after a week or two at my higher level, those disappeared. I found I actually slept so soundly that I didn't really need more sleep and I was more awake during the day. Of course, it helped that my diet was fan-freaking-tastic. Plenty of protien, TONS of veggies and fruit, and no crap...none. What suffered? The house was gross, the yard was neglected and I had no social life. I had to make choices and for me, fitness and work were number one during that time frame. Even my husband took a bit of a back-seat and it was definitely a strain on our relationship.

I was only able to keep it up because it was short-lived. 12 weeks and then the rest of my world came crashing back in on me full-force. I learned during that time frame that if I were to ever go that route again, I needed to work on balance. I couldn't neglect EVERYTHING and expect to not pay the price. I needed to put together a schedule where each of the things I was neglecting had at least a small amount of my attention - even on a rotating basis - so that I could keep it up longer than just 12 weeks.

This has been my plan since I started biking (all this happened in the 6 months prior to my first road bike purchase)...and I just haven't been able to get my act together to do it again. I think partly I'm afriad of getting too 'gung-ho' again. Of course, I know that I can learn from my mistakes, I just haven't put it into practice.

So the long winded answer - prioritization, choice and balance... these are the things that make that type of schedule work. I think that CHOICE is #1...you can't be all things to all people, so it's important to make your choices and be prepared to adjust them as necessary. How do to his mentally is clearly still a mystery to me as I'm now as fat and as lazy as I've ever been (3 years later).

[Starfish]

This is all very helpful. Please keep 'em coming.

GLC...your story is interesting. Are you talking about a body-building competition? I know that kind of training requires tons of energy, with the muscle-rebuilding that happens.

I know that I am capable, to some extent anyhow, of training when sore and pushing through that. What is harder is managing energy for work with energy for training. I just don't seem to have that big a capacity for getting it all done, maybe.

[maillotpois]

I know for me weekdays are tough. Back in 2005, when I made a push to do some doubles and the Death Ride I made a conscious effort to get into a routine to allow me to ride 2 - 3 days a week before work. That meant getting up very early and getting to the gym for a spin class, but that's what I had to do. I won't do anything in the evening because that's my time with my family and I won't sacrifice that. But I can sacrifice some time before they wake up.

These days the goal is 2 - 3 days a week of Coach Troy in the morning. and then there are some weeks where even that can't happen (like this week where I was in So Cal all day yesterday and today's Em's birthday), and you just have to let those weeks go. I'm not in the pushing to a different level mode, though. I'm just trying to find an old level (and not let my cute little physical therapist KILL me).

I am generally in bed by 9:30 or 10 pm and up at 5 on the days when I need to ride. We don't go out a lot.

I agree with the nutrition piece as well. If you aren't getting quality fuel on and off the bike, you'll start to lag. I have to watch sugar - I tend to use that as a quick fix for lagging energy and that'll bite you in the butt in the long run on all sorts of levels.

[GLC1968]

GLC...your story is interesting. Are you talking about a body-building competition? I know that kind of training requires tons of energy, with the muscle-rebuilding that happens.

Sort of...figure is similar to body building but less muscular overall. I never actually competed - a foot injury sidelined me and pretty much ended that possibility. For me, the challenge wasn't the muscle building (I've got a natural 'gift' for putting it on), but the fat loss. The sheer amount of cardio work I had to do to obtain that level of leanness was both mind-boggling and foot destroying! Hence, the subsequent purchase of a road bike.