Will this make me stronger ?
The New year is a time for fresh starts and new plans. Goals are set (or just dreams if you don’t write them down) and motivation is high. Enthusiasm is seeping out of every pore as everyone prepares for what will be their best year ever, or not depending on the amount of stickability you have.
I sat down on Saturday afternoon and wrote out a few goals for 2017. Things like helping a certain amount of clubs with their custom kit, posting more regularly to this blog and spending more one on one time with each member of my family.
Then came the cycling goals, the first of which is to cycle 12,000km this year.
So there I was at 8am on New Years day looking down at cycling goal number one on the day it was all to begin and I had to stop and ask myself a few questions. Will going out on the bike today make me stronger, fitter, better and happier?
Overnight what was a small sniffle had turned into a full blown head cold. Normally I would train with anything above the neck and rest for anything below the neck such as a chest infection. The sun was shining and it was cold and crisp. A beautiful day to go out on the bike with the Carrick Gang.
I ran through the questions in my head and knowing that it was a late night the evening before and the cold was in full flight the answer to the question was – No, it would not make me stronger to go out for a spin on the bike. Chances were that it would make me weaker so the bike remained indoors.
I lit the fire sat and watched some TV with the kids, put on the ‘Easy’ playlist on Spotify and read a few chapters of Total Competition, Ross Brawns’ new book about lessons in strategy from Formula One. I took it easy and let the body do its job of dealing with the cold. I also took a spoon of Sambucol three times throughout the day.
Then last night going to bed I smothered my feet in vicks and wore a pair of socks in bed. Beside me on the locker was a chopped up onion that I also chewed a small bit of before going to bed. This morning I awoke at 6am feeling like a new man and all set for a spin on the bike and the new day ahead.
I set out and did a nice steady 65k with some of the gang from Clonmel Triathlon Club and felt good.
The difference between the two days was the answer to the simple question – Will this make me stronger?
Yesterday it would have weakened me to go out so I recovered and took it easy. Today I felt much better and came back refreshed and feeling good. Sometimes missing one days training can gain you ten.
It is not the weather that should dictate if you go training or not, but the body that will be going out in the weather.
Happy New Year,
Barry
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