Check Your Ego

Being able to identify your strengths and weaknesses is extremely important in life, as well as within a training setting. If you and your coach are able to identify something as a strength, it will allow you to push the envelope and become more aggressive on the exercise. This is because as a team you both can ensure you have the correct motor pattern (I.E. your natural movement is safe, correct, and using the proper muscle groups at the proper times). Inversely – if you and your coach are able to identify something as a weakness, the training style will be much slower to allow for internal and external feedback to help build that movement pattern into a safe, effective habit.

This is a very important concept because it allows for the most effective training to maximize your time training and help get you to where you want to be. A big component of this is being able to check your ego at the door, and realize that you aren’t going to be able to do everything perfect the first time. It takes a very long time to break the terrible habits and postures that Western Culture puts us in, and THAT IS OKAY. You don’t have to load every single movement pattern every single week to see a result.

Sometimes in order to PROGRESS your training, you first have to REGRESS your movement patterns. If you try to build a house on a faulty foundation, it will crumble to the ground. Why then will you load aberrant movement patterns to their maximum capacity and jeopardize something much more important – YOUR HEALTH.

Surrounding yourself with the correct people and minds is extremely important in general – and especially with your health. It is okay to admit to other people – and yourself that you don’t know everything about a topic. If it is not something you spent years studying, no one expects you to be a master in the subject. Find the correct people to help put you into the right positions to succeed, not give you a cookie cutter program without ever looking at how you move or present. Once you have found those people, check your ego at the door and let them help you. Listen, collaborate, and watch your body transform into exactly what you want it to be. 

TM

Kona or Bust Week 4: 25 Days & Counting

The count down has officially turned from weeks to days.  I am less than a month away. In fact, Race Day was a month ago Saturday! It’s hard to believe. I’ve spent the last 15 weeks training with laser focus for ONE race. Granted it is THE race of any triathlete’s career but nevertheless the training is starting to take its toll. The last 15 weeks have been more organized, planned, data dependent than any other race season I have trained for. My body is feeling the effect. It’s not sore it’s just tired. Getting out of bed in the morning is rough. Getting my body over the hump of working out takes a little bit longer than usual. My workouts are still solid and I feel ready but I could snap at any second.

It is commonly seen in athletes that put in A LOT of volume, mental & physical preparation, and time to emotionally start to fray. I spent some time thinking back to when this ride to Kona started. It didn’t start in May when I competed in St. Croix Half Ironman. It started in December of 2013 when I started training. As I’ve already mentioned it was never my intention to go to St. Croix to race for a Kona slot. My plan was to race hard, enjoy the time away, and figure out what I’d do next when I got back. Fate took care of what would come next setting me on a 20 week training plan to get me ready for Kona.

With a collective 39 weeks (if I’ve done my math correctly) of training under my belt I can honestly say I haven’t trained this long or this hard EVER. In fact I haven’t ridden my bike this far into September because of my coaching responsibilities. When I say that I’m emotionally tired I hope that whoever is reading this can wrap their head around what I’ve done and how taxing it is to stay on point this long.

My experience isn’t any different than most putting in the time and volume for an Ironman. There is always a point of breaking and typically it’s emotional. This week was my breaking point. I was riding a high after the 70.3 Worlds but as usual I didn’t take into account just how tired I would be after being away for 5 days, driving 10 hours home, and jumping back into training after only an extra day of rest. I found myself feeling more anxious and irritable than usual. I spent the last two days screaming at idiot drivers who were too busy smoking their cigarette butts or texting to notice I have running or riding on their side of the road. I’m not kidding, I was screaming and waving my hands. If idiot drivers weren’t irking me it was the wind, or the holes & cracks in the road, or the fact my torpedo bottle bounced out of it’s cage twice on my long training ride.

I’ve had more “moments” that are out of character that I can only chalk up to the wear and tear of training. I’m close. So close, that I ship my bike to Kona this coming Saturday. I only have to keep myself going only a few more weeks before the taper begins and I toe the line at the Ironman World Championships. My good friend Steve Roulier, 2013 Ironman World Championship Finisher, gave me some advice after we finished our ride on Sunday. “Reflect back on how far you have come and realize that you’re ready. You’re on the top of the world just waiting to compete on the world’s Ironman stage. Enjoy it! Relax when you can and visualize YOUR race.”

I’m not one to sit still long enough to visualize…or relax but I can reflect back on how far I’ve come since I started training in December. I have enjoyed the journey so far, even with my few temper tantrums and mental moments. I will continue to enjoy the time I have left and savor each moment. Who knows if it will ever happen again!

SK

What's your favorite?

What's your favorite?

Ok, for this Blog Post I want it to be fun and conversational, I know you all have opinions (some more than others) and I want to hear them. Give us some feedback, please!  

What I want to know is what are your favorite TRX Exercises?  

We have added A TON of TRX specific classes that many of you have taken a liking to, not to mention the ST and RIP have been a staple in the CPC arsenal for a long time now. We are headed into warm weather and you know that we like to take things outside when we can. We like to make things fun and interesting.  Help us out and let us know what some of your favorite movements are. Who knows ... maybe you'll start to see more of them!  

Duran Duran was neither Duran nor Duran, discuss!!

Mike