Excellent work-out yesterday from everyone. I want to try and explain better why we needed to run those repeats slightly slower than we could have. That work-out was designed to train your muscles to get rid of the lactic acid that builds up during races. That was the first work-out we have done that tries to accomplish this goal, so I was prepared to see varying results. (Which I certainly did.) If these repeats are run too fast, the muscles get overwhelmed with lactic acid, and they can’t work on flushing it out. By running the intervals at a slower pace, the muscles don’t get flooded with C3H6O3, and they can learn how to deal with it and get rid of it. Teaching/training your muscles to do this can’t be done overnight, so by taking a lot of small, controlled steps with our work-outs, we can build up to fantastic accomplishments later in the season when it counts.
A lot of athletes seem to be getting sick, and even though they are trying to tough it out and keep training, some rest might be beneficial for them at this stage. Here is my advice for when you are sick.
(Skip the following paragraph if you are sick of my old war stories)
In college, we used to go away to ski camp for two weeks in the wilds of Northern New Hampshire. There were 30 of us, all crammed into a backwoods resort/cabin. Four people to a room, bunkbeds, sleeping in the unfinished basement, re-constituted orange juice out of a giant pot, pasta for dinner every night, we had it all. Invariably, there was always someone who would end up getting a cold, a hacking cough, or something like that. (In fact, out coach would ban you from going if he though you were coming in sick, he would make you stay on campus!) Getting sick during camp was really detrimental, because the Nordic race season starts in the beginning of January. That would basically kill your season. So, whenever some would get sick at camp, they would usually crawl into bed, pull the covers up to their noses, and try and drink as much water as they could, staying isolated and inactive. I guess they thought extreme resting would be the best way to beat their germs. I was lucky, though, I never really got sick at camp, and this is why I think I was so lucky.
Instead of staying inside all day, breathing in stale air and marinating in germs, I made a point to exercise, outside, no matter what the conditions were, every day during camp. It makes sense; get away from the germs, get some fresh air, get your body working. I believe that if you get the blood rushing, the sweat flowing and flush out your system, you can stay healthy, or accelerate getting back to healthy. Would I do intervals if I was on my death bed? Of course not, but I would force myself to exercise moderately to keep me active and keep my body alert, even if I felt a little crappy. After the run, I would always feel 100% better than when I started. Exercise benefits the body, the mind and the spirit, and that is how I always seemed to stay healthy.
So, if you are running a fever of 106 and you are delirious, stay in bed. But if you just have a hacking cough, or a runny nose, or are feeling run-down, bundle up and go for a twenty minute run. Get some serious stretching in, and maybe do a push-up or two. Trust me, it won’t make you worse, it just might make you better. It’s like when you are fatigued in a race. Don’t slow down, speed up, you might beat that fatigue. When you are sick, don’t hole up under the covers, get some fresh air, and you can beat back those germs.
How about those Patriots last night? Wow, that was a stressful game, I was worried, I admit it, when they were down by twelve. But that pass from Brady to Moss to break the records, wasn’t that awesome??!! A thing of beauty, the pass that exemplifies the season, if you ask me. The Pats surely need this upcoming bye week, I think getting the offensive line healthy, as well as Kyle Brady will make a huge difference in the post-season.
If you are reading this Sunday morning, today’s work-out needs to be pretty easy, as yesterday was pretty hard all around. Just some typical Sunday cross training. Take the dog for a walk, play some basketball, go skiing. If you want to run, change it up a little bit. Try running for thirty minutes through the deep snow. Or find a steep hill, hike up it and sprint down it a few times. If you are feeling injured, a nice easy walk would be perfect. I won’t see the team for a week, the last part of break leads right into the Iowa trip, but next week we have the first official time trial of the year, so get excited for that!!
SEP
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