WARNING: This post contains cathartic commentary

As I am watching the Tour de France with crashes knocking out favorites, it reminds me that sport provides a micro-cosm of life, magnifying the ups and downs. And I am reminded that it is how we deal with adversity’s depth of depression and disappointment that reveals the character to shake it off, dig in and drive on.

I hear people attribute others successes to luck, insinuating they have been dealt an easier road in life. But, no matter how things appear, no one is exempt from life’s challenges. In my opinion, this perceived “lucky” success, is actually the manifestation of an invincible resilient attitude.

I have observed this attitude in accomplished athletes in my sport life, and have since realized that the same thread runs through those who have achieved success, in every walk of life.

As I watch the tour, I imagine the initial depths of disappointment, doubt and depression of the contenders, compounded by the sidelines analysts, digging the hole deeper with speculations regarding their future. But I find it inspiring that these circumstances reveal the irrepressible spirit of winners, which drives their character in every circumstance. My bet is that these guys take a moment mentally and physically to regroup, move on, and with focus forward readjust their game plan.

While my livelihood no longer depends on competing, I value competition for the opportunity it affords – the ability to authentically prepare my clients for it’s physical and mental demands;  the personal challenge, growth, and expression; and the community of inspiring, fellow competitors, who help to continue raise our personal bar.

My recent experience at US National Marathon Mtn Bike Champs has proven my opportunity to turn adversity in to an asset. Prior to nationals, I had been racing since spring,   feeling good and having fun.  I was pre-riding the national course with my buddy Dan and on the one-hour plus climb, I thought to myself, “Feel good. Excited to race.” Things quickly changed on the one-hour plus descent, which had been used for the previous week’s enduro race, leaving it loose and exposed. We entered the series of tight switchbacks, and I mis- negotiated one that was loose, and off-camber. I found myself with a decision – to go over the bars and the edge, or clip out and step off to the down-sloping left side. I chose the latter. In doing so, I landed on an extended leg, hyper-extending it, and tearing a yet-to-be-determined “something” in my knee. In an instant my nationals was over before the gun went off.

Knocked on my hind end literally and figuratively – I was down. I mentally muddled through the mudslide of questioning doubt. Sure I was disappointed not to race, but my thoughts were darting, concerned about my ability to fulfill my physical work demands and obligations. Adding to the doubt were those who commented that I needed to step away from this athletic lifestyle which they perceived as driven by a dare-devil, competitive mentality.

I took a breath and realized, in many ways I was fortunate – rather than fixate on why and what happened, and I focused on gratitude. Dusting myself off, I regrouped, turned the mental corner and gained determination to turn this in to an opportunity.

While in the dust of doubt and soul-searching,  I inspected the reason why I value an athletic lifestyle and  determined it is not based on self-glorification, but built on the opportunity to express talent, grace and joy, and share passion! I realized too that pure motives are insulation from others unfounded opinions.

This adversity and perceived set-back has revealed a sincere renewal of gratitude and appreciation for daily work, play and friendships.

Today I march on with the great expectation of good!

 

 I was asked to present this week, at a California Sacramento State University physiology/training plan development class – that’s a mouthful. With coaches and training plans a dime a dozen – It was a valuable exercise for me to step back and drill down what, in my experience, differentiates effective coaching and training.

Below, I share a few take-aways…

I realized the differentiator is simple – it is the coach’s ability to digest the science based data and clearly and concisely deliver the message to the clients. Bottom line, athlete-clients need to understand why they are doing particular workouts and consistently be reminded as to how it relates to their overall goals, in order for them to tackle workouts with purpose. It is ultimately the athlete’s understanding and intention which allows them the gain the every ounce out of every workout, contrasting with the client who mindlessly gets through the time and ticks off the box.

While science is the training plan’s backbone, I realized it is my experience as an athlete and coach that has polished my practice. It is invaluable for me as a coach to walk the walk, and ask my clients to do as I do, not just as I say. I want to personally understand and experience the mental and physical demands that I ask of my clients. This also helps me create unique effective workouts and facilitates more effective, detailed and accurate verbal descriptions and cueing.

Consistent communication is a key component to successful training, not exactly sure how the generic hands-off training plans pull it off. For me, it is essential to sincerely understand each of my clients’ life demands to provide training that is relative to them in every respect, and presents an athletic challenge that fits within vs conflicts with the confines of life.

As a coach it is also important to help clients keep data, in perspective. For example, it is a luxury as a cyclist to train with a power meter as the numbers are not skewed by other factors as with the heart rate, but we need to remember it is a tool and means to an end, not the end. This data-driven focus must be balanced with the emphasis on honing pedaling efficiency, bike handling and race tactics. We don’t compare power numbers at the start line to deem the winner.

My final take-away, is the importance of equal respect to mental conditioning. As physical beings, living in a physical world – we are hyper focused on physical factors. Based on my athletic career, I feel we under-estimate the contribution of our mental state in our physical outcomes. When athletes examine their race performances, for example, they tend to focus on how they trained leading up to, and how they fueled during the race, etc. I want to understand how they mentally entered in to the race, were they psyched to race,or uninspired, going through the motions? And what were they thinking during the race? In my career I clearly realized the direct connection that my thoughts had over my physical performance – it was the decisive difference.

Thanks for reading  – Be Calm and Carry On!

Launch of the Combine Team City-Rio Strada,Off-Season Team Training Plan.

Monday kicks-off training for members from the Sacramento area cycling teams – Team City and Rio Strada. This committed group is getting the jump on next year’s cycling season – instituting off-bike stability and mobility for improved on the bike performance. Its a  methodical, attention to detail approach that hit with purpose, diligently and consistently, reaps race-result rewards. While it is pulling teeth to get most endurance athletes to do off-endurance foundational work – it is ultimately the the key to in-sport durability, injury prevention and improved performance.

 

The plan includes daily training posted on Training Peaks; periodic group training to cover newly introduced elements and ensure proper technique; an exercise video library to provide an at-the-fingertips visual/verbal reference; and coach- individual athlete communication.

The off-season training objectives are –  hip activation for improved brain to glute communication – we need to feel it before we can effectively strengthen it; trunk stability – to train and maintain, through endurance that pillar-like, neutral spine in cycling (and running) – creating a sound base to effectively generate powerful movement to the extremities;  hip/pelvis/trunk and single leg stability for improved hip, knee, toe mechanical soundness and muscular strength; and movement training to train the nervous system to orchestrate the developed muscular strength to efficiently and powerfully produce and direct linear force in to the pedal (or foot strike).

Giddy Up!

I just returned from an amazing week in Ketchum, Idaho which included competing in the US Mountain Bike Marathon National Champs. It reinforced with crystal-clear clarity that the mental thoughts dictate the physical outcomes.

I entered the week with injured ribs and  sprained right hand and fingers – my first mental opportunity to overcome adversity.

I had the luxury of riding the course – which consisted of an approx 20-plus mile climb and 20-plus mile descent. Descending does not top of my lists of skills – as I don’t have bunches of time to devote to the mountain bike. The Ketchum trails are world-class and the race course was mind-boggling beautiful. However, the technical aspects of the descent toyed with me – trying to insert seeds of doubt with its ripping hour of twisting, turning, undulating single-track, intimately bordered with trees and hard rights with shear drops to the tiny town of Ketchum below.

My pre-race mental prep and visualization focused heavily on how I wanted to ride the descent. My mental challenge was intensified by the fact that my currently injured ribs had resulted while mountain bike racing on a very similar, intimately tree-dotted descent. So I mentally had to hunker down – sweep away those negative hooks and replace them with the positive of how I wanted to ride the descent.

Race day was picture perfect. I started the race with calm and composure – following my race day game plan. Until – one of my fellow-racers, hit the throttle, setting a pace – that was not exactly comfortable. I found myself falling in to a slightly frantic state, inefficiently struggling to keep pace. But I mentally gathered myself – regained my calm and composure and reminded myself to lean on my preparation and training – and trust it. My mind went to training sessions of hill intervals at sub to threshold and SFRs – working on pedaling efficiency – staying engaged in the trunk – and driving the linear force from my hips through the legs in to the pedals – maximizing efficiency and minimizing energy leaks. I also focused on find smooth, symmetrical fluid rhythm.

I put my mental blinders on, settled in to my pace and rode my race.

Before I knew it – I had passed my speeding-bullet, fellow-racer. As I passed and rode by, I kept with my game plan focusing on my race, trusting my preparation and not looking, or “thinking” back.

Now I was on the descent – and it was an absolute dream – I floated with perfect relaxed, rhythm and timing. It exceeded my visualization expectations!

I value the opportunity for these competitive outlets for self-challenge and resulting growth, confidence and empowerment. I especially appreciate my fellow-racers, who raise the challenge-bar and help me bust through self-imposed limitations – allowing expression of full potential.

Seize the Day!