More "functional" thoughts...

A couple of posts ago I discussed the merits and pitfalls of the current trend of "functional training". Since then, I have come across a couple of things that reinforce my beliefs on the topic.

I recently read a description of a weight training program for the Australian National Track Cycling Team. I was thrilled in my usual exercise physiology dork sort of way to read that the coaches not only used a variety of very intense weight training exercises (read: HEAVY) to strengthen their cyclists but they even went as far as to measure the hip and knee joint angles during the cycling movement and then replicated these angles during weight lifting.

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On being a bike rider

No real science here. No training tips or dietary revelations. Just a few paragraphs to wax poetic. Humor me. I'll get back to business next post.

Yesterday evening was one of those days when it's great to be a cyclist. Yes, my competitive season is over and done and I'm doing a few other things like hiking and lifting weights. But I'm still riding my bike and last night was simply perfect. It was one of those times where perfect temps, perfect light and still wind come together in conditions similar to a powder day on skis.

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Lessons 2010

My post-season is well underway now having transitioned from semi-neurotic, schedule-intensive cycling training to a more free-form multi-sport routine. I've been in the weight room three weeks now and the shell-shock soreness is mostly gone. I've done a few long hikes and even took three friends up Teewinot last weekend. The 5,500 feet of descending had my quads complaining some the next day but two hours of easy riding on the bike felt fine. I'm five pounds heavier now than I was a month ago but I'm enjoying getting my upper body strong again.

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Road Rash - Heal Thyself

"It is not the critic who counts. Not the man who points out how the strong
man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit
belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by
dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short
again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions;
who spends himself in a worthy cause. Who, at the best, knows in the end
the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, at least fails while
daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those timid souls who
know neither victory nor defeat."
- Theodore Roosevelt

When I decided to start racing my bike a few seasons ago, one thing lurking in the back of my mind was crashing. Hitting the deck is nearly inevitable if you race long enough and hard enough. Certainly the more you push, the closer to the edge you get, and sometimes you end up on your hip sliding across the pavement, grinding your flesh away in the process. I've had a racing license since 1987 and have lost my share of skin. Thankfully, that's been the worst of it - no broken bones to date. Still, dealing with the aftermath of these injuries is typically worse than getting them. The searing pain of the first shower, the oozing wounds, the sticky sheets, difficulty sleeping and the annoying, frequent dressing changes all make for a tedious couple of post-crash weeks.

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Vitamin Zzzzz

God, what I wouldn't give to sleep like I did when I was a younger man. I remember hearing older people talk about the misery of poor sleep back then and I just did not get it. I mean, what were they talking about? You get tired, go to bed, fall asleep, sleep like the dead all night and get up in the morning. What's the big mystery here?

Well, sometime around, oh, I don't know, 6-7 years ago, things starting changing for me. Sure, I was hitting middle age when all the other crap you hear about happens but sleep problems? Come on! But there they were. Nothing horrendous. I mean, I wasn't an insomniac or anything. I just noticed myself waking up a lot during the night to turn over or whatever. It would often be at the exact same time of the night, too, which was kinda weird. I would wake up, turn over and glance at the clock and it would be 3:30am or something like that without fail. Strange. The beauty was that I would fall right back asleep and feel rested in the morning. I don't think it has ever caused me any problems performance-wise but when I hear how people actually sleep through the night I start to wonder.

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