Slow Down

So I have this book, and this book, and I'm attempting to do periodization as a training program this year. I did it, somewhat loosely, last year, and thought it was pretty great, so I'm trying to stick to it a little more closely this year.

The thing with this program, though, is that for the first three months of the year, you go slow. It's counter-intuitive. And sometimes it's hard to go slow.

I think, a lot of times, in this society/culture, we want to go fast. We feel the need to go fast right now. If I don't hurry up then __________ will happen, and this will mess everything up/put me at a severe disadvantage/be the end of the world. There's so much pressure to do as much as you can, as fast as you can, as long as you can.




But in periodization, you learn that training too hard, too fast will limit you in the long run. Oops... It kind of puts a ceiling on your performance. You end up hurting yourself.

The thing that takes so long is building aerobic capacity, and your ability to, mm, process oxygen more efficiently. You have to give your body time to build more of the tiniest blood vessels, capillaries. So all this is going on while you're pacing yourself at this slow, steady rate. Invisible. But it's happening. You end up getting more out of each breath you take.

And I was thinking that it's the same, spiritually. We want to rush results. We want growth now. We try to force it.


We get burnt out.


Sometimes the fastest way is to go slow.

Road Ride x 2

I went on two--TWO!--road rides this weekend. Greedy? Perhaps. Selfish? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely.



I was so happy yesterday. If Chris Carmichael showed up (but why would he show up? I don't know; it's a hypothetical. Focus.), I think I would've smooched him. On his face. That's how happy. I don't want to jinx anything, but I'm pretty excited about the upcoming year of cycling. 'Cuz it's only February, dude. Two rides. In two days. Mmm-hmm.

And the sun! The sun was so bright on Friday, I had a semi-permanent wrinkle between my eyebrows. Also, I couldn't look directly at my safety shirt. For obvious reasons. Hey. It's saved my life, probably a hundred times. At least. Don't hate.


I think there are so many little things that make riding at this time of year so lovely. For one, it's nice to not be all slimy and hallucinating from the 90% humidity. And to be able to breath. Gee, that's nice.


On the other hand, with the leaves off the trees and with me wearing my slightly garish safety shirt, it's a little challenging to find good spots for a bathroom break. TMI? Tough, that's the hard truth. Which has me wondering: I know how the male pro-cyclists relieve themselves on long rides, but, uhm, what about the female pros? Anyone know this? I'm a little afraid to research it.

February has been my second-favorite month (it's so hard to pick!) for some years now. There are all these small, subtle, almost-sneaky changes happening for Spring. The sun tilts differently. Birds start singing differently. I think it even smells different. And no one seems to love it but me. Sad. I think it is so dynamic and exciting, with this electric undercurrent buzzing and humming away.

And, you don't have to mow the grass.