Every year as athletes we seem to go through the same process, that time where we down tools and either ease back or cut out completely the training and have a bit of R&R. What this also does is cause us to worry about the missed training, the loss of fitness, the resultant weight gain etc. What we don't realise at the time is what the body actually needs is this change of pace to recover from that deep down fatigue we have built up over the last 10-12 months.
This year I have embarked upon my longest period of not training since I took up riding a bike back in 2008, now I did go swimming, running and biking during this time, but only as I wanted to and none of it was done particularly hard.
After Challenge Weymouth I took 2 weeks of doing nothing, absolutely nothing, and then the next 5 weeks I did a few rides, runs and swims. As I use training software I could see my fitness ebbing away and yes those demons did start rearing their ugly heads, I should get back to training, IM South Africa is only 5 months away, what about if I can't regain the required fitness, how difficult will getting back into training be. I kept my word (I had said to Ruth I would start back formal training in November) and didn't panic, 4 and half months of dedicated training is more than enough to get my fitness greater than I did at Weymouth.
A few sessions I did do help with that confidence, a 145 mile bike ride, 10 mile runs were done without too much bother so I felt relaxed enough to commit to the extended break. What was a bigger bonus was a renewed enthusiasm for training, last year I had gone through a tough time mentally (though in hindsight this worked out to be a blessing in disguise), and I didn't want to go through that again. It really was a pleasure telling my little lad that I didn't have to go training and we could spend the day chilling out and saying to my wife did we want to go out for the day as a family.
There was a bit of a downside, and that was an injury I got whilst running, with not running much perhaps going for long extended runs wasn't the wisest choice, I should have stuck to shorter runs I think. Now this has caused a few other demons to rise from the flames. I have now started back training, but running is on hold for a few weeks. This has me worried in 2 ways, just when I should be starting to build up for South Africa I can't and even when I do start running again, is the issue going to flare up again. I have no idea what really caused the issue so this will now play on my mind for a few months I expect. Even when back training there is the wrestling with demons going on all the time.
Some good news however, the swimming seems to be going in the right direction again, and whilst my bike fitness on a graph has plummeted this doesn't appear to show the same in real life, that's a couple of demons shot down pretty quickly, so perhaps I have little to worry about and it will all come together fine.
Would I take the same amount of time off again, I am not sure but one thing is for sure I will make sure I take some complete downtime every year, the fitness losses are minimal and the mental and physical refreshment is fantastic. I feel in a whole different mindset to this time last year where I raced for far too long and trained far too long with that. Roll on 2015, I think this is one winter I really will begin to enjoy ;)
