Yesterday I rode with Adam Myerson, a long-time pro cyclist and very well known rider and 'ambassador' to the sport in the Northeast. Most of you in the cycling scene know of him as I did - tatted up, clever, 'cross guy, wins crits, gauge earring, Twitter-pro - until about two weeks ago. It's cool to ride with someone who you simply knew as "be near him on the last lap and you'll place". As one would expect, there's a hell of a lot more to him. He's been kind, patient, and happily introduced me to some gems of Tucson. We rode to the top of Lemmon, reminisced old training he did a decade ago with Dan Vaillancourt, and had the best chance encounter on a ride that I have ever had. Spending 3+ hours at a time on a bike with someone you didn't know one bit is probably the best way to get to know someone. I rode with him a bunch that past 2 weeks, but 6.5 hours yesterday was pretty awesome. 3.5 hours of absolutely miserable headwind that makes most people want to quit biking altogether. We were going under 15mph for the full 3.5 hours. A one hour climb where Adam taught me the the difference between being fast and being fast when it counts, hours into a ride/race/workout...all without the exchanging of a single word. He calls it Old Man Power. I call it 'painful glory'. Towards the end of the ride we talked training, coaching, and all the skills you need across the board. I had written the rest of this post prior to the ride - and the stress Adam put on communication and learning only strengthened how important those things are in sport and life.
Here's some shots from my longest duration ride ever - due to elevation and winds it wasn't my longest ride ever, but it was easily my best long ride ever. And it was only 50F in Arizona.
 |
| As Adam said: "No Girls Allowed" |
 |
| Yeah. Wind. |
 |
| Flavors of the Southwest! |
 |
| Beer #1 of Tucson. |
This marks the first 20+ hour week of 2013 as well. By this time last year I had (foolishly and unstructured-ly) put in 3 and just hit mini-burnout #1. Luckily, I am a year wiser and have guidance that is more intelligent than "raw excitement and fun". I'm also more involved in the process behind my training than I ever have been.
I'm happy about my fitness, there is no doubt about that. But what I am much more pleased with is my understanding, both of myself and my training.
Now for a little insight into "Growth and Learning":
My involvement in my training is greater this year - when I have a coach - than last year when I was 'coaching' myself. How does that make sense? Communication. Which is the first thing I would tell anyone is the first key to finding a coach. It doesn't matter if that person coached an Olympic medalist or what their credentials are if you don't have good communication! My second key is be involved. If you're new to a sport, this might just be listening and absorbing ("knowing the work") rather than simply "doing the work". If you've been involved in the sport, you should be learning the "why" of each workout, then the "how" of progress, then begin to understand "what" the specific gains of each workout, block, or period. Once you have the understanding down, the next big (huge) step is "feel". This is the concept of learning one's own body; if learning things is an endless process (answer: it is!), then learning your body is an endless process that yields exponentially more powerful results.
Just like life, sport is a continuum of growth and learning. And the more you grow and learn, the more powerful your knowledge becomes - especially because you are now able to share that knowledge!
Share your life, sport, joy, and knowledge. Not only will you benefit from growth and learning, but someone will benefit from your teaching.
Yours in Glory,
Travis
If you want a bit more to read about a pretty cool Pro athlete who also has one heck of a crazy busy life, check this out. Otherwise, see you next time!
(As an addition to my above statements: I stayed with a guy in Tennessee (Craig Evans - self dubbed "Endurance Daddy") who can only be described in a LOT of words: Husband, father of two, medical device manager (his job is massively demanding), local cycling ambassador, owner of triathlon shop, and - oh yeah - Pro Triathlete. The night I spent at his house, I didn't see him until the morning, known as 5AM for him, because he got home at 1AM from work...in Cleveland! Due to this busy lifestyle, Craig's former coach, who I am sure is a great coach, couldn't relate to him and wasn't able to work with his schedule. Clearly, this led to a gap in communication. Once he was able to find a great coach who could also communicate on his level, great things happened. He got second at the World Championships in Offroad ITU Triathlon...to a guy named Conrad Stoltz. Communication led to growth and progress, led to a silver at Worlds. The coach that had this great communication just happens to be my coach as well and he's very skilled at communicating with a 20-something starting out and a busy father, who is professional in many things aside from sport. To see an adrenaline pumping video about Craig, his lifestyle, and season go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRU_Bzgygjw&feature=youtube_gdata_player)
No comments:
Post a Comment