Third period of base training is just
underway after a week of rest and recovery. Not quite total rest and
recovery, but this time almost. I chose to exaggerate the resting
week, because it is only the day after tomorrow that I'll hop on a
plane to Alicante for the second training camp with the team.
Last block was solid – to the plan
and no problems whatsoever. This is the way (knock knock, some might
say or do). The block was highlighted by the skiing event, which was
one heck of an experience as I wrote. Also, I managed to do my road
season opener in the Finnish (or what was left of it) late February
and actually managed well – a snap over five hours. As a conclusive
remark, all the skiing, indoor training and on the bike outdoor stuff
was effective in terms of overall development. Here I am tempted to
refer to my profession as I want to elaborate on overall development.
--- If not interested in more thoughtful stuff, skip here ---
Ok, here we go. This is an extremely
brief intro.
Training, whatever the sport, is not
just about completing the planned activities. Obviously, it is more
than. In addition to physiological response and development, training
usually influences people in many aspects. Say, you complete a 3-week
block of base training with something new added into it. After three
weeks, one does inherently an analysis whether the training has
worked or not. The keyword is the analysis: what did you plan to do,
did you do it, how was it, what was good, what wasn't so good and the
list goes on. Once answered sufficiently to the questions you are
willing to ask yourself – learning can happen and future
development benefited.
Secondly, training in cycling is often
considered practically physiological. But it is not, it has a great
impact of psychology. A good block of training can facilitate
self-confidence, self-regulation, mental toughness and again, the
list goes on. A good block of training should make a psychologically
stronger athlete as well as enable physiological development.
--- Back to usual stuff ---
Why did I want concentrate on overall
development? Simply, because I felt that the last block of training
taught me lots. I experimented with new stuff, and found bit that
shall be included in my training in the future. I also found stuff,
that perhaps weren't that effective. Thus, re-testing before totally
discarding is required after a bit of modification. Psychologically,
I believe I learned bits and bobs. And as mentioned, physiologically
it was good. This all makes the second block of base training
satisfying and I am eager to begin the third block of the season.
I was planning to add photos to this
update. However, as lengthy as this is, I don't want to make it any
longer. And as I am not anykind expert in selfies or -elfieswith any
letter in beginning, finding photos is tough and there is hardly any
space on my memory card to save any selfies.
