This week, the ten commandments of training randomly cropped up over coffee. Not heard of them? Me neither. Cafes provide many moments of clarity, not only that the combination of pumpkin, walnut and maple syrup in a muffin is seriously delicious. A quick rundown provided a great deal of insight, even if there was some uncertainty about whether the first commandment was “train moderately” or “train modestly”.
Train modestly probably should be added to the list. Heaven forbid flaunting inappropriately short shorts. Bibshorts are the answer to hide those Dagenham cleavages too, fellas. Never mind the transparent properties of white lycra when damp. Thankfully, all lessons that I have not learned the hard way.
Life experience has
taught me that I have a natural propensity to learn most things the hard way. That
extends to how to get the most out of your training. Under my own guidance, I
spent heaps of time training erratically. Mainly involving doing lots of what I
love doing most - going uphill.* It gets you to a certain place (mainly hill
roads), but not much further.
The last two years have been a bit different. Being coached
invariably meant that a training plan to follow popped up in my inbox at regular
intervals. With goals and stuff. And planned sessions that sometimes involved
staying on the flat. Even sometimes doing sprints, reps, intervals and a
variety of other uncomfortable experiences that can be had on a bicycle without
even going anywhere near a climb. Weird. 
At this point, I must confess that my ability to learn things the hard way is only outstripped by my determination to unwaveringly stick to a game plan. Aka stubbornness. This came in handy when I thought my coach had lost the plot getting me to do sprints. Or ride on the flat. I imagine it’s also going to come in handy in a couple of weeks when I challenge myself to racing round and round for 24 hours.
Reviewing the commandments made me realise that I have learned a lot and I’m now sticking to most of them without even knowing it. But I’m still a bit rubbish at the “realize that all plans can be changed - yours will not be chiseled into stone” bit. I’d say my plans are more etched in semi-permanent marker nowadays. It's all a learning curve and long races are good at teaching you some lessons in adaptability.
All that said, this
week my own basic instinct got an opportunity to flourish. I got to tick off a
ride I’ve fancied doing for ages. After all, it was in my training programme. Rimutakas,
Akatawaras, Paekakariki, Haywards, Blue Mountains, Wallaceville and Moonshine.
For the non-Wellingtonians, that’s a heap of awesome hill roads. All in one
ride. With rain cos it’s springtime.
*I know that’s slightly strange. I can’t explain it to you.
It’s just the way it is.
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