By Lisa Tonello, PCG Elite Coach
Recently my Internet was growing slower and slower to the
point I wanted to throw it out the window. I was frustrated beyond belief. I’d
turn off the switch on the back of the router, wait fifteen seconds, and turn
it back on. This seemed to work for awhile, but it would soon become unbearably
slow again.
I finally called our internet service provider to complain.
After being put on hold for what seemed like forever, a technician came on the
line and asked, “How can I help you today?”
I explained how my poor internet connection was getting
slower and slower.
The technician replied, “Oh, it sounds like you need to do a
complete reboot.”
Of course! A complete reboot. Why didn’t I think of that?
“Do you know how to do that?” he asked.
“Yes, I turn off the switch in the back, wait fifteen
seconds, and turn it back on.”
“Nope,” he replied. He then instructed me to turn off the
switch, unplug and disconnect everything, wait fifteen minutes or so, connect
everything again, and turn on the switch.
Okay, easy enough. I followed the instructions, and lo and
behold it worked. Not only did it work, but it was faster than ever. Thank you,
Mr. Technician!
As I watched my Internet speed get faster and faster, I
thought how nice it would be if I could do a complete reboot of my energy
system: turn everything off, wait awhile, connect it again, and get faster. And
then I realized I can. And this is the perfect time of the year to do it.
How do you reboot your system? Take a break from training
and racing. Lose a little bit of fitness to rebuild your fitness. A complete
break. And by a complete break, I mean unplug and disconnect everything. This
allows your body to rebuild itself.
How long you need to wait before you turn everything back on
depends on what you did this season. Did you race every weekend? Did you do
five sprint triathlons, two Olympic triathlons, and one ironman? Did you ride
six centuries? Or did you just train every day to get back into shape so you
could ride on the Saturday morning group ride without getting dropped? All of
these and more took a toll on your body. If you had a super long season, I
suggest taking two weeks off your bike. If your season wasn’t that intense,
take one week. Feel like you need more than two weeks? Then take three. The
most important thing is to take the time off, lose some fitness, and allow your
body to rebuild itself so you can come back stronger and fitter. Go kayaking,
go hiking, go walking. Do those things you couldn’t or wouldn’t have done
during race and training season. Your body’s not the only system that benefits
from this; your mind does, too.
Go have some fun for a week or two, because as soon as you get back we’re going to reconnect, turn on the switch, and set to work making you even faster for next season. Get ready!
Lisa Tonello is a USA Cycling Level 2 coach. She and other PCG coaches create custom training plans for all levels of athletes. Lisa can be contacted directly through www.PeaksCoachingGroup.com.
