Detox

I did the same workout today as I did on Tuesday (see that post for its description).

Was it any easier? No. But, a la the Borg, I did adapt somewhat. In that I wasn't concerned about my ability to do it and I knew what was coming so I could anticipate the discomfort and, well, just deal with it. Maybe there was some new speed entering my body during it. The run in particular was not pleasant. I did it, I negative split it, but today I avoided moaning out loud so nobody would come up to me and ask if I was OK. But you should have seen the sweat flying off me on the bike. I can sweat pretty impressively for such a petite woman. Rest assured that I clean off any gym equipment I use really well.

Interesting concept, that of adapting vs. having the same workout feel easier. I think some people expect that at some point the training will become easier. Au contraire, as the saying goes, it doesn't get any easier, you just get faster. At least if you are doing it right. If you keep doing the same thing, at the same intensity, over and over, are you going to become more fit? No. You will be able to maintain the fitness you have, but that's about it. So it's like a poker game where you are betting against yourself and trying not to fold.

Our bodies are amazing pieces of machinery. They adapt to a workload by growing more capillaries, increasing the number of mitochondria, enlarging muscles, pumping more blood with each stroke and changing the metabolism to burn more fat at progressively higher work intensities. And then once the adaptation has taken place (which happens when we are resting, in general), the body says, "More, please?" Or at least that's what its trying to tell you, up to a point.

As we adapt, we become more efficient at processing fuel, too, so it's a vicious cycle of becoming more fit and to an extent, burning less calories. Assuming you stay at the same intensity. So you need to up the ante in order to produce the stimulus to keep your fires burning. Much like a drug addict can need more and more of a drug to get the same high. Endurance athletes are just addicted to a different drug. The performance drug.

But sometimes you need to detox and drop things down a bit, like during a taper or after a big race or at the end of the season and let your body and mind work through that craving to get that fix and build up to it once again gradually and maybe even exceed the fitness you had before you started. If you forget to detox, your body will happily tell you that you need to by ratcheting down your performance or making you physically sick. Then you go on to surprise yourself (it was no surprise to your body, though) to exceed the fitness you had before the bodily-imposed detox program.

So for all of you out there currently in detox because you are tapering for Hawaii or Florida or are at the end of your racing season, think of it as a way of coming down off your usual high so you can get that zing back when you race or start to ramp up your training again. If we didn't periodically detox, we wouldn't know how good the drugs are, would we?