If you regularly work out or are training for an event, chances are you’ve felt (any or a combination of) stiffness, heaviness, irritability, or tiredness. Dr. Tierney’s SHIT Recovery Framework is simple and actionable. I highly recommend trying out some of the interventions outlined below.
It is two weeks to the Julian Alps Trail 80km event, and I am feeling all sorts of wonky yet wonderful during this earlier-than-scheduled taper.
I’m feeling wonky because after hitting my peak week of 92km last week, I am very aware of every achy joint and point in my body. The great news is there is no new pain! I do feel tired even with really good sleep and unusually high overnight HRV. So this week I scaled way back on volume and ran mostly by feel. I walked whenever I wanted to. I reminded myself that the goal is to see what’s possible. This is the longest trail race I’ve attempted and I’m determined to take any and all wins I can get. I’ve reframed the race to “covering 1 kilometre eighty times by any movement legally allowed”. I can almost always cover 1km so this reframing feels more possible.
I’m feeling wonderful because I’m surrounded by mountains and trees in Triglav National Park in Slovenia and the nearby grocery store has decent instant ramen and I found a bakery that sells cinnamon buns. I was getting very anxious and scared of the race — the distance, the night running, the elevation — all of those things beyond my control. During my run today the strongest and most repeated thought was “STOP THINKING”. I’ve just finished rereading “The Ultra Mindset” by Travis Macy and my favourite takeaway is “Bad stories, good stories: the ones you tell yourself make all the difference.” I was turning into a miserable version of myself and I think the better part of me had enough of it. Today that better part stood up, silenced the worrying part, and said “Hey, just get moving and see what’s possible.”
Tapering is an art, one that athletes around the world are trying to get better at every single time. Training blocks are rarely executed to perfection and tapering is no exception. The biggest concern is detraining and after weeks of specific workouts, this is a very reasonable fear. Another recurring theme is pains — both phantom and very real ones — pop up. And then there’s all the extra energy and time that were once used up by physical movement that are now pointed towards the psychological aspects of the race. Have I done enough training? Have I fuelled enough? Do I have the right gear? Once these questions have been pondered a million times over, maybe we’ll finally believe we have the right answer.
