Through the motions

My post-vacation letdown continues.  I'm still getting down to the river most days and performing most of what my coach has assigned, but it feels mechanical and uninspired.  Being an athlete is a mind-body connection, and when I'm just going through the motions of a workout without deep mental engagement, I can't help wondering whether the workout is really doing me any good.

The USCA nationals took place last weekend up at Warren, Pennsylvania, and quite a few of my friendly racing rivals were there turning in solid performances on all three of the days.  I should know better than to judge myself by the fortunes of others, but it was tough to read about their vigorous efforts while I was sitting at home feeling like a slug.  Maybe some of them felt the same way when I was paddling hard and having fun out West just a month ago.  It's weird how my mood has swung so completely to the opposite pole since then.

On Tuesday my assigned workout was three sets of three (4 minutes on/1 min. off) at 68-72 strokes per minute--basically an aerobic-endurance-near-threshold session.  I was planning to meet Joe down at the dock, and before Joe arrived I did about the first half of this workout.  Once Joe was there we just paddled easy and I couldn't motivate myself to do any more.

On Wednesday I didn't feel like going to the river at all.  Part of the reason was some continuing non-athletic work I had to get done, but I also just didn't feel like paddling.  Friday is usually my gym day, but I did my gym session Wednesday morning instead.

Yesterday I was back in the boat, doing what I'd been assigned to do on Wednesday.  It was primarily a technical session: three sets of five (45 seconds on/75 sec. off) at 80 spm with some resistance on the boat.  Once again my mind was elsewhere and I can only hope that my muscles will remember whatever good technique I managed.

We've been getting a fair amount of rain this week, and while it's not making me any more eager to get outside, I'm glad to see this area getting some rain.  It had been very dry since my return from the trip.

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