Recovery is the key to success.
Being on a high mountain has always brought me joy. Monday this week was extra-special though. As we climbed upwards into the starlit moonless night, as the steel points on our feet crunched and our ice-axes squeaked as we pushed them into perfect untouched snow. I brushed away a few eyefuls of white frozen tears from my red parka and felt surprised at being able to breathe so freely and deeply. It felt blissful.
“Your covid cough has come back” Said Tyler, one of my rope-partners and also a Virginia based emergency room nurse….
“I think it’s just the cold air”, I replied, and he agreed that this could be true.
I thought back to just seven weeks ago in a different Emergency room, not being able to breathe, blood-pressure of 185/145 and wondering if my body was giving out or giving up. It was a rough night after a few rough days. I asked the Doctor if I was having a stroke or heart attack… he replied, “I don’t know, and we’re going to find out”.
Our bodies are designed to adapt, and the day after that night - I decided to do everything in my power to regain my fitness. I’d been training well before getting sick, so I had a good base. I read every medical study I could find on long-covid and delved into biology/physiology and training textbooks. Clearly I needed to boost my cardiovascular performance and in order to do that I had to both go long as well as add more intense efforts. I knew well that recovery was the key to success. Recovery, recovery, recovery…. It is the priority of every elite athlete who trains hard, yet it is one of the hardest things to coach - because as a society we are trained to work too hard, endure too much stress, and neglect rest. As a result of this… we get out of shape, lose our strength, get sick… and sometimes we either miss out on joys of life, or we die early. I know this… my best friend and father, Geoff, died of a heart attack two months after his sixtieth birthday. Too much dangerous and stressful work, night shifts, no energy or time for recreation, beer and cigarettes and… our bodies don’t do well on this program.
Like Tyler this week, I also got to go up mountains with my father and those are unforgettable times. It was a privilege to walk onto the summit this week, with him and Stephan (his Dad), to see that joy - and relieve that joy.
We can fight back from illness, but that fighting involves extreme self-care. Training hard can prepare our bodies to endure, but it’s the rest, restoration and recovery which brings us strength. It’s the priority for athletes and thanks to getting a good dose of covid, I gave myself permission to do it.
On the mountain, the rules are simple - Don’t go up - unless you know exactly how you are going to get down.
Training is the same, Don’t start training hard - until we know exactly are going to recover and improve.
Next time you hear “No pain-no gain”, “One more rep”, “Go hard or go home” or “Go to failure”. Just unhear that BS. Use our brains as well as our bodies. Athletic performance shouldn’t be like running ourselves into the group, but more like being lifted like a bird into the sky… or pulled up a mountain by the promise of the dream of a new day and sunrise above the clouds.
Let’s take care of our bodies and each other. If you’re focused on a big mountain goal and want me on your team for coaching. I have several options from in-person to online/video coaching. My method is unique in that it’s results-based custom planning to fit your strengths and lifestyle, rather than a program created for the general population.
To the top.
