Adaptation

With two weeks off after finishing my 90 days I'm pretty sore. The reason is that during my "off" time I began both interval training on the bike and climbing again. Yesterday, Ben and I headed down to Maple and for the first time I flung myself at stuff that's too hard for me. Today, my back, shoulders, forearms and hands feel like I spent the night trying to escape from being imprisoned in some violent godforsaken netherworld (which I did, incidentally--see my dream post).

No matter how fit you get in one arena the only way your body gets used to new challenges is to change and adapt. I have a lot of engrams (neuromuscular patterns) stored from years of climbing so I can always push myself a bit further than I may be ready for physically. And even though my muscles are strong from 90X, sports always require something more specific. So I'm sore, and there's just no way for that not to be the case.

The upside is that my base fitness should be strong. As my climbing muscles and race form come around there will be less chance that I become out of muscular balance. Hence, my chance for injury lessens. Also, because I have a more well rounded fitness base, I should be able to push myself further than normal before I become imbalanced and break down. This is the reason athletes' weight train during the off-season, and exactly why some pro sports teams (Philadelphia Eagles and Montreal Canadians) have instituted P90X for their off-season conditioning programs.

pics: Ben in Big Cottonwood, my new hippie adventure rig, a rare sighting of Romney on single track.