Silly Season

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This is the silly season of endurance sports, that end-of-season time of rest and reflection that follows months of hard training and racing.

This is the only possible explanation for the brouhaha between Lance Armstrong and Filippo Simeoni, and the subsequent press coverage of a feud dating back several years. I think we can all agree that there will be an overabundance of Armstrong coverage in the months to come. His comeback has already sparked controversy of the “he should” and “he shouldn’t bother” variety, which is pretty silly when you think about it. For all the talk against Brett Favre’s comeback, nobody’s disputing that he’s doing a pretty handy job in New York, which is my way of saying that matters is performance on the field. So please, let’s refrain from spending the next nine months navel gazing about Armstrong’s motivations, intentions, abilities, past history, and consorts. That sort of stuff is going to get stale long before the first crank is turned in Monaco next July. If you catch me spending too much time indulging in that sort of space filling, please feel free to drop me a reminder.

Onward.

That observation came out of the internet search preceding this column, as I fairly trawled the various sites, praying for something to write about. The New York Marathon, which is always good November stuff, is past. Ironman is past. I could have done a little write-up on the 70.3 Clearwater race, but I’m trying to avoid a descent into total niche and focusing on the big picture – although, come to think of it, the dearth of events means that Clearwater may be the big picture this week.

I checked the Xterra website for news about the upcoming World Trail Racing Championships, to be held December 7 on Oahu. And I even looked in vain for something from the adventure racing world, which I am told still exists. Finding nothing, I can only come to one blissed-out conclusion: the next two weeks belong to cross-country. This appears to be the only time on the endurance sports calendar that cross-country running has the slate all to itself. Now, naturally, I am geeking out about this, being a big fan and all. But what draws my interest this morning are specifics about this portion of cross-country season which cross over all endurance sports boundary lines. I am speaking, I particular, about peaking.

For years, I’d thought that peaking for the end of the season meant cutting back on mileage, reducing the intensity, and basically resting for the big race. I have come to learn that this is not true. Dr. Joe Vigil, coach to top Olympians and one of the great gurus of endurance training, tells us that mileage should be reduced, but intensity should not. In fact, there should be speed in every workout: repeat miles, repeat 200s, repeat, repeat, repeat. By touching upon speed we sharpen the body for race day. Even the easy run should be topped off with some brisk 100’s.

All of which brings me back to Lance Armstrong. I said I wouldn’t go there but what do you know, I'm taking the plunge. Let’s think of November as our base phase with the Lance Armstrong comeback, a time of casual miles and low-intensity media coverage. Not too much effort, not too much frenzy.

We will go through several training phases during the next nine months of the Armstrong comeback, as we ramp up towards Le Tour. And then, bam, it will hit us: Peaking. July will be speed, speed and more speed as we are faced with an all-Armstrong, all the time media blitz, no matter who’s leading the Tour. Even the most casual observer will be checking the sports pages and the websites, looking to see what Lance had for breakfast and how many times he pissed someone off on his road to victory or none-victory in that day’s stage. One must prepare for those three weeks, just as my cross-country team has prepared for the next three weeks of their season. The peaking season comes like a thief in the night, and nothing that comes before it really matters.

So chill, everyone. Enjoy the silly season. Because it doesn’t last forever.

Keep Pushing… Always.

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