The Science of Triathlon and Happiness... or something like that...

I'm catching up on some of my blog reading this morning since the legs are definitely suffering from yesterday's ride. I slept until 9 which, as some of you know, is ridiculously late for me to sleep in. Fortunately today is a relatively light day, given the hard ride yesterday and the Mountain to Meadows 14 mile run tomorrow. I'll head out on a short, easy run (no more than an hour) in a little while. Then after lunch I'm thinking about heading out to Pattee Canyon for a brief hill workout.

I've been a little bit behind in keeping up with reading the blogs I follow, what with recent travel and my own training load. (You can see a list of them on the righthand side of the screen.) In any case, Gordo Byrn recently touched on the ideas of consistency and workload HERE. He especially talks about how consistency and a moderate aerobic workload lead to positive mental effects (i.e. good moods), whereas the inconsistency that comes with higher intensity training (intensity referring to "harder", not "longer") leads to frequent bad moods and a degree of manic-depressive state.

In somewhat more scientific terms: consistent and tolerable (i.e. moderate) training leads to a steady release of dopamine and endorphins to the brain, resulting in a fairly constant positive mental sensation. On the other hand, high-intensity training (what Gordo refers to as the "Red Zone" - think about a car tachometer) leads to a higher level of endorphin release in the short term, but since the intensity cannot be sustained then the endorphin levels crash (along with the exhausted, overworked body), leading to bad moods and states of depression.

I'd never thought about it this way before or deliberately made the connection between training intensity and mood, but it certainly makes sense. I can easily see, in retrospect, my moods swinging up and down depending on my workouts. This will be an interesting thing to be more deliberately congnizent of over the next few months, as it is a big part of moderating myself and my training this summer.

Goal #1: BE CONSISTENT. A good rule of thumb I've heard is the idea that you should be able to repeat 90% of the workouts you do two days in a row. If you couldn't go do the same workout again the next day, then you're going too hard. The 90% rule is in place because there are certain notable exceptions, days of intentional overreaching, where you push the limits a little bit in order to try and induce a greater level of adaptation from your body. These workouts (like the 14-mile run I'm doing this weekend) are inherently risky and require a little bit of recovery afterward, which is why they happen very infrequently and in a controlled manner, but if executed properly they can be very beneficial.

So, in honor of consistency... time to go run.