Training, part 1

Maybe I'm not a great person to ask about training.  Then again, maybe I am.  

First, I'm glad you're thinking about competing.  It's going to be a lot of fun.  Goal number one is to finish the race.  Goal number two is to have fun.  Goal number three is to finish as fast as physically possible.  

I have bad news for all but a couple of you:  you're not going to win.

Now that you know that, you can loosen up a little.  Focus on the goals above.  Think about them when you train.  Goals for training should be the same as your goals for racing (finish, have fun, do your best).  

Your body (and your mind) adapts very specifically to the training stimulus.  If you had a math test coming up, you wouldn't study biology in order to get the neurons firing up there and help you pass your math test.  Your body is the same.  

When you put demands on your body, if those demands are something your body isn't prepared for, it will break down some and then after those demands are over, your body will repair itself in a way that will allow it to deal with that same stress better the next time.  So if you jump up and down for an hour, the muscles in your legs (and other parts of your body) will have small tears in them.  The way your body repairs those tears will allow you to jump up and down for an hour next time more efficiently with less damage to your muscles.

So what I'm trying to say is, you need to train specifically for whatever task you plan to undertake.  Then rest and let your body recover.

The key to longevity is have fun.  My philosophy is to do what exercise you feel like doing today and when it's not fun any more, it's time to stop.  More on that later.