Maybe this weekly tip goes without saying, but sometimes it just takes reinforcing. Even for those who have been training for a few years. There isn't anything wrong with trying something new, depending on when you try it.
The best time, or in my eyes, the only time to really try something new (anything major at least) is during the off-season. During this time, there's not to much concern if you screw things up. Trying something new, whether it's a new running technique, new bike position, whatever, is likely to cause some type of backfire, at least for a short amount of time. Even if it is going to improve you over time, there may be an adjustment period. So it's best to do it during the off-season so you can slowly transition and not worry to much about getting injured.
If you happen to try something new during a racing season, just be very cautious before you begin, and do your research. Find a way to ease into it, and back off at the first sign of injury. But it at all possible, keep all new things until the off-season. It's much better to complete a healthy season than to get injured trying to improve something ever-so-slightly. Save that for when there's not a race on the line.
we better get this mountain bike thing out of the way before the season starts ! ! :) that is unless you are taking up xterra racing :) . . .
ReplyDeleteHa! You got me on that one! This would be another classic case of "do as I say, not as I do"! I seem to have a lot of those cases. Maybe I need to pay more attention to my own tips!
ReplyDelete