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rbart4506
Canada
37 Posts |
 Posted - 02/19/2012 : 15:58:47
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I've always found that when I am training or racing on my bike that any nagging injury or pain seems to go away, but returns the day after. I had always assumed it was an over-use condition or something related to the fit of my bicycle, but I now I believe it is our little friend 'TMS' at work.
While off the bike the sub-conscious mind is doing it's part causing pain so that you are distracted and not really thinking about the issues at hand. Then when you get on the bike and start riding you slowly replace that pain with the pain you produce while training/racing. The sub-conscious mind can take a break while you make yourself suffer. Again you are not dealing with the repressed feelings.
A perfect example of this is when I am preparing for our weekly club 15km time-trial (This a race against the clock). I have been dealing with a left ankle issue that I had attributed to the fit of my shoe and/or foot position. Each time during warm-up the ankle would bother me and even at times the left knee. It would bother me to the point where I wondered if I could compete.
Like clockwork, once the starter would say go, there would be no pain. All focus is on the task at hand there is no thinking about pain, just go! The last 1km is a total blur, tunnel vision, focusing on your metrics that are displayed on the computer. There is no time to think about anything else.
In some ways it's a bit like meditating. There is no time for idle thoughts. The mind is clear.
Once the race is done the pain does not usually return. I think that's because the body is in total recovery mode and you are still feeling that endorphin high.
I think all this probably explains why I have most of my issues in the off season. First off it's winter and with the limited sun exposure I suffer with the doldrums. Then you add in the fact that a lot of the training is done at a lower intensity so there is more time for the sub-conscious mind to spin it's web.
It seems every winter something occurs, some little nagging injury. I use to always obsess on what went wrong, now I know...
Next fall I will do better!
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An interesting thought...
