For those of you following me regularly, I’m happy to report that I performed much better at this weekend’s tryouts than last weekend. Overall I felt more intense and ready to roll. What was different? I made more of an effort to ease up on my training in the second half of last week. I was also determined to redeem last weekend’s lackluster performance. So was it a physical or a mental issue last weekend? Who knows. Are the two ever really separate? This is a good question to keep in mind for those of you tapering for nationals.
To recover from a weekend that included a hat tournament and tryouts, I chose hiking instead of a formal recovery workout. Ok, so I went hiking mostly for fun. That it’s a good recovery activity is just a bonus.
mental and physical recovery are important for your training
Why is hiking a good recovery workout?
- hiking at a good pace uses a larger hip range of motion than a stationary bike or slow running
- inclines are like dynamic stretching reps for your calves
- declines are dynamic stretching for the hip flexors
- uneven surfaces mobilize and activate everything around and related to the ankles
- scrambling over rocks, jumping over streams, etc requires movement in multiple planes and opens the hips
- it’s fun! mental recovery is just as important as physical recovery (I need to practice this principle more often actually)
I hope your training, tapering, tryouts, and recovery are all going well!
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