Stress Management

The holidays arrive bearing gifts of stress!

Why do holidays have to be stressful? Holidays should be about spending time with your loved ones and enjoying time off. We shouldn't be battling the inconsiderate shopping crowds, traffic and hustle and bustle. We shouldn't be up cooking all night, only to load up and travel to three different cities to visit relatives the next two days. I don't want to sound like a scrooge, I love the holidays, I just don't like the hustle and bustle. Why can't my wife and I just set on the couch for a couple of days and eat bon bons in front of the fire?

As we all know, this holiday season is more stressful than most. Our country's financial and job loss situation make this a very difficult time for everyone. I have always tried to find a way to manage my stress. The majority of the time I can use exercise to wipe away my stress. However, we have stressful times that move outside the boundaries of our normal stress management procedures. Last week was one of those times.

I reached a point last week where I did not want to exercise at all. I was eating crap, feeling sluggish and completely unmotivated. Naturally, this amplified all of my stress. I had to find a way out of this stress loop and get back on track.

My youngest brother is a hunter. He will hunt anything that moves as long as as he can eat it. I call him to brag about a new bike and he calls me when he has a new gun. I may wear spandex in public, but he thinks camouflage is fashionable for any occasion. I try to hunt with him at least one weekend a year. I am not big on hunting, but it gives us some much needed quality time. My brothers and I are very close and we don't get to spend much time together. Besides, maybe some time in nature will clear my mind and reduce some of my stress.

Last Friday night, we pack up the camouflage and headed to South Arkansas for a weekend of fun in the woods. We arrived at our destination around 1 AM with plans of being in our deer stands by 6 AM. Not getting much sleep did not bother me nearly as much as knowing the temperature Saturday morning was to be around 23 degrees. I had every piece of warm bike clothing I own, under my camouflage pants and jacket. Surprisingly, I wasn't a bit cold. As far as the hunting goes, I saw over 50 deer that weekend but didn't even take a shot. Being in nature and watching the deer run around seemed to be helping my stress.

The deer camp is actually the house of a good friend of ours. He and his brother live across the street from each other out in the country. They are both divorced and have daughters. When ask why they are divorced, they will both tell you some version of their wife not being able to fish or hunt and they had to let them go.

Their daughters, however, are excellent hunters, even the 9 year old. We stayed with the brother with the 9 year old. I had a first class lesson on how a 9 year old girl can run the show. I guess it is somewhat comforting to know that women are born with certain traits and it is natures plan not some evil plan they develop as they get older. I had no idea that a 9 year old girl was so proficient at sarcasm and ordering people around. Truly, women are the more intelligent species.

While chatting with the 9 year old, I noticed a couple of guitars and a drum set by the TV. I was immediately informed she was in charge of this equipment and would allow me to join in the fun if I so desired. I couldn't see myself spending time playing Rock Band, but I would participate if it made her happy.

She turned on the equipment and ordered me to take over the drums. Her dad would be the lead guitar, my brother would be the backup and she would be the lead vocals. I have extremely good hand eye coordination so it only took a few minutes for me to get the hang of the drums. I was mildly entertained and started to relax. As time went on, I started to enjoy myself and loosen up. The next thing I know, we have a house full of people singing and dancing. I have been on the drums for over three hours and all of my stress has disappeared. Who knew that this silly game would wipe away all of my stress. I had a blast, although I will admit there is something inherently wrong with a 9 year old girl singing Hotel California and The Joker.

I returned home refreshed and longing for a good run. I guess I am back to normal, well, as normal as I can be.

Winter Training

We are closely approaching winter, well, an Arkansas winter. An Arkansas winter could be 75 degrees one day and 35 degrees the next. Even worse, it could be 75 in the morning and 35 by the afternoon. We spend most of the winter with our pockets stuffed with arm warmers, leg warmers and other warm clothing. The rule of thumb is to carry a lot with you and be able to remove anything you start out wearing.

Winter time also marks the end of long daylight hours. This reduces every ones training time and forces us to perform unspeakable things like riding the trainer, lifting weights and core training. Fortunately, I have enough warm clothing to avoid the trainer as much as possible. Unfortunately, there is no way to get out of weights and core work during the winter. I know it is necessary but I would much rather be on my bike.

I did my first chest, back and core workout Tuesday morning. My chest and back are sore but my core is in the most agony. Did you know you use your core when you are typing? Oh the agony. I climbed out of bed a 4:30 am and stumbled to the coffee pot. This is not a misprint and I have a witness. Rebecca, horribly shocked, witness my early morning stumbling. If you know me, you know that I like to have a plan for everything. I started training for my early morning rise a couple of weeks ago. I started getting up at 5:30 and started the day with coffee and music videos on VH1. I would set around for an hour then proceed to my normal work day routine. This brutal training routine help me prepare my body for the early morning workouts. (Don't tell anyone, but I felt really good after my early workout. I may one day reach Jedi Master status).

I decided to change up my winter routine this year. I have all but retired the road bike and spent considerable time on the MTB. I will still do Wednesday hill training and weekend fun rides on the Road bike, but most of my harder training will be on the MTB. It is a nice change of pace, killer workout and just plain old fun! I have been on the MTB around a dozen times in the last three weeks. I have gained some much needed and long lost skill and balance. MTB is so much more fun when you don't have to worry about killing yourself on a jagged rock. I am actually training very hard right now. I will do the sport class at a MTB race in Hot Springs in two weeks. The sport class is 20 miles of fast single track. There are a few technical spots and some climbing, but most of the course is fast. I have no aspirations of finishing above the middle of the pack. Actually, a middle of the pack finish would be great. I am hoping my end of the season fitness from the 70.3 will help me toward the end of race. I will give a full report after the race.

Tomorrow is another 4:30 rise and shine. Summer will not return fast enough for me.