Stress is paradoxical by nature. As endurance athletes, we seek out specific stress via our training, to induce certain adaptations that will make us better cross country skiers. In this context, stress is beneficial. Conversely, we also actively seek to avoid other types of stress, such as sickness, or inadequate sleep, or even under fueling in training, as these generate responses within our bodies that often inhibit the adaptations from the good stressors, as well as our effectiveness to train and actually generate this good stress. We can come to a consensus that we should try and avoid these obvious offenders of bad stress at all times. But there also exists a grey area; These are the activities and habits that illicit a stimulus to the body that can’t be as clearly defined as good or bad. I believe a major part of being a successful athlete is learning what this grey area looks like for you. You must understand what things and really what lifestyle puts you in the space, both physically and mentally, that is most conducive to training and producing growth.
Through some honest introspection, I’ve realized I am the type of person that needs to be active, and needs to be challenged and stimulated outside of my skiing as much as I am within it. I was the kid that up until high school played three sports during one season. The kid who wouldn’t sit still, and whose favorite classes were gym and recess. The kid who begged his parents to do math fact flashcards religiously, to be the best at those minute math fact quizzes, because it was a competition with a measurable outcome, and more importantly quantifiable growth.
As I became a college skier and then a professional, I think some of this got lost. The stakes “felt” higher, and I was taught that the best thing I could do for my skiing outside of training was nothing, and rest and recovery should be prioritized at all times. This may be ideal from a purely physiological perspective, but I've come to learn that at least for me, this approach drains me me mentally. I’m not regretting the decisions I made, but if I could go back, I think I would have continued to play multiple sports past my freshman year of high school, and kept this active mentality through college, as I think my mental state, and subsequently my skiing took a hit. I like structure, but if this structure isn’t full, doesn’t have enough stimulus, or too much stimulus of the same type, I feel I’ve actually got less energy.
I thrive when I am constantly exposing myself to things, and participating in activities that inherently require my full attention and self both physically and mentality, even if that means from a pure physiological perspective I’m wasting energy. What has taken me this long to at least to admit and be ok with, is that the physical side is only part of the equation. If I’m not being stimulated enough outside of just my ski training, whether that means through a job, or some outdoor adventure, and I’m not happy, then I’m not confident, and I perform poorly. Believe me, as a math and statistics major, the inefficient and illogical reality that is spending energy towards other things allowing me to allocate more energy towards, and ultimately perform better at, my skiing, makes my skin crawl. What’s worse is the simply the lack of understanding and immeasurability of this “mental state”. I’d be lying if I said I am at all satisfied with having, “because I’m happier and feel better” as the best rationale to why this approach works for me. I hate having to even acknowledge the unquantifiable and seemingly arbitrary variable that is feeling, as a useful metric at all. But I’d also be lying if I said it isn’t important and hasn't helped me. As I have acknowledged this, and allowed my self to be who I am, whether that be skiing in some new mountain range despite it being a rest day, or sinking my teeth into a project for work perhaps a bit longer than I should, my energy levels, well being, and ski training have all drastically improved.
When it comes to ski performance, or any type of performance for that matter, how one operates and defines this grey is purely individual. I know people, that have no problem dedicating all of their energy exclusively towards cross country skiing. I also know others, that function more similarly to me, and perform better while having more outlets. There is no “right” approach. Yes, we have guidelines and a framework, backed by science and data, on how training works. We even know the practices that yield the most benefits for improvement in cross country ski racing. There is no substitute for structured and specific ski training. If you want to be successful you need to develop your aerobic and anaerobic systems in a specific manner to cross country skiing, you need to train and develop the strength and coordination to perform efficient technique etc, and you need to spend a lot of time and energy doing it. However, I believe what you need to create the mental state that allows you to execute this work effectively is very unique.
In other words, we have well defined blueprints to build the house that is a high performing cross country ski racer, and even know the best manner in which to build the house, but someone like me may need to build a garage on the side simultaneously in order to actually complete the house. And for some seemingly backwards reason, I can actually build a better and stronger house even faster, when I’ve got the garage project on the side, compared to if I’ve only got the house to complete. So, if that means skinning up and exploring some mountain even in the middle of the winter racing, stressing a bit over some homework for a machine learning course I decided to take to refine some math skills, or biking some new gravel route I’ve wanted to check out, I’m going to do it, and I’m not going to overthink if it’s the “right” thing to do for my ski training. I’m trying to continue to embrace being me when it comes to this grey area of stress and I’d encourage everyone to do the same, because you might just surprise yourself.
See you on the trails,
Simon
