Pandemic Purpose

My daily, solo sunset rides have been a wonderful way to find peace at the end of each day.

Pandemic Purpose

Chris Palmquist

It has been months since I have blogged – since right before the pandemic was declared. That was when everything about being an endurance athlete and coach changed. As I searched for the answers for my athletes and myself in this new world, I was hesitant to write anything for fear that it would be flippant.

I am still hesitant but as difficult as this year has been, I am seeing successes in my athletes and myself. These successes look much different than the race results of years past but many of them are triumphant and life changing. If we can move each day, we have preserved some control over our destiny in a year where much feels out of our control.

Athletes who are now working from home can now fit in a run or bike instead of having to commute to and from work every day.

Athletes who feel anxiety about an upcoming race can now focus on the joy of the training journey without that pressure.

Getting outside is generally the safest thing that we can do. And nothing is better for our mental health than to move through the outside air under our own power.

Things that are working:

Distance challenges – the GVRAT has an astonishing 19,000+ participants running and walking 1000+ km across Tennessee virtually.

Frequency challenges – Bianchi’s August Riding Challenge - ride your bike every day in August (outside and at least 5 miles) – a fun way to make sure you move each day.

Speed challenges – athletes working on getting their one-mile time down this summer with speed sessions and time trials at the track.

Strava challenges – finding segments and crushing them on Strava.

Nutrition challenges – eating at home allows us to reduce processed foods and substitute healthier options.

Team challenges - our team of five cross country coaches successfully completed the “Calendar Challenge” in April - running together the same number of miles as the day of the month.

Strength challenges – planks, push-ups, pull-ups and other body weight exercises require no gym and make a big difference.

2020 goals must fit into our lives right now. The stress of our daily lives is high – our goals cannot add to that in a negative way. Find a challenge or a goal that fits in and gives you the purpose that you need without adding to the stress.

Keep moving forward

In the end, we love endurance sports for the challenge of the journey, the friends that travel with us and the satisfying feeling of a goal accomplished. A pandemic cannot take any of that away from us. Keep moving forward and we will get to the other side.

Lessons from the Indoor Trainer

It was the third, dark week of February and the wind chills were frigid. We’d been gathering twice a week since early December to ride 90 minutes on Computrainers and the thrill was gone. As I unlocked the studio and turned on the lights, the thermostat read 51 degrees inside. We shivered as we bolted our bikes into place and turned on some music.

I clicked the start button and we began to pedal through a long, gradual warm up. Immediately the grumpy comments stopped and we started to tell the stories that had occurred to us since our last ride. Within a minute or two, we were laughing out loud. Somehow that warm up transformed our moods from, “Why, didn’t I stay in bed?” to “We are lucky to be able to ride strongly together today.”

The course that I had written was another tough one. 40 minutes of broken intervals at sub-threshold. “Comfortably uncomfortable.” Too strong for conversation but at each rest interval we continued with the stories and laughter. Today we talked about everything from photography to brain science to river otters. And as we connected socially, we knocked off one interval at a time.

At the beginning of the ride, the upcoming challenge felt very daunting. But as we rode, we got stronger. Because we had each other, we all finished the ride.

This experience is one that repeats itself over and over in the lives of athletes. The lessons here are many:

• The hardest part is showing up - turn off your rational thinking and just go get that workout done

• Workout friends and workout conversations are the best - seek these people and opportunities

• Completing a hard workout makes the rest of the day better

• Riding partners make hard rides possible, especially on a trainer

In a couple of months, spring will arrive here in Illinois, and we will get out on the trails and roads with the strength of this winter work to push against the headwinds. But right now, it is the laughter that will carry us through the long winter.

Gathering Energy

We head to the North Woods to regenerate and celebrate the past year and new decade!

Gathering Energy

Chris Palmquist, December 26, 2019

The holiday weeks are a chance for everyone recover from year of working, training, accomplishing, battling and achieving. Over the years, I have found this time to be critical for mental health and emotional and physical energy. Here are some things that athletes can do to be primed to start 2020 off with energy and enthusiasm.

Family/Friends First

If you are lucky enough to spend extra time with family and friends over the holidays, make those experiences your top priority. Go for a walk with everyone rather than that solo run - it may feel like a sacrifice today, but you won’t regret the opportunity to talk with your teenagers or reconnect with a relative when you look back on this in the future. Slow down and play a game with your kids. Eat the holiday food and enjoy it. Do the things that you don’t have time to do in the thick of a competitive season.

Reflection

Take some time to formally reflect back on 2019 (and the decade). Go through your calendar, training log and notes. Remember the races, the key training sessions, the workout buddies, the successes and the misses. What worked well? What accomplishments make you proudest? Write all of this down in a journal. How does this reflection effect your 2020 goals? Celebrate and learn from the past.

The best athletes and coaches have a strong reflection practice. Now is a good time to start this practice if you have not reflected formally and regularly in the past. Get a journal and start writing your reflections. This can be one of the most powerful tools for endurance athletes.

Effective Goal Setting for 2020

As you may have heard, resolutions usually do not work. They are often grand ideas for self improvement that are simply too lofty to keep for long. Instead, create some 2020 goals that are based on the daily processes that you can control, measure and build on over the year to great success!

Examples of process-oriented goals include:

• I will swim 2 times per week in January

• I will eat 5 servings of vegetables and/or fruit per day when possible

• I will do my easy workouts at a true, easy effort so that I can crush the hard training days

• I will find and commit to some training days with workout buddies

• I will get 7 hours of sleep when possible by setting an alarm to shut down the electronics and get to bed on time

The above goals, are examples of process goals - controllable, achievable and measurable. When met regularly, these processes will add up to success at races and in overall health later in the year.

Recover, Reprioritize, Reflect and Set Good Goals

Use these last days of 2019 and the decade wisely. Recover and reflect deeply. Enjoy family and rest. Set process goals for January. Do these things well and you will have energy and a plan for success in 2020.

My family will be doing the same and wish all of you a Happy New Year! I am so thankful for all of you!

Small Changes

As I pedaled through my first indoor trainer ride of the season this morning, my bike saddle and I were not agreeing. After suffering for a few minutes, I dismounted and checked out the seat’s alignment. It was rotated about two degrees to the right. I straightened it out. Then, because my knees had informed me that it was about 1/3 cm too far back, I moved it that small amount forward and hopped back on the bike.

Two degrees and 1/3 of a centimeter. Very small changes and yet they made all the difference. I was able to ride for 90 minutes and get day #2 of my 2020 preparation back into drive.

My plan to get back into racing fitness will require many, many small steps. This past year, I put training near the bottom of my priority list as I started a new business, pursued some other projects and recovered from my 14-year push to finish Kona as a Legacy Athlete last year. I am currently in the worst shape of my life. It is time to begin the comeback. But if I try to tackle it in large leaps, my body will rebel either physically or emotionally. Instead, I need to take small steps each day towards my 2020 goals. Focusing on consistency. Trusting the process of getting someone into shape that I know so well.

Small changes matter. Heading to bed 10 minutes earlier. Setting an appointment each day to train. Employing friends to meet for workouts. Adding more vegetables throughout the day. Committing to strength training. Remembering mobility work. Including progressive training within all of the energy systems. Believing. I’ve guided this process for hundreds of athletes and seen their successes. Now it is time for me.

As you plan for big 2020 goals, remember that most of the battle is just showing up each day. Build your training plan to be full of small steps and tiny changes. This is where you will find your magic. Let’s go!

138.2 Miles at Ironman Louisville

I met Tolva one year ago as a much appreciated referral from a friend. His goal was a first Ironman finish at IM Louisville 2019. As we worked together for the year, Tolva’s favorite part of training were the swims. I met him at his pool three times and did under and over water videoing of his stroke. Each time, I gave him some specific stroke form flaws to fix and the drills and cues to fix them. He would then swim for a month on his own and do all the work required to fix those flaws by the next session. His Ironman swim pace dropped by 20 seconds a mile and he got so he could regularly swim 5000 yards and call it easy. Tolva tackled the bike and run training just as diligently but he always asked for more swims.

Last weekend was race day. Tolva arrived in Louisville to find that the swim would be cancelled. Disappointed, yes! He was looking forward to showing his hard work off in the Ohio River. Plus, this was going to be his first Ironman and now it would not quite feel like the full experience. Anyone who has tried to bike 112 hilly miles then run a marathon would tell him that he has certainly earned the title Ironman!

Undaunted, Tolva adapted to the new challenge and crushed the bike and run with family at the finish line cheering for him! Way to go! Enjoy that off season!

Always smiling! Tolva conquers Ironman Louisville!

New Beginnings

I am excited to begin a new chapter in my coaching career with the launch of Cloud 10 Multisport! This new venture will allow me the freedom to collaborate with coaches, teams and athletes everywhere from my local area to around the world. I hope to meet all of you and learn more about your goals and adventures. Let’s reach higher together!

Take a look around the site and stay tuned for much more interesting blog posts in the future!

Chris