Hey Coach? An Athlete’s Guide to Mountain Sports. Part 1.
Hey Coach, what are 5 things I need to think about as summer approaches?
If you’re like 99% of the residents in Summit County, you participate in more than one activity. Hell, you probably have nine. Your garage looks like REI hooked up with Backcountry.com and had octuplets. So much carbon. And now that the sun is out, you’re ready for SUMMER! Well, slow down, Tiger. It’s barely May, and we’ve just gotten a metric crap-ton of snow. However, having a plan is never a bad idea. So here’s a couple thoughts to help you get from whatever you do on snow to whatever you do off snow:
1. Check your equipment. Seriously. Now. Nothing is worse than having friends heading to Moab, “like, tomorrow?” and remembering your dropper post (wait, you don’t have a dropper post? Come on, it’s 2016) crapped out on your last ride. Get dialed, before you FOMO.
2. Maybe a coach? No, seriously. Hire a coach. There are some good ones around. A coach helps keep you from doing dumb things and wasting time. We only have 18 days of summer in Colorado, how much of that do you want to spend injured, sick, or not able to keep up with your friends?
3. Go from sport to sport SLOWLY. I know it just got sunny for 5 days and you went running/riding EVERY DAY. How do you feel now? Like your femurs are waterboarding your IT bands? Yeah. Eaaaaase into it. Do your summer sport once every three days for three weeks. Trust me, you’ll thank me in a month, and you’re 90% more likely to make it through the summer without getting hurt.
4. Ok, so you’ve just gone for your first rides. And you’re not going to go again tomorrow, right? RIGHT? You’re going to be sore and tight for a couple days. Spend a little more time over this transition period stretching, using a foam roller, or getting a massage. It’ll go a long way to preventing a small soreness from becoming an injury.
5. Keep doing your winter sports! A full-stop of winter sports with a concurrent full-start or summer sports will leave you broken, fat, and angry.
6. USE YOUR DAMN SUNSCREEN.
Yeah. That was 6, and I told you it was going to be 5? I’m a coach, not a mathematician.
Joe Howdyshell is the Head Coach and owner of the Summit Endurance Academy. He spends his time racing in jorts, drinking beer, and nerding out about exercise physiology. Want to raise your badass quotient by 5 points? Email him. Joe@SummitEnduranceAcademy.com