A friend who I haven’t seen in many years left a long and somewhat sad phone message for me a few days ago. He described how his training has not been going well recently due to recovery from spinal surgery. Hills and group rides showed he was well below where he had been before the surgery. He finished by asking for my advice. I replied with an email, as follows. (The email has been edited with other personal details deleted.)
Hi Tim,
I just got your voice mail. Spinal surgery is not to be taken lightly. Your timing is good as I also had spinal surgery recently. Fusion of L5-S1 almost four weeks ago now. I can certainly sympathize with you as I’m working to return to a normal level of fitness also. I suspect the keys to your return to normal (whatever that may be) are the same as mine: patience and persistence.
The first is the truly hard part. I remind myself while I’m riding (just a handful of rides so far) that patience is critical. I can’t force my body to get fit no matter how badly I want it to happen now. It will happen only at my body’s own rate. Not what I want. I’ve been through this same type of setback due to medical issues several times in my 50+ years in endurance sport. Each time I eventually came back to where I was prior and usually exceeded that level—if I was patient. When I was not patient, I usually set myself back and it took longer to make a comeback than it should have. Serious self-talk about not trying to “force” fitness is the key to patience. You must hang in there for the long haul. Be patient.
In terms of persistence, I expect you are also much like me. I train because I really enjoy it. I hate missing a workout and that happens rarely due to my persistence. But persistence must also be modulated. I am often tempted in the return to “normal” to start doing stuff in training that pushes my physical limits, especially in terms of intensity. I have to remind myself not to seek my limits on a climb. And I also have to remind myself not to do group rides until all is “normal” for me again. Such temptations must be kept under control.
The most important part of persistence for an endurance athlete in this situation is staying focused on what’s most important for the return to normal training. That’s aerobic fitness. I must ride slow and easy. Nothing above zone 2. All rides should be solo so I can focus on not overdoing it. It’s boring but it is critical to making a safe comeback. Slow and easy are the keys right now. We’ll know when the time is right to work harder—but not until then.
If we are consistently patient and persistent for a few more weeks we’ll return to normal and eventually exceed where we were prior to these temporary setbacks. But we must be patient and persistent during the journey, doing only what’s right for our comebacks.
Good luck!
Joe
