The Brain of Metal Man

Interesting article this morning from the NY Times reaffirming what we already know. Specifically, that the most important muscle in the sport body is the brain. That mysterious upstairs grey matter that makes the glutes, quads and hammys look like noodles. I was thinking about this yesterday, prompted by a number of stimuli, some internal some external. About absolutes. Our best. And how we get there, if indeed we truly can, and if we are able, how to keep it. Because, I wondered, if we get to our best, what then? Is the popular adage about improvement versus perfection based on fact or fantasy? Let's please be clear on one thing: Nobody is perfect. There, got THAT out of the way. Leaving us with the quest for improvement. Seeking best, today. Because, and here is where I faded, our best today is not necessarily our best. We can always do better. We train to get fitter, faster, stronger, more efficient, more graceful, more balanced, more aware. The acme of that big picture I anticipate with great joy. It is a road, a path, a process. I am at my best when focused on that process, riding, running, loving down (or up) that trail. I fail when I lose sight of the need for now. When the results, the goals, the end game seems improbable and obscure. When my brain says I might be better off making more money or putting that $702 entry fee into my retirement savings account. When the thought of a serious crash and subsequent medical costs spell catastrophe like graffiti on a brick wall. When my brain says slow down when my heart says speed up.

We have quoted Timothy Noakes here on many occasions. One of my favorites, "50% of what we know is wrong. But we don't know which 50% it is.", is so profound and brilliant that is seems more suited for astro-physics than sports physiology. The truth of this statement resonates throughout all that we do. We know that high intensity is the gold standard of training. We know we need flexibility and speed training, We know the need for the long and the steady. We know we need rest and recovery. We all seek our best in competition. What gets us there is the Noake's 50% idiom. The testing. The faith. The choice.

The article uses one of our oldest training paradigms, that of racing against yourself. Just when you think you have obtained your objective best, the guys in the lab coats throw you a Pavlovian bone and WOOOSH, you find another 1-5%. So it really wasn't your best, was it? Deception, chancery, slight of hand, smoke and mirrors, the pre-frontal cortex all in alignment like the planets gets you an all new PR best. Today.

What about tomorrow?

The infamous CompuTrainer Metal Man has been providing this exact laboratory replication for a quarter of a century. Today, in the BAC Multi-Rider Center, you can ride a time trial, and then in a week or two return for a re-test assigning your prior performance to the iconic avatar known as The Metal Man.

50% of the time I can predict the amount of improvement. The other 50% it is greater than my estimate.

And that, dear friends, is getting close to best, and good enough for me. Today.

Pic is a screen-shot of the, soon to be replaced, CT3D software featuring Mr. Metal Man (on the right). Think of him as your brain.