Instincts

My son (henceforth known as Super-D) has been playing forward since spring hockey last April. About a week ago one of the coaches approached me and asked if Super-D had ever played defense before. I should have known change was afoot.

At our Friday night game one of the coaches walked up as I was tying Super-D's skates. "We're a little short handed - can you play defense tonight?" Super-D reluctantly nodded. After the coach left he told me he didn't want to play defense. Being a parent I hear on multiple levels. What he was really saying was that he wasn't prepared to play defense.

Super-D likes order. He likes to know what is going to happen, the order it will happen in, and when it's going to happen. Super-D does not like surprises. He hasn't learned yet that sometimes you need to slip in. To flow. He hasn't learned how to not overthink things. To instead trust his instincts and training. "The coaches know you can do this and your team needs you. You know how to play this position - just trust your instincts."

Sometimes your head gets in the way. It's easy to get caught up by the what ifs and intimidated by the unknowns. That's where your training comes in. If you've trained well then your body knows what to do provided that you don't get in its way. When your head gets in the way it's time to shut it down. To convert the frothing sea of white caps to the glass like surface of a tranquil mountain lake. Easier said than done - training is required here as well.

We won our second game of the season that night. The coaches attributed the win to three factors - our shots on goal were high, our forwards were aggressive on the puck, and Super-D was outstanding on defense. Super-D was totally pumped coming off the ice. He knew he had just played his best game of the year. And unbeknownst to him he had just learned a valuable life lesson - that sometimes you need to just jump in in order to break through.

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Workout Summary

1800 yd swim - tempo

45 minute spin class - anerobic intervals

6 mile run - tempo

30 minutes circuit/core/stretching
Overall energy was a bit low but my legs felt good during the run and spin.

Today's tempo run saw the return of decent pacing - after a long warmup (holy crap was it cold this morning) I ratcheted up the pace and held it under 8 minute miles for about four miles. Felt a bit of tightness in the hips so I opened up my stride a bit to stretch things out. Will have to remember to stretch some more later tonight - cold weather and tight muscles are not a good combination.