In case you missed the vlog, I have entered a triathlon. “What has this got to do with music?” you ask. Great question, and the answer is: “More than you might think.”
You may have heard of the phrase “body, mind, spirit”… but in case you haven’t, it simply pertains to an individual’s mental, physical, and emotional/spiritual health.
I’ve noticed that when something is troubling me mentally or emotionally, my physical body starts to manifest symptoms. My heart rate becomes irregular, and I have a hard time sleeping because I’m tossing and turning the problem in my head – and as a result, my body as well. I was feeling lethargic and fatigued. This is when the mind-body-spirit are out of balance.
Much of this stuff is controlled within the limbic system – the part of the brain that regulates body functions. Research has shown that exercise is a key part of keeping those functions steady and consistent, especially through periods of stress and strain.
The music business is fraught with irregularities. And along with irregularities come stress and strain. Late night gigs. Some months there are lots of gigs, some months there are very few. Some gigs pay handsomely, others don’t pay anything. Any working musician out there will tell you that it’s a rollercoaster ride and trying to balance the seesaw of emotions can be difficult.
Hence, exercise.
Now, I’m the kind of person who needs something to aim at. I need a race, or a specific mountain to climb. I can’t just go jogging for the sake of being healthy… I’ve been doing that all my life. I get bored long before I get tired.
“So,” I told my wife, “I’m going to enter a triathlon. The multisport aspect makes things interesting.” She smiled and nodded. Occasionally if I start mansplaining too much she just eye rolls… which is my cue to shut up and dance.
So I did some brief research and found a race in the fairest Cape, called Race2Stanford. The website reads: “We’ve been told by those who know, that it must be one of the most scenic half iron distance courses in the world. And we tend to agree.”
The swim takes place in Hermanus, you then cycle to Stanford and run some loops around the Stanford village. I entered.
I started reading up and learning how to train. I then proudly showed my wife the race and discovered (to my horror) that it’s been dubbed ‘the toughest race in the country‘.
“Oh well,” quipped my wife. “In for a penny, in for a pound.”
I reached for the tequila, but alas it was empty.
After about a week of psychological whiplash and anguish, I took a deep breath and resumed researching how on earth to do this.
Turns out that the preparation for the race is less about mass murdering your muscles and more about plodding away for the long haul with steady, slow heart rate. In other words, train like you want to be a fit grandpa.
The focus with training sessions is progress, not perfection.
I like this idea. For athletes out there, it’s all about Zone 2 heart rate training. Basically, keeping your heart rate between certain beats per minute. This is harder than it sounds. For someone like me who has been going hammer and tong with training for the last two decades, the lesson is one of patience. My youngest daughter tells me: “Slow and steady wins the race.”
Professional athletes talk about getting addicted to the pain. I think this is a bit of an analogy for life. And the music business. The tough training sessions aid the limbic system, and help even out the equilibrium of emotional and mental health. Which should make for better music.
