[THE PITCH: BLOG 35] When it’s finally over you will discover a newfound strength in your bones. Well, actually, yourbody will seem to deteriorate through the course of a long, tough season. Hmm… Perhaps your new strength will reside in your brain. It is funny how connected the two are: body and mind. Onlyyou will be so fatigued that you may not recognize the new and improved you as you gravitate toward a post-season hibernation and find yourself sleeping roughly 12 hours at a stretch. But remember RipVan Winkle… you will wake up to find change has happened. Through the ups and the downs, the cycles of games and breaks and then more games, through training after training after training, inthe rain …  oh the rain! … and travel — planes, trains, buses, and automobiles — the season will tear you apart. And yet, in the most important ways, it will quite certainly leave youwhole.

Resist the urge to attempt to “Americanize” your Swedish schedule. Inthe past, your seasons have been sprints. In which, you’ve trained hard to prepare for preseason, even harder in preseason, played a few months of games, began your “kick” in theplayoffs, hit the finish line, then a big fat break. This season, on the other hand, will be a marathon. You cannot train for a marathon like you train for a sprint, but you will try to anyway; doinginterval training …  pushing and pushing, adding extra trainings, extra running, and lifts into your schedule as a form of “improvement insurance.” Don’t do it! You willsoon learn, “Enough is a feast.” Otherwise, while you climb the peaks and valleys this year, you will miss flourishing in the rain of the plains with most of your Swedish teammates. Onelast bit of advice … When it is time to stop and drink some water … stop … drink, but be ready to resume the race.

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