Re: Tying Up Loose Ends
SkateFan5 and EllynK,
Thanks for giving the correct information on how long Michelle has been competing at the senior level. I knew Michelle had competed at Nationals in '93 and Worlds in '94, but my math was working on the Rgirl principle, ie, wrong--kind of the way it works for some judges
Nymkfan51 and Mathman,
ITA that Michelle is working very intelligently by reducing her competitive schedule and thereby avoiding avoid burn-out. As I said in response to Apache in another post, "By not competing, athletes [can] lose their 'match-edge,' but too much competition for experienced athletes can cause burn-out." As Michelle has often said this past season, she is trying to achieve balance in her life. Balance is important for any athlete, but for an athlete like Michelle who has been skating at an such a high elite evel for so long, balance is crucial. As if I need to say the following, but Michelle was 4th in the World in '95; seven World titles out of ten appearances, with her first win in '96 at age 16 (I think my math is correct to say that's a win rate of 70%
) and of the three she didn't win she took the silver; pluse two Olympic medals; and nine National titles since '95, and these are just her competitive achievements without counting GP wins, other events, and juniors--that's a heck of a long hard run.
When an athlete is young and on the way up, physically and mentally they can endure and recover easily. Generally speaking, one's endurance and recovery abilities are never stronger than they are up until the age of about 20. Also, as I've said on this forum before, burn-out does not just affect one's mental or emotional well-being. (Sorry to get a bit off-topic here; the mods can cut it if it's too far off
) It's a total physiological and psychological phenomenon. When I worked with athletes and dancers on training and rehab, I saw burn-out quite a bit especially with those who, depending on their sport, were reaching the higher age ranges, and among those who had the greatest self-motivation, and I find Michelle to be amazingly high in self-motivation.
In the exercise physiology and sports science lab I worked at, another grad student was studying the effects of overtraining and burn-out. It's one thing see an athlete not be able to perform up to his/her previous levels or hear an athlete describe how s/he just can't perform the way he used to. But it's really striking and sometimes frightening--at least it was for me--to see the actual physiologic changes burn-out can cause as they appear on test results. For example, once we were doing a maximal oxygen uptake treadmill test on one athlete for this student's study on burn-out. This treadmill test looks at the maximum amount of oxygen the person can "uptake" or get into his blood and also how the heart responds to maximally intense exercise. The athlete being tested was on an inclined variable speed treadmill and was instructed to gradually increase his running to his maximal ability. The difficulty of the test is increased by increasing the angle of incline on the treadmill and/or increasing the speed. The greater the results on the oxygen uptake, the better shape the athlete is in, at least in terms of aerobic metabolism. For these purposes, human aerobic metabolism is defined as the creation of energy through the combustion of carbohydrates and fats in the presence of oxygen._ The "aerobic zone" of exercise intensity is when you exercise at 70-80% of your maximum heart rate. (Sorry this is kind of complicated, but I do have a point:lol: )
_
Anyway, to watch this extraordinary athlete who was experiencing burn-out--he was a long-distance cyclist who was competing, teaching, and trying to finish his PhD--do this treadmill stress test where, when healthy and in shape, he would've performed at the most amazing levels, experience such problems that we had to stop the test because his heart rate started going crazy was distressing enough, even though the athlete didn't feel bad and in fact wanted to go on. And then to see the read-out on the tape, which shows the heartbeat pattern, go from the normal peaks and valleys to what looked like a bunch of scribbling, which means the person's heart is beating very abnormally, really drove home the point of how serious the physiologic problems burn-out can be. BTW, in these cases of burn-out, erratic heart rhythms like what we saw are usually do to low levels and/or serious imbalance of electrolytes and/or hormonal problems and of course we made sure the athlete was checked out by a cardiologist.
As I said, the athlete did not want to stop and said he felt fine, and I have no doubt he did feel find. The athletes usually don't feel the effects of burn-out until it's very serious. Because elite athletes are so self-motivated, they are in the most danger of burn-out because the very thing about their personalities that got them to the top is also what can make them push themselves to keep training and competing even when doing so is detrimental. I've often wondered if the relatively poor performances Maria B. gave in her last years of eligible competition after she won Worlds might have had something to do with burn-out. I also think Irina performed in a mildly burned-out state for most of this past season and was very wise to skip Worlds when her mother became ill.
As I said, I think Michelle is working very wisely by cutting back on some of her competitive events. Also, lest we forget, Michelle has many, many other commitments in terms of appearances for charity, sponsorships, and the like. I think that if Michelle continues to balance things so that she gets in enough training in order for her to perform at Nats and Worlds at the level she expects of herself--especially the improved training with Scott Williams, her off-ice trainer (anybody know his/her name?), and the people she's worked with on her choreography and presentation, which I think is evident from the way she looks, skates, and things she has said--and continues to make "having a life" outside of skating important as well as the mental/spiritual centering that seems obvious to me, that barring trouble from the skate gods, Michelle will continue to skate as well as she did this spring if not better. Having a plan to avoid burn-out, which I don't know if Michelle has but it seems like she does, is something few athletes, even elite ones, think about. But it's so important, I wish they all would--even for young athletes, although for them the problem is more about overtraining, especially with 3/3s for the ladies and quad combos for the men, and we all know who the casualties have been. Especially with the expected emphasis on 3/3s, elite skaters are going to be pushing their bodies like never before. I won't go into whether I think Michelle needs a 3/3--that's for another thread--but I really admire Michelle for listening to her instincts, ignoring the critics, and doing what I have no doubt will be best for her in the long run. Despite all the up and comers with their 3/3s, 3Axels, and quads and the mystery surrounding what will happen with the COP, I still haven't seen any ladies who have these jumps consistently; with several I don't know how puberty will affect their bodies and their skating; and I still haven't seen any of them come close to Michelle in overall presentation. So at least in my mind, I think it is entirely possible for Michelle to not only win a medal in Turin, but to win the gold. Bizarre things have happened when Michelle has been favored to win the Olympic gold and times such as this past season when she wasn't favored, she brought the house down. So I don't see why such a scenario in Michelle's favor to win the gold in Turin can't play out.
Apache,
Re: QUOTE: "It's nice of you to defend SashaFans.com but I just want to say that it's the same at MKF. Most of the posters are sensible Michelle fans, not bashers. When some posters bash, they are instantly rebuffed. The problem is, because MKF has 5400 members, it seems there are a lot of bashers there. The truth of the matter is, the percentage of bashers on every skater-specific forum is roughly the same."
Well said and ITA.
Rgirl--who intends for this to be her last post on this thread. Though you never know
OTOH, if somebody is obviously baiting or bashing, I have no problem with people calling the person on it. I've just never seen ApacheApache do anything close to baiting or bashing and I don't certainly don't see it in the question that started this thread.
BTW, you make an excellent and balanced point by saying that by not competing, athletes lose their "match-edge," but that too much competition for experienced athletes can cause burn-out. IMO, Michelle was in danger of getting burned out--I believe the '02/03 season would have been her ninth at the senior level, not to mention her years as a junior--so I think she made a very wise decision both for the short and long term health of herself and of her skating by cutting back on her competitive schedule.
4/8/12
