For those that don’t already know, I play guitar and am part of an all women band, “Janestown.” Aptly named, as we all live in or near the mountain town of Jamestown, Colorado.
Now, I’m no fancy kind of guitar player. No Hendrix-like shreds or finger picking flying madness. I’m just a rhythm player with an occasional little ditty coming into the tune. I like being in the background, so to speak, and keeping the groove going.
Although my goals for being a musician and an athlete are quite different, I’ve noticed a few similarities between preparing for music performances and race performances that I thought would be fun to share:
Practice makes better. Yeah, I know the old saying is more like “practice makes perfect,” but I think there really is no Perfect because we can’t fully control e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. When there’s a race on the calendar, you can’t not train and expect to have an easy go at it. With a music gig, each musician must put in the individual practice in order for it all to come together on gig night. Of course with a music gig, your own solo contribution affects the sound of the group overall, so there is extra importance upon the practice and lead up.
Sleep for the win. If you don’t play music, you may not realize that honoring sleep and rest time is equally important for a musician’s focus and cognitive functioning just as it is for an athlete’s recovery. No one wants to go into a race feeling dead tired from inadequate sleep during taper week. Just the same on gig night where if you are dragging ass from poor sleep the nights before, your athletic performance is bound to suffer to some degree.
Hydration and fueling count. I used to believe that rock musicians are just a bunch of partyheads who don’t take care of themselves. Mainly because when I played in a college band a lonnnnggggg time ago, we never ate well and the only liquids consumed were of the alcoholic variety. Okay, maybe a Coca Cola mixed in at times. But with rum. Kidding aside, a lot of rock ‘n rollers DO party their tails off with all sorts of unhealthful food and drink. But so do many endurance athletes. In the latter case, many think they can just out-exercise the junk food and fix it later on (it doesn’t quite work that way). Regardless, going into a music gig well-hydrated and fueled with a protein-rich meal makes for an optimal performance output. Just like on race day. Quality in —> more quality out.
Thanks for reading… and I gotta go practice some tunes now.
-Dina
P.S. Our next gig is coming up soon, on November 2nd at the Jamestown Mercantile. If you’re in the area, stop in for dinner and our evening musical delight.