In preparing for your races, you are used to focusing on training hours and mileage. You don’t know how much you could improve by devoting time and attention to other aspects of preparation as well.
There are several elements that contribute to the achievement of goals in an endurance race. But, in my opinion, the three most important ones are:
- A goal-oriented training program designed for you.
- The care of nutrition and dietary supplementation not only in competition but also throughout the preparation period.
- The psychological and motivational aspects.
It is precisely on this last point that I would like to make some remarks because among those listed it appears to be the one most neglected by athletes.
Motivation is the basis of a project, because it is the force that allows you to set out and embark on the road that must lead you to the finish line. The starting motivation is almost always there. The most difficult thing is to maintain it over time. A medium-term goal requires that you keep your commitment constant for at least a few months and sometimes a few years. And this is where the first selection is generated. Not every athlete who starts a course eventually reaches the finish line.
What can you do to get to your destination without obstacles?
- The first answer is related to goals. Any goal to be inspiring (and able to keep your motivation high) must be individual, chosen by you based on what you can and want to achieve from your path, measurable, must be a quantity or duration that you can measure both at the end and during the approach, of adequate level, difficult enough to stimulate your ambition and commitment but not impossible to avoid unnecessary frustration. (REF. Article the best place to start is the finish).
- The second advice is about organization. You got it right: no project or activity is accomplished without organizing time and resources. Exactly the same thing happens in sports. When I first meet an athlete, I spend more time figuring out with him or her how to organize his or her week than I do doing the initial testing. This is because you need to analyze your family, social, work commitments etc. well. Only in this way can you identify the hours you can allocate to training with some confidence. You are not a professional so you will never have absolute certainty.
Once you have identified the number of hours per week you need to figure out how and where you train and in which sports, if you train on different disciplines such as triathlon. This is a strategy that works because it allows you to best plan your activities. The opposite strategy, which is very common among amateur athletes, whenever I have free time I train as much as possible is much less effective because it lacks well-structured planning. Sometimes with the random system you also train for more hours but the less organization makes it a losing system.
- Another aspect concerns the management of your energy. Very often when setting out on a challenging project such as a marathon or IRONMAN the initial enthusiasm is at a very high level. You have to be careful not to overdo spending too much time and energy on training. It’s kind of like a marathon.
There is no point in starting out too strong because there will come a time when you will have to stop due to the depletion of your energy supply. In our case it is the same. If you start out too strong you may get to the point where you start to feel tired but your goal is still too far away to keep your concentration up. So start slowly, don’t rush and manage your time well without neglecting the rest.
- A special note is related to contingencies. So many people think that a coach’s job, whether on the field or remotely, is related solely to training preparation and annual programming. In fact, the bulk of my work with an athlete I have to do often on the day when he or she cannot train or during the period when for various reasons, physical, family or work, he or she is forced to stop.
During medium- or long-term preparation something can go wrong. You have to budget for it and if it happens try not to make a big deal out of it but on the contrary try to find the positives. You may first find benefits from rest or have time to delve into other technical or theoretical aspects that you had never paid attention to. If, on the other hand, the setback is related to a disappointing intermediate result, try to analyze your performance well so that you can draw out as many lessons as possible. No athlete is able to reach his or her full potential on every occasion. And this applies to you as well. Take the punches, get back up, and then get back on your way with more experience and better self-knowledge. Next time you will know what mistakes you should not make. This is a strength. Not a weakness. The important thing is to always maintain the right critical approach. I don’t like athletes who always look for external causes to justify a disappointing performance. But at the same time you should never overestimate a negative event. A race gone wrong is simply a result. It is not an absolute and irrevocable vow to your preparation and especially your abilities. In other words, Balance is needed. Remember that a professional organizes his or her days around training and competitions. Therefore, its performance is more stable and predictable. In your case, the results may depend on all the other family and work commitments that you have to manage throughout your day and that take up most of your time. Therefore, your performance is less stable and influenced by factors outside your preparation.
Ultimately
Plan your season well, plan your day carefully, and always be prepared to handle and deal with the unexpected. You will see that in this way motivation will remain stable over time and you will always have the right enthusiasm to face trainings and competitions.
(Main image credits: Yaruta on DepositPhotos.com)