I'll get back to the regular blog stuff next week. Been enjoying exercising 6-8 hours a week and spending more time playing around with our son. All is well. In the meantime, enjoy my latest article. Using something from the business world to analyze your personal training goals.
Ah, your triathlon
season is over, or almost. You get to sit down, chill out, and not train hard
for a while. Or at least, you have that option.
But after a couple
weeks of laying on the couch and eating your children's Halloween candy, you
start to get the itch. The itch to do more. The itch to be more. More than a
candy stealing, couch laying, TV watching blob. The inner athlete in you is
crying to break out.
And you can't help it.
You start looking for events. Exotic events. Local events. Challenging
challenges for you to conquer. You encourage your friends to sign up. You goad
your frenemies to follow your path. Before you can say, "Honey, I have a
surprise for you," half of your 2017 salary is committed to race entry
fees and travel expenses.
Next Year is upon you.
Half the fun is
signing up and making yourself commit!
As you get ready to
launch into another season of endurance madness, take a little time to make a
plan of attack. Today, we will create a SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity,
Threats) analysis of your racing plans.
Strengths:
What are your primary
strengths in racing? Ideally, your big/key races will be a play to your
strengths. You sell yourself short if you make your most important race a
place/situation where you historically underperform. For example - if you are
not good on flat courses but excel in the hills, don't waste thousands of
dollars signing up for a big, flat event. If you are able to train well in the
summer heat, you can find a late summer/early fall race to deliver all the
fitness.
Weaknesses:
What are you not good
at? Winter and spring is likely a good time for you to get better. If you have
a weak core, start a core program. If you sink like a rock, set up some swim
technique lessons. If you have motivation issues, find a reliable training
partner or two. While you might not be great in flat events right now, you can
work on it and change it - and then spend thousands of dollars signing up for a
big, flat event.
Opportunities:
What is missing from
your endurance athletic resume? What gaps are there in your experience in
endurance athletics? You can view these in different fashions. While qualifying
for World Championships is often a goal, it is not easy. So, what opportunities
do you have or can you create to make this more achievable? Experientially,
where would you like to go? You can easily tie in some endurance race with a
pleasant vacation to your dream spot. What sort of event have you not done but
always thought about? Make 2017 a year to accomplish one of these.
Threats:
In endurance
athletics, our greatest threat is typically ourselves. If you have high
motivation, you run the risk of overtraining and injury. If you have low
motivation, you easily slide into skipping sessions or falling off the good
nutrition bandwagon. What can you do to keep yourself in line? Your
spouse may be very supportive or completely indifferent. Other obvious threats
are unsafe riding conditions, bad coaching, negative training partners,
improper gear, not recognizing the stress work/life take on you...and failing
to plan properly.
This analysis is a
nice, top level, general way to approach a season. The reality of picking a key
race and working backwards from that event is the easier part. How much time
you need to prepare depends on your experience, goals, and lifestyle. In other
words, everyone's specific approach is different.
Coach Marty Gaal, CSCS, is the head coach for One Step Beyond in Cary, North Carolina. He has worked with endurance athletes since 2002. You can read all about One Step Beyond coaches and programs at www.osbmultisport.com.
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