"Only when these runners stop trying, lose interest, and train less do they again start performing to their potential. Only then, when it’s too late, do they begin to understand the training threshold concept, and only then do they learn too much training was more detrimental to the performance than too little training.”
-Tim Noakes on athletes who train beyond their capabilities and as a result, perform poorly.
Most serious runners eventually reach a point in their training when they have an “a-ha” moment. This moment usually arrives upon the realization that you’ve been very stupid and every training decision you’ve made up to that point was the direct result of your athletic demise.
There’s a moment of clarity when this occurs.
You see every dumb thought or mistake you’ve made, and suddenly, the answers seem to appear right before you.
Ideally, these moments arrive in the earlier stages of your running. I do believe that making mistakes is a part of the process of learning and developing as a runner.
However, in my experience, these mistakes can become a cancer. Runners will often make a mistake, “learn from it” only to fall back into the same pattern again, never realizing that their approach is wrong.
It took me 3 years to have one successful block of 3 months. 3 years.
Why?
Because I wanted to run fast and to be better so badly that I pushed beyond my limits. The work I was putting in was steps ahead of what my body could process and absorb.
Only until I purposely restructured my training to reduce my training volume by 25% and slowed down all of my training paces, did I perform to my potential. I used this strategy.
This occurred after taking a month completely off of all training and hitting the reset button. It wouldn’t have mattered if I reduced the load in-season as the damage was already done.
Where am I going with this?
We all have a sweet spot, a place in training where we feel good, and know that we’re working hard, but the rate at which our body is given stress equals our ability to recover from it.
I encourage you to try and find that sweet spot, or at least do your best right now to train in a way where you can do the most with the least. I don't see much benefit in the long term from the feeling of dragging your body across the floor to complete a given session or a week of training.
This is not me telling you to slack off or train minimally, no, but I am encouraging you to stop the insatiable traits that often come with high motivation combined with a high work ethic and to focus more on what you have right now and do a hell of a job making the most out of it.
Comentarios