No Pain No Gain

Congratulations to several competing in California International Marathon this past weekend. No athlete reaching their goal, but each set personal bests, even Darin at age 41. Preparing yourself for a goal, and giving yourself the best chance by solid training to reach that goal will always put you in grasp. Even though these times were about 4-5 minutes each from their goals, all had good races and all should be proud. With good training, sometimes you may not reach your goal, but still may set a personal best trying.

Jay Cech, 2:36
Darin Shields, 3:07
Julie Bergenser, 3:25
Angela Shields, 3:34


Good article from ironman.com on Jason Lester and his recent finish of Ultraman World Championships in Hawaii.

http://ironman.com/events/ironman/worldchampionship/dawn-henry-profiles-hawaiis-jason-lester

NO PAIN NO GAIN
TRAIN INSANE, OR YOU'LL REMAIN THE SAME

These are statements I saw on 2 shirts at the club on Monday. It made me think...train insane? What the hell does that mean?

I think many athletes feel this means going to your maximum in workouts day after day until you blow yourself up. You'll never see these athletes on the podium I'm sorry to say...it's just the way it is.

I think I do train insane, dont get me wrong. I think it's insane to do the same 12 mile flat loop on an island outside of Portland, twice per week, week after week, doing virtually the same intervals, same cadence, same power.

Try spinning on the trainer when it's sunny outside because you have a specific workout goal to accomplish that day.
Try running on the treadmill twice per week when its 80 and sunny, to achieve specific workouts unobtainable outdoors.
Try riding the same exact course for 6 months straight.
Now talk to me about insane.

Methodical preparation is something you have to be willing to do in order to gain the most out of your physiology for ironman training. This may translate into missing that 100 mile epic ride with the roadies. It may mean training by yourself, in isolation, so you can control your impulses to win the hill climb that day, or keep up in front in zone 3 for a 5 hour ride. It may mean you have to drop off pace 2-3 miles into an 18 mile long run to run your own pace and not get caught up in "half stepping", which I commonly see in running.

Its about relentless preparation. It's painful to control yourself in workouts, and finishing knowing you can do more, but dont. As a coach, its about knowing what works best for most people, not weeding out the 2 or 3 best out of 25 by driving everyone into the ground to see who sinks or swims. Its about evolving in minimal increments, not huge steps, and repeating repeating repeating...the same thing week after week. Not constantly pushing to a higher level so much...but to feel more comfortable at that same level you were in a few weeks back.

Its not about pushing beyond your limits in a workout 3, 5, 7 months before the A race.
Its about feeling comfortable at a power and pace that you can repeat week after week with only slight incremental increases.
Its about knowing 95% of your competitors are likely over training, repeating the same mistakes season after season.

If an athlete who has a personal best an hour in front of you, and who races nearly every ironman more than 30 minutes in front of you....when you pass him during a tempo ride, hammer them on a hill, fly by on an interval, run 30 sec per mile faster on a run...the question is

What are they doing that I'm not...
Not...I'm blowing them away in this workout, that means I'll smash my PR on raceday.

Click on the photo I placed of my run at ITU long course worlds this past summer. I can tell you I was hurting and I dont remember ever reaching that level of pain and suffering during a workout this year. When I am having a good race, I invite the level of pain that has to be endured. I know I can get to that level, especially if I know I've prepared properly going in. The methods are not that complicated...

Its not about working to your limits in your workouts week after week.
Its about racing beyond your limits on race day.