Challenge Yourself
Having a challenge to train for can change everything.
It’s so easy for all of us to coast in our training - no matter how fit or how motivated we usually are. We can pick the exercises we like doing, we can choose to stay within our comfort zone or just keep repeating the same old sessions week in, week out.
Personally, I find that giving myself an event to work towards impacts my training in an incredibly positive way. It gives me the impetus to get up at 4.50am and hop on the bike when all I want to do is get one more hour of precious sleep - especially at the moment when sleep is at a premium!
It silences that voice that says “skip the run today, it won’t matter!” and I find myself powering up hills 30 minutes later. The mental battle is a huge part of endurance training and long term progression and having a date on the horizon on which I know I’ll have to run x miles gives me the kick to push harder. Whether that’s a marathon, 10k or a PB in tbe gym, having that training structure and a goal in sight makes a massive difference.
This Saturday, I’ll be competing in the Pedal Paddle Peak triathlon in the Lake District - in aid of Muscular Dystrophy UK. It’s a fantastic event consisting of a 15 mile cycle, 2 mile kayak, a summit and descent of Helvellyn before cycling another 15 miles back to the start line.
This is different from any organised race I’ve done before and, after signing up, I’ve discovered I live in the least mountainous part of the country! I’ve had to run up and down an awful lot of hills to get close to what I’ll be experiencing on Helvellyn itself. Kayaking is also fairly hard to come by in my usual routine hence a lot of upper body and core rotation work. I’ve put a lot of miles into the bike climbing, climbing and climbing - with the occasional interval session thrown in for good measure. The course is tricky, hilly and the whole event is a serious challenge.
Still, we must broaden our horizons and push ourselves to progress in anything in life. I had a fascinating conversation today with a new client in which she said it had surprised her how much more she achieved when working with me than when she trains alone. Particularly rewarding to hear from a lady that has completed ultramarathons in the very recent past. But this isn’t down to any great skill or expertise on my part (maybe partly…!) but purely that she has to show up, go with my plan of unfamiliar, pretty challenging exercises and try her best to progress. In her case, her training stimulus isn’t an event, but a comeback from injury. Her goal, like mine at the moment, is to better herself to achieve more than she can now.
Set a target, train hard, smash it.
Wish me luck!
