Starting Out - Fundamental Skills

This week, Endurance Corner signed its first short course athlete to the team (Welcome Lisa!). Lisa is working towards an Olympic distance race at the end of the summer.

Last week's article actually started as a piece on Fundamental Skills for Financial Health. There are many traps that can catch 'experts' on their journey through life -- the two that I fear most are: becoming too busy to learn; and becoming too invested in current knowledge to change my mind.

Our culture has a quiet prejudice against rookies, novices, beginners, newbies... nobody wants to be a novice. That's a shame, for when we can hold onto our Beginner's Mind, we remain open to learning as well as adjusting our outlook as circumstances change.

If I had to offer you the greatest difference between a Master Coach (say, Dr. John Hellemans) and an Expert Coach, it would be in their approach. An expert will tell you exactly what to do to get your desired result -- experts tend to be quite precise and create confidence through their certainty. The master coach will give you a plan, possibly more simple that you think you require. Masters in my life help me remain focused and steer me away from the major land mines.

Before getting into the specifics, I'll share a story about the best investor that I know. I was talking to him the other day and he shared that he had been asked to appear before a government committee. The government wanted him to advise them on what to do about the economy. His view? If we have to rely on his advice to sort out the economy then we are truly in trouble.

The Lesson?
Masters combine humility with a clear understanding of what they don't know.

The first point that I want you to remember is that endurance athletics isn't a particularly precise vocation. There are many ways to succeed.

Watch your mind's desire for certainty -- spending a lot of time on precision is largely a waste of your valuable time.

So what does matter? What are the skills that we know benefit the athlete?

Attitude -- attitude is a skill, and a choice.
Folks that are more positive than us have simply practiced mental conditioning more than us. If you are unable to see yourself as an athlete then make sure that you are not actively working against that view. Be wary of affirming the "not-athlete" in your spoken, and written, word.

Quickness -- before you become fast, you must learn to be quick.
It is surprisingly difficult, even for experienced athletes, to move quickly for an extended period of time.

Technique -- there is massive internal resistance to technique adjustments. Deep down, we like our existing patterns, there is comfort in our known flaws, as well as discomfort with accepting that we might need to change.

Consistency -- another skill that is accepted but seldom emphasized. Collectively we agree on consistency but rarely slant our approach towards making this essential skill a habit.

Where To Focus?
I have been advising a group of short course athletes for a month. It has been a great experience for me and they have reminded me of many lessons that I had learned, but forgotten, over the last few years. To help you, here are the key things that we've taught each other:

How hard should I go?
You will not sabotage yourself by going too easy. You can sabotage yourself by going too hard. To avoid this risk, cap yourself at 180 bpm minus your age. The fact that this simple formula works will drive many experts crazy - an added bonus.

What plan should I do?
Choose a plan that is fun and a little too easy. Use your mental toughness to train when you don't want to. Build your fitness by building your habits.

Is it normal?
Yes, nearly everything that you are feeling is normal.

What do you mean by quickness training?
Go for an easy run, or ride, with a cadence of 92-94 rpm. When you can do that for an hour, then try it at a steady effort. It takes longer for your joints, tendons and ligaments to adjust than your heart/lungs. A benefit of quickness training is that you greatly reduce your likelihood for injury, while you create a platform for safely 'going fast' when you are ready.

What is good technique?
Relaxed, smooth, and fluid.

How do I build good technique?
Shoot some video of yourself. Look for areas that aren't relaxed, smooth or fluid. Work on those.
To assist you to head in the right direction:

• Swim -- the capacity to swim relaxed three stroke breathing for your race distance. Swing recovery, enter down, pull straight back.
• Bike -- the capacity to ride steady for your total race duration (not just the bike leg). Relax your shoulders.
• Run -- run often. Quick cadence, short steps, mid foot strike under your body.

I have so much negative noise flowing in my head. What should I do?
Some folks like to write-it-out or talk-it-out. That's never worked for me because I am affirming those items. Here's what's worked for me:

• Triathlon changed my life by giving me a platform to use yoga/exercise/massage to work through the emotions that were stored in my body. When I get a lot of noise in my head -- I tell myself it is the noise leaving, not living in, me.
• Accepting that I can't change my thoughts but can change my actions.
• Choosing friends and activities that bring out the positive emotions/thoughts that I want to build inside of me. [The flip side of this is saying bye to peers that work against my goals and ideal self]

The less that you try to do the greater your chance of success.

• Train Daily
• Eat Real Food
• Affirm The Person We Want to Become

Simple, not easy.