My Week in Training: A-Race GO TIME
Why I'm not worried about hard training
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The Aim
It’s been a few weeks since I last posted about my training. It’s an interesting spot in my yearly calendar.
My big A-Race for the year is now less than 2 months away, but the past 2 weeks have been completely irregular in terms of my scheduling. We’ve had family from Canada come to visit us in Chicago for the first time to kick off summer holidays.
If I relied on traditional builds, standard training plans, and doing what other people think is necessary to prepare for big races like this, I’d be stressing out. But it’s the opposite. Why?
Because my overall aim for fitness is never to just prepare for ONE race, it’s to stay in a process of enjoying my training and reaping subjective rewards from consistency. If I can keep my mind and heart aimed on the personal discovery and growth I experience by training daily, I never need to worry about one competition and preparing for it.
So my aim has been to keep moving consistently, stacking sessions, fitting in what I can, and endeavoring to come back stronger the next day and week.
The Execution
I’m not going to dive into any specific workout, but instead pick a few from the past two weeks to highlight how my process works.
The main thing to note is the amount of zeros: 0
No matter the challenge of finding a space on the calendar to get my training done, I managed to make it happen.
Even better? I’ve added in an old, but new in the past few years, activity back into my regular rotation.
Swimming was a staple of my process back when I was a professor, hitting laps in between my lectures and office hours. With so many good outdoor swimming options close to me, it’s been great getting back into the pool and finding good success right off the block.
I hit trail run and speed work when I could. I checked down to 25 minute bodyweight workouts. I grabbed my steel clubs and maces many times.
I got up early and did the work, not taking any time away from my family who travelled hours to get here. But I also did not take time off from myself.
Proof of my process came from the pool. This swim above was my longest ever consecutive free style swim and it came remarkably easy, even after 5 years away from swimming.
My process keeps my showing up, aimed at getting a bit better each day, and letting my consistency stack over time. I recorded a podcast specifically on how this works for my and how to adapt that process for your own fitness. Check it out here (Apple Podcasts / Spotify / YouTube).
It’s why 2 weeks at the beginning of a 2 month build towards my A-Race not aligned to my preferred schedule doesn’t faze me at all. I just keep moving, knowing that these efforts all build me up towards race day. Especially in mind and spirit, the body generally tends to follow.
The Projection
So with less than 8 weeks to go before race day how am I projecting my fitness for the next week and beyond?
It’s simple really. Keep moving, stay in process, but start to aim more squarely at the race. For me, that’s not necessarily bigger efforts, but more strategic training and race preparation.
I will be adding more mobility and strength into my routine, more swimming, probably even biking to help keep aerobic fitness but giving my legs a bit of time off hard running. I’ve been STACKING miles for months here in Chicago, running more than I ever have.
I’ve crushed long efforts recently, like my 20 mile trail run on Father’s Day, and don’t feel the need to push hard. Instead, I want to be as healthy as possible when the race starts. That means keeping to my process, with little tweaks here and there.
Bodies in motion STAY in motion.
The Takeaway
When it comes to YOUR fitness process, the takeaway is simple to see.
Exercise in a way that makes you excited about the training while staying flexible to life’s demands.
It doesn’t make a lot of sense for me to ramp up to 3 hour efforts the same week my family visits from Canada.
I does make a lot of sense to run with my sister and help push her to her longest run ever (preview of tomorrow’s article). I can get up and bang out 25 minutes of weights and then spend the rest of the day visiting and having fun, creating memories, not being a mindless slave to a training plan.
You need to craft a fitness routine that flows with your life, from your values, and ends in sustained excellence in your commitment and enjoyment.
Take it from my process, and evidenced by this article, that each session matters but ultimately doesn’t. It’s a paradox. So long as you are always doing something positive, in the direction you’re meant to aim towards, with the internal drive of your heart providing the energy, you will win. You’re inevitable. Just don’t quit. Or throw up 0’s.
Then, you will find yourself always improving and ready to jump on opportunities that emerge from your consistent motion.
Happy Training Friends!
Good advice!