IT’S NOT THAT COMPLICATED
Train when you can – sometimes hard – sometimes long – sometimes easy. Protect your Hard days. Respect your Recovery days.
Watch what you eat. Get enough sleep.
Pay attention.
What else?
Set A Goal. Make a Plan. Commit to It. Be Disciplined. Execute. Achieve.
What will it take?
- Commitment to the task at hand.
- Determination to follow through and do what is necessary.
- Discipline Time discipline. Training discipline. Recovery discipline. Nutrition discipline.
- Proper Execution. Go hard on your hard days. Go easy on your recovery days. Know the difference between the two.
- Understanding that real achievement requires effort, it won’t be easy and you are not entitled to it. You have to earn it.
- RESPECT THE PROCESS
Numbers Are Good, It’s How You Use Them That Counts:
Watts/kg; VO2 Max; Functional Threshold Power. All of these are good numbers to know and have their place. They don’t tell the entire story. Hitting your numbers is just that: hitting your numbers. It doesn’t teach you how to actually race nor does it tell you how to listen to your body. It doesn’t teach you the many nuances that are intrinsic to the sport of cycling like how to get a feel for the flow of race, when to know just the right time to move up and attack and when to just sit back and save your bullets. Don’t get me wrong, heart rate and power zones are important and in the past few years this dog has learned a lot of new tricks. I use both power and heart rate in training and encourage my athletes that have those resources available to them to use them too. The bigger picture is the artful use of those numbers to achieve your desired goal and it is on this facet that I really focus on. Some of my biggest successes have been simply riding in training races and on group rides with my athletes so that they can see first hand the nuances that go into riding and racing efficiently. (see: Smarter. Not Harder)
Educate, not just Dictate:
I want my athletes (whether athletes that I am coaching or riders on a team I am directing) to understand the why. Action is important but action without understanding will only get you part of the way.
Consistency is Key:
No matter what, be consistent and remember that that any number is greater than zero. If you only have 20 minutes to jump on the trainer or go for a short spin or do some supplemental work then do it. People make time to do the things that are important to them. If you are here than I will assume that this is important to you. Be consistent, make the time. It all adds up.
Only you can make things happen.
Finally I will close with this: My approach is born from over 30 years of experience in not only the sport of cycling but also in cross country skiing and climbing. It has been influenced by my own mentors and peers and people who are smarter and who have more experience than me. My opinions have changed over the years and my mind remains open to various schools of thought. Most importantly, I remain a student as well and my knowledge base is continually expanding. Do I have all the answers? Absolutely not. Do I have insight and knowledge that can help someone who possesses a genuine desire to improve? Absolutely.
“Because the thinking individual does not arrive. Life’s “answers” constantly evolve. And if we don’t evolve we die. Or we live lives that don’t look much different than death.” -Mark Twight
“You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.” -Nietzsche
