The Most Valuable Lessons I’ve Learned About Training in the Last 12-Months

The Most Valuable Lessons I’ve Learned About Training in the Last 12-Months can be summarized in 4 basic points.

It can be tough to find take-a-ways in the middle of your training. In fact, it wasn’t until I started reflecting back on the last 7-months I prepared for this that was I able to pull three new and valuable lessons out of the experience.

Above is a picture of a 4-week block of training at the midway point of my training. Minutes are on the left. The dates are below.

1. As fun as the building is, the rest is also needed adapt. A sturdy aerobic house, like nutrition, is built through a few basics done with relentless consistency

2. Slow is fast. I started training in January because I knew I wanted to go very slow to build up to my maximum effort just before we leave for the trip. The maximum recommended increase per week is around 10% (miles, time, etc…).

3. Slow is fast X 2: There’s a BIG difference between 650-minutes of training at redline pace in a week and 650-minutes of relatively relaxed and enjoyable pace. The goal in each effort was to find a pace that was harder than sitting in a chair, but not so hard that I couldn’t keep conversation with whoever was with me.

4. Focus on what you can control: Three weeks out from the event I was training for, I found myself limping to the road and calling my wife to come pick me up. This would have wrecked me emotionally 10 years ago. While I still didn’t love it, I knew the best thing I could do was turn my attention towards what I had control over- rehabbing it and doing what I could to heal it up.

As fun as the building is, the recovery weeks are also needed to adapt to more work- and man are they appreciated when they come. A sturdy aerobic house, like nutrition, is built through a few basics done with relentless consistency.