Training with Perspective

What does fast look like? I am sure we all agree that the ability to run a 5k in 18:00 is fast. And that holds true until we meet the person that can run the same 5k in 16:00. Strong, fast, hard, far are all relative to your perspective. Over the past few years, I have encountered people on all ends of the spectrum. I know some really great runners. I know people who train and never get faster. I know people that are amazed when I go for a 40 mile ride. I know people that wow me with their abilities. Their perspectives in the sport are different.

In general, I subscribe to the theory that to get fast, you must train fast. And one of the easiest ways to accomplish that is to train with people faster than you. This is where most of us fail as triathletes. Instead, we surround ourselves with a peer group of equal or lesser talent. For one, this keeps us from getting embarrassed. Second, it lets our ego expand especially if we are on the front end of that group. But our perspective never grows.

I fell victim to this philosophy for the first few years of training. I just went out and rode with people. I treated group rides as social hour. There is a time and a place for that...just not if you really want to improve. Steve and I used to ride nearly every weekend. We were roughly the same pace. The companionship and encouragement is what we both needed to get through Ironman training. But we really never pushed it out there. The only pushing was when one of us fell off the back and didn't want to get dropped.

I joined a tri club last year and had a very similar experience. There are a number of good athletes in the bunch but due to geographical differences, I found myself unable to train with them. Additionally, I often found myself on the outside in that I was training for longer races. I would occasionally ride with them but again I found myself not getting 'faster.' More often than not, I wasn't pushing it enough to have a quality workout.

Last year my goal was to train with more intensity. I achieved that objective and POOF...I was faster. My perspective of fast and hard completely changed. Holding 20 mph in a race went from being a long term goal to an expectation every time I toe the line. This year I am pushing that thought a bit further because I am starting to better understand my potential.

This perspective also changed when I was in Hawaii. Part of my goal for that week was to push myself because I was around better athletes. I went into the week worried about being smoked in each workout. By the end of the week, the only difference was that they were in better shape than me. There wasn't a huge gap between abilities. Instead, I had the wrong perspective....and wasn't giving myself enough credit.

The key is the we need to better develop our perspective in this sport. If you are an athlete who exists in a world where 20 mph is really fast or a 10 mile run is too far or the Gaps are too challenging then you are limiting yourself. Fast, hard, long, tough are all have personal meanings. By setting those limits, you are promoting an I CAN'T attitude. And you never WILL if you don't try.

I am focusing on this perspective a lot this year. I still fail to show up to to the group ride when Dan tells me to. Why? I can't ride that fast and will get dropped. Will I really get smoked? Probably not but that degree of embarrassment is there. I am stuck in the perspective that the roadies are that much faster than me. Again, my perspective is that they are faster. How much faster? I don't know. It might only be .5 mph or 10 minutes over a ride. But until I actually get out there and push it, my perspective will never change.

In the next few weeks, I am going to blog about perspective a bit more. I want to think about how it has changed the way I train, what difference a coach has or has not made, the benefit of training with power and trying to learn what hurt really means during training and racing. I hope that after NOLA I have a different perspective on a number of things because my goal is to race differently than I ever have. Hopefully, with success that perspective will change to I CAN.