SwimBikeRunStLouis

Role Reversal : Training and Racing

Life is about attitude. How we look at the world shapes our behavior. The microcosm of training and racing, like life at large, can be viewed in many lights. Do you train to race? Conventional thinking leads us to that prevailing mentality. What if we inverted our approach and perceived our training as the real race?

Picture for a moment one of those days when that early morning swim or that evening run after a particularly hard day at the office just seems like too much effort. The options are simple: 1) Write it off, 2) Give it a walk-through, 3) Find inspiration and go for it. Now visualize yourself on race day, psyched, a little edgy , adrenaline flowing, and ready to cut loose. The differences can be stark.

They say the race is won or lost in training. That may be a bit of an over-simplification but it underscores the message of this article. Taking the race-mentality to training can make the event-day seem almost a formality.  The real competitive spirit is exhibited Monday through Friday, not on Saturday and Sunday.

This is not advocating daily anaerobic frenzies. By all means, training smart still applies. It’s more about the mindset, making the 90% time training feel like the 10% racing and creating excitement for what can become mundane through repetition.  It's realizing that you're not really racing that guy in your age-group on Sunday, you've raced all week long for months.

So how is all of this done? Remember, the mind is like a muscle and requires training to change as well. We’re talking about instilling an attitude here, so techniques may vary by individual.  Visualization and self-talk methods are the most common, but inspiration and motivation can be manufactured by many means.

If we let out attitude about training take on the urgency of race day, the benefits quite possibly will manifest themselves in greater confidence on race day and a higher fitness level to boot.   If it truly is about the journey and not the destination, then we might as well enjoy the ride.

Copyright SwimBikeRunsStLouis 2002-03