Turn your training upside down to ensure that you can handle the surprises that crop up on race day.
The other day I was thumbing my way through a new book called ‘Run to Win – The Training Secrets of the Kenyan Athletes’. Perhaps I had it in the back of my mind that by reading this book my body would somehow morph from my slow and heavy white skinned body to that sleek and lightweight bodies owned by the types of runners that seem to sail along the ground at an effortless rate of knots. To date, this has not happened, I am still a heavy and slow white man but nonetheless it is a good read. The book explores some of the approaches to training that are used by the Kenyans and how they differ to the standard approaches adopted in the western world.
Generally, from what I can understand, the Kenyans train with less gadgetry, less precision, less structure, and less regimentation that do those of us from developed nations. I believe this is a good thing, as I have explained in another article of mine – ‘Triathlon Training on a Budget’.
Above all however, I pulled out one piece of advice that I thought was particularly valid to us who live in the modern day world of triathlon and endurance sport training.
The advice comes from Joseph Chelimo – a highly successful Kenyan coach. He explained that athletes on his program will get a broad indication of what it is they are doing on a particular day – only so they know where to go morning (to the track, or the hills etc). He does not tell his athletes what type of session they will be doing because he believes that athletes need to always be ready to take on whatever comes their way. This approach to training keeps up a constant element of surprise. This makes his athletes mentally strong and thus able to cope with the myriad of surprises that crop up on race day. And just think of this: Joseph obviously believes that there are a lot of surprises that crop up during a simple running race, so how many surprises must their be that crop up during a super long distance race involving three completely different sports and a myriad of equipment and nutritional aids!
I firmly believe in the approach Joseph uses for his athletes. I think that structure training programs have a place, particularly in our busy western world lives, but too much structure can be detrimental. Races inevitably bring the unexpected and we all need to know that we have the ability to cope with events as they occur. I have yet to complete a race that went completely to plan and don’t think I ever will.
So how do we, as busy and structured westerners, incorporate the element of surprise into our training programs?
This can be difficult. Most of us need to have some structure to manage our days and weeks amidst work, family and other commitments. And unlike the Kenyans most of us do not have the luxury to have a coach who can be with us each day to guide us through each session as it comes.
However, it can be done!
One approach that I adopt in coaching my athletes is to continually change the weekly workout mix and to try and insert new and challenging workouts whenever possible. This way I can avoid the common problem of athletes getting ‘stuck in rut’ amidst stale and repetitive training programs. If you do the same types of sessions at the same time of day on the same day of the week then you will eventually become very well conditioned to perform this type of training but you will not be conditioning yourself to the rigours of race day. I believe that there are both physical and mental benefits to be had by athletes who train under more variable training programs.
Another approach might be to schedule one session per week with a friend, or group of friends and then the night before the scheduled workout you can let one of your friends decide what the workout will be. Encourage your friends to be creative. There are plenty of options once you consider all the different types of workouts possible across the three disciplines of triathlon and not forgetting strength and core training as well.
The underlying message is to have some fun with your training. Mix things up, incorporate some surprise into your training, and you will become a better athlete.
Bill Scanlan is an elite triathlete with over ten years of racing and training experience. Bill has raced extensively in Australia, Asia and Europe. Through his travels and interactions with other athletes and coaches, and through his own coaching, Bill has gained a great deal of insight into what it takes to compete at an elite level while at the same time managing work, life and family commitments. Bill has recently turned professional and is now aiming to compete at the highest level within the sport. You can contact Bill for coaching and other inquiries at bill@breakyourlimits.com or follow his journey at www.billscanlan.net.
