The Full Meaning of Training

Commodore inspired this post.

I get comments from various people regularly when they see the amount of "training" that I put in on a weekly basis. Comments range from it's intimidating to how do I fit it all in and the ever popular do I have a real job?

I really formally began athletic "training" about 15 years ago. I started out just lifting weights, which transformed into bodybuilding, then I added cardio (for health reasons!), then I started running, and then finally I discovered triathlon.

For me, to say I'm "in training" means:

• I have set nutritional/body composition, fitness and or competitive goals (Note: a goal can be "to maintain current weight/fitness").
• I have planned workouts for a period of weeks to months designed to achieve those goals.
• I commit to the goals and planned workouts.
• I execute on my planned workouts daily.
• I measure myself periodically towards my goals, and adjust the goals and or process as necessary.
• I seek out credible knowledge sources to enhance my understanding of the sports, my body, and mental techniques to enhance sport and life performance.
• I tend to my physical health outside of the actual workouts by sleeping sufficiently, eating nutritionally, stretching, getting regular massage, getting my routine healthcare checkups and not engaging in physically dangerous or destructive behavior such as drug use, excessive alcohol usage or driving without my full attention (e.g., I avoid using my cell phone while driving).
• (new in the past 3 years) I tend to my mental health both during and outside of the actual workouts to ensure I am minimizing controllable stress, enhancing personal serenity and tending to my emotional, intellectual and spiritual needs in order to enhance my athletic pursuits and keep my life in balance.

To me, executing on the workouts on a daily basis is the easy part--it's all the other things listed above that can really take focus and mindfulness, for it's the sum of doing all of those things that will yield a peak performance. I think many people jump into "training" too quickly--they see a "plan" that calls for 10-12 hours of "training" a week, but really that's just the workout time, and it's really not much more than about 1 hour per day, so how hard can that be? No, it's the rest of the stuff that you do or don't do that is going to carry you through the "training." And then they start in on it, and find that perhaps they didn't consider that all that "training" would require more sleep, removing sources of stress, getting their mental houses in order, and it becomes overwhelming. Overtraining and poor performance are usually not the result of under- or overdoing the workouts--they are the result of underdoing the rest of the training process.

So let's see--how much time do I spend on those other things? 1.5 hours weekly on massage, about 2 hours weekly stretching, at least 7 hours weekly practicing mindfulness/meditation, at least 7 hours weekly nourishing my intellectual/spiritual needs, and probably that much working on my emotional needs. I guess it's a lot of time! I can't really count it all up, because to me it's a full time job!

It's taken me 15 years to work up to the level where I am today. FIFTEEN YEARS!!! This is why whenever someone asks me how long did it take to get my physique where it is, or my performance where it is, my answer is my current age.

My point here is not to discourage anyone from taking on "training" that has a hefty amount of "working out" included. My point is to remind myself and others that there's a lot more to it than the workouts, and that it's important to be honest about how much time you can devote to this stuff and still lead a reasonably balanced life. My observations lead me to believe that very few really nail it. There is nothing wrong with that. There are more important things in life than triathlon, that's for sure. For the time being though, I am attempting a very bold life experiment which is to be an athlete, even while holding down a conventional job. You might say that's thrown my life into a purposefully unbalanced state, and perhaps it has, but in going for it I am discovering all sorts of wonderful things about myself that I never knew and am experiencing life in a way I never dreamed possible. Where this will ultimately lead me, I am not sure, but the path feels right to me and so I will stay on it for awhile.

I can still remember back 10 years ago when all I did was lift weights, and I spent maybe 4 hours per week doing that, but I began working on all the other aspects of training, and it has proven to be quite a journey. They say that the way you do anything is the way you do everything--and I certainly have approached excellence in other areas of my life in the same way. They all require the same "fringe" activities to support your efforts. You don't need to train to be mediocre!