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TrainYour
Head
By Rich Strauss
"In war, the moral is to the physical
as three is to one."
Napoleon Bonaparte
In war, a smaller, well-trained, motivated,
and aggressive force can often defeat a much larger, unmotivated,
demoralized force. "It's not the size of the dog in the
fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."
I think that focusing on the training volume
necessary to finish an IM is misleading and misses the more
important essentials for a successful day. On race day,
you race much more with your head and your heart than with
your feet.
Rich's Simple Formula for an Ironman Finish:
- Create a conservative training progression
that leads you to the successful accomplishment of the
following training "milestones:" 4k swim, 6-7 hour bike,
2.5-3 hour run. Complete these milestones at least once
before race day. If you can get more in, good on you.
- Show up to race day healthy and well-rested.
- When the gun goes bang, start swimming.
STOP RIGHT HERE.
Head Training
Everything else is about your head and your
heart and what you have done to train these two organs.
There are two types of "Head Training:" race
day knowledge and race day problem solving. Race Day Knowledge
encompasses a solid race day nutrition, hydration, and pacing
plan. This plan has been developed, honed, refined, and
REHEARSED at every long training opportunity. It's not enough
to know what, when, and how much to eat, but also WHY. This
"why" brings us to Race Day Problem Solving. If you know
the why of what you are doing, you can better fix things
when the plan goes to hell. Problem solving also includes
your mental state on race day. Most people call it "racing
in the moment," only control what you can control. My process
is the OODA Loop: Observe, Orient, Decide, Act.
There are two kinds of Heart Training: Distance
Perspective and the Eye. When you begin your IM training,
the volumes that you will have scheduled for yourself will
seem overwhelming. "How will I ever be able to ride 100
miles? Or run 18? Or do them both in the same WEEK?" But
a funny thing happens on the journey to your Finisher's
Medal: "It ain't so bad."
As your training distances get bigger and bigger,
once insurmountable goals become mere training events. A
60 mile bike is no longer a huge obstacle, but a nice morning
with some friends. Your "normal" weekday run goes from 30
minutes to 60. Before work. You don't even think twice about
it. In short, all distances become much shorter and manageable,
making THE distance less and less intimidating. "Been there,
done that."
The Eye
The Eye is the window to the heart. Your heart
is what gets you across that line. You can see it on race
day. Some peoples' Eyes are happy, taking in everything
around them and enjoying the day. These people draw on the
positive energy around them to pull them to the finish line.
Other peoples' Eyes are cold steel, focus, determination,
a machine that will not stop, for anything, until the mission
is accomplished. These people put themselves into a "place,"
a mental state that solves the problem of pain and discomfort
by using it, enjoying it. Whatever your Eye is, you train
it months in advance by challenging yourself, succeeding,
and then reassessing yourself.
Make a big training day something special. Rehearse
your pre-race carbo-loading plan, wake up at the same time,
wear the same clothes, use the same bike setup as race day.
Complete an extraordinary milestone event and then pat yourself
on the back. Relish the great journey that you have undertaken
and congratulate yourself for stepping up to the plate.
What you are trying to do is very unique. Remind yourself
of this and say, "If I can do THAT, then maybe I really
CAN do 140!!"
You want to step into the ring with the quiet
confidence earned by having already conquered almost everything
that you will experience on race day. This is the Eye.
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