Your Why

Your training should begin with a clear and concise reason for why you are training. Why not do something else instead? “Your why” will keep you focused on the process and serve as motivation when times get tough.

Specific Goals

Purposeful training starts with having a clear goal for the season. Setting specific goals will define that path. To support your goals, every workout has a reason and a purpose too.

Training without purpose leads to haphazard training and poor performance. Before you start any training session, ask yourself, “What is the purpose of this workout?” If you focus on the daily training goals, the larger overarching goals will take care of themselves.

Education

Every workout has a purpose. Understanding why you are doing something is very important. This knowledge will help you complete workouts and other goals with exactness avoiding potential injury, setbacks, and burnout. Being able to execute your race plan and adapt when needed is crucial.

Consistent Practice

Massive amounts of physical exertion are not required to achieve your goals. Trying to do more is just another way of saying “overtraining.” Swinging back and forth with a week of hard training followed by several days or more of rest because of excessive fatigue, injury, or other setbacks is not productive.

Consistency is more about moderating your efforts over time to improve your fitness. This means that you seldom push your limits. As you remain consistent, your limits this week, this month, or this year will increase beyond what they are today.

Moderation also involves paying close attention to your body. It can’t be forced to adapt to an artificial schedule just because you have a race coming up. There are no shortcuts. Be patient.

Feedback

Performance improves when it is measured. Furthermore, we are more likely to accomplish our goals when we are held accountable. The question you should always be asking is, “Did I accomplish the purpose of the workout?”  

TrainingPeaks offers immediate feedback by color-coding the workout according to its compliance. I follow up with additional thoughts and comments as needed. This constant feedback ensures you remain on the path to accomplishing your goals.