As an endurance coach, I’ve seen athletes undergo remarkable transformations. One of the most powerful frameworks to understand and facilitate these changes is the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change, proposed by Prochaska and DiClemente in 1994. This model outlines six main stages of change: Precontemplation, Contemplation, Preparation, Action, and Maintenance and unfortunately relapse. Let’s us myself as an example as I transition from endurance trail running back to Ironman triathlon after a five-year hiatus.
On race day, the temperature was a scorching 32 degrees Celsius, adding an extra layer of difficulty to an already demanding course. The Blackall 100 is renowned for its tough terrain, and this year was no exception. The event included a gruelling 1700 meters of elevation gain, featuring three particularly memorable climbs: The Bluff, Gav’s Gut Buster, and Delica. Each ascent tested our limits, pushing all to dig deep and scavenge for strength we didn’t know we had.
You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength
New Years resolutions need to be anchored in absurdity and made achievable through our dreams. They need to be hard so we have the opportunity to fail. It is actually in the failing that makes the goal inspiring. JFK didn’t encourage the American people to go to the corner store to get sausage roll. He challenged them to lift their eyes to the impossible. And our mothers kindly said the same thing to lovingly nurse us towards a better version of ourselves.
If you are reading this, you already know that endurance training goes well beyond the physical realm. To train and finish the crazy goals that you set yourself you need, mental fortitude, resilience, and a strong sense of self. On the surface it would seem that an Austrian psychotherapist born in 1870 would know very little about endurance sport considering the first marathon was not run until he was 26 years old. It is only when you delve into Adlerian psychology, that you can see that there is a direct link between the mind and endurance.
There are many runs and rides over your lifetime that will live in your memory for many and varied reasons. Maybe it was lung-burningly hard, or breathtakingly picturesque, or possibly an awakening watershed event that opened your eyes to your potential. Whatever the reason you know you have experienced a great course because it continues to live and grow in your heart and mind as your body get older and your achievements fade. Your perfect course is…
The following is a companion post to a training program that you can find on training peaks. The goal of the training plan and this post is simple, train smarter to lower your current 5km PB. In reading this post and completing the 10-week program you will be amazed how simple running faster can be once you strip back the non-essentials. Running, after all, is an instinctual act and as such only requires the lightest of touches to maximize what is…
As it is so popular one must ask the question, what brings people to Parkrun? Parkrun is not just a free 5km run in the park, it is a physical representation of all that is good in the concept of community. Parkrun defines community because it brings people together and around the common goal of simply running. It encapsulates the notion of; ‘by the people for the people’ as there is no profit or materialistic gain from any external party. What you put in you will get out.
Just as we are born naked we also start running naked. Running naked is all about instinct and desire. Running naked is running with no technology and no data. Running naked is primeval as it encapsulates the reason many of us start running. Many of us run because it made us ‘feel’ at some level, like it did for Billy and his Mum. Whether we hated the way we looked in the mirror or hated the…
I have often thought that training is akin to cooking. You have the ingredients, you have the method and you have an element, usually an oven, which cooks and brings everything together into a final product. I have titled this blog “The Perfect Training Soufflé” because, as a child of the 70’s, the soufflé was a mythical dish that everyone spoke about. It was the dish that was impossible to get right but…
In February of 2018 I signed up for the Sunshine Coast Ironman 70.3. After I clicked on the ‘register’ button and loudly cursed Active.com for their 8% slush fund fee, I was fired up and ready to train the house down and crack out a PB effort. I had 6 months and a reasonable level of fitness so my first order of business was to take a month off!
Before you stop reading allow me to explain.
This review will read more like a reflective blog article, so feel free to scroll to the end for my verdict on the Salming Speed6. Otherwise, read on for a more scenic route discussing speed in the endurance athlete.
Firstly, let me put myself and this article in context by stating I am an endurance athlete and as such I have always loved the long run, all day rides and the allure of...
For those of us who were lucky enough to live in the no nonsense times of the '70s and '80s, we experienced bread at 20 cents per loaf, petrol was cheap enough to run a V8, newspapers were the chief source of up-to-date news and running shoes were simply called 'sneakers'. These multipurpose athletic shoes were used to play basketball on Friday night, go for a jog on Saturday and mow the grass on Sunday. The mere thought of having...
Nothing can prepare you for how your body feels after swimming 10km in the open ocean, then switching to sitting on a bike for up to 6 hours. When swimming for three hours your body is totally supported by the water. Your head is facing down, your heart gets used to not having to pump against gravity, your internal organs shift position and your muscles have begun the atrophy process as they get used to the weightlessness of the water...
