Focus on what you can do, not what you can’t.
So with most areas of the UK and Europe now moving to a state of lockdown, Phil Murphy - Head Coach at Total Tri Training sets out how to approaching the next few months as a Triathlete.
Firstly, What has changed for us as an athlete.
· Pools have closed for many, we can work around this in many ways. Cords, swim trainers and we will be including more swim specific strength work to our circuits classes
· The lack of training in a social setting has been taken away for many. BUT at least we have what I think is the best social training set up in the UK just now using Zoom, Discord, Zwift for bike (and run coming in January), social media and strength classes. Make sure you utilise it to the max!
· Losing the gym. Not a problem, we already had plans to make the January strength work actually easier to do at home anyway by the nature of the phase.
What hasn’t changed.
· We are still heading to a better place for summer 2021 even if the next 3 months will be a little painful, but together we can make sure we all get the most out of ourselves in this period and hit 2021 in the best shape ever (not forgetting how much everyone moved in in 2020 as well!)
· Bike and Run can actually now reach even higher levels for those spending less hours in the pool – as they say, “every cloud…..”
· Strength. As above, the one part people forget to do in many cases – no excuses now. Swap pool time for strength gains or extra miles on the bike or run if that is what you need.
Set Goals.
· Speak with your coach about an 8-12 week goal, it will really help maintain focus. It can be something small, or something very challenging but get up every day and work towards it.
· Having a clear focus to every day and what you are trying to achieve will help you define yourself as an athlete in this period of the year, which is tough normally anyway with dark nights and cold weather.
I have always believed that with your training it is “not what you do in the light that counts, it is what you do in the dark when no one is watching”.
What I mean here is, stay focused, get your head down and get on with “making a better version of YOU”.
Then as Spring arrives, your chance to shine in the light will come.
When we think about the great athletes we know, we all jump to memories of them at their best, winning races and excelling.
This is not what made them! It was the thousands of hours training alone, in the dark that created their moment to shine.
