Crawford100 wrote:
Trust the process , I’ve been told this a lot From doing 70.3s
My first took 8hrs then went down to 7 and to 5:45
Then covid hit
The coach that took me to 5:45 I was with for around 3 years , didn’t really see much improvement for the bike . Kept repeating the same workouts and only related to ftp on tr which I couldn’t really improve much on
Then another coach who has said the only way I could ever qualify for anything is if it’s a roll down from an athlete who chooses not to accept the qualification to an event
This is talking about training and where I will be in 5 years . This was the honesty and I guess I can appreciate the no hiding approach
Il not sure if this has played on my mind
How was your anxiety in all of this?
When you did 8hrs in your first 70.3, what was your anxiety level?
What about when you did 5:45?
I don't recall reading it previously, but it appears a large goal for you is WCQ or to go 5:30 (or 5:15 or whatever) next time. In other words, your goals are performance outcome based instead of process based.
One of the best lessons I learned in business is setting goals based on outcomes (especially outcomes of others, like WCQ) will more often then not cause you anxiety or stress for goal motivated people. If the weather is bad the day before an event, you may have a great day but not meet your time goal. Or, if you're at an event that many high-powered AGers are at and you have a great day but don't get a slot, again you didn't meet your goal. You performed at your peak, but it wasn't "good enough" to meet your goal because of something outside of your control.
Process based goals are different. Process based goals are still measurable, but based on what you can control. It might be something like, "I'm going to do two 30 min strength workouts each week over the next 12 weeks, with an allowable miss of 3 and only one miss in a given week." If you do 22 strength workouts and do at least one a week, then you met your goal. Maybe one is "I will swim at least 10,000m per week over the next 12 weeks, with no less than three work outs in a week."
This doesn't mean that you don't have target finishes for your races, just that you're process focused not outcome focused. This isn't easy for most competitive people, regardless of the activity. Competitive sales people want to look at the $ they sold (outcome based), not the number of people they cold called (process based).
At 63yo and having not done much prior to ~5 years ago since college, I want to continue to beat my PRs. For the 1/2 marathon, I have an event here by my home that I've run every years since 2019 (except the one it was cancelled for covid). It's hard for me to not have a "goal" based on my time, versus goals based on training (like miles or something), especially since I've beaten my PR each year and have gone from 2nd to last in my AG to 6th. Now I want to be podium! I know it's the process that will get me there, so those are where my goals are.
Hope this isn't too long and helped at least a little.
Not a coach. Not a FOP Tri/swimmer/biker/runner. Barely a MOP AGer.
But I'm learning and making progress.