What did we learn here?

What did we see Saturday at the National Long Cycle Championships? A room full of committed and dedicated athletes striving for one thing, performance. Why? And to what end? The shiny medals and certificates handed out at the end of the day? Some prize pot of cash? No. Bragging rights? Well, quite possibly that, but more importantly for personal pride and performance.

What’s interesting is that not a single one of them was a professional athlete. Sure, there's a few coaches and trainers sprinkled in there. But most...utility workers, photographers, accountants. In short, a cross section of every day people in the city. It was a cross section that was hell bent on improving and besting their own performance.

Go back to my post about working out versus training. To achieve the goals you want and make the progress you want to make, it's not about three sets of 15 reps and resting. It's about pushing yourself to ever higher levels of performance. Proof that it really works? A competitor in the flight just before me was warming up & worried aloud that he'd been so busy that he hadn't done a timed set in weeks. 2 minutes later he picked up two 42lbs weights and achieved a national ranking. His foundational training held true and pulled them true. I performed after having lost 2 weeks of training to an injury & set a personal best. My training held true. Working out isn’t going to hold up like that.

You are an athlete. Your body is a kinetic marvel. Train it that way. Make the gains you want and keep them, even when you fall off the wagon for a while.