How elite athletes target high performance
physiology from the get-go
Have you ever started off your
season where running is just plain not fun and warming up takes forever? Or
perhaps this sounds like all of your training runs. If so, you’ll need to speed up the warming-up
process, so you can step in where you left off in your last run, relaxed and in
the Zone—whether it was last week or last year—and avoid the pain and potential
of injury.
I used to run as a means to
cross train for karate. I’ll be
honest. As a martial artist I disliked
running, but it gave me the fitness and stamina advantage I needed to stay at
the top of my game. So, when I stopped
competing in karate, I stopped running and stopped the ‘torture’, as there now
seemed no good reason to continue. All
too soon I could feel my fitness slipping away and the weight piling on.
So I started to run again and it
was the same old, same old. In virtually
every run I suffered through 20 minutes of mental anguish until I found a
reasonable groove for about the same amount of time. But the last 100 meters was pure joy—light,
gazelle-like, powerful, adrenalized. I
loved it—but that was only a few seconds of my run. So here are the three steps I took to resolve
the problem:
1) Divide and
conquer:
This part is easy and although you can divide your run into a myriad of
parts, keep it to three. The three
parts can be of varying lengths and times.
My first part was about 20 to 25 minutes, my second about 10 minutes and
my third a few seconds.
2) Analyze each
phase:
In the SportExcel system, I teach athletes to go to the outcome
first. In other words, you have to know
what you want. For example, I want my
Ironman triathletes to be able to see themselves crossing the finish line in
the Zone and full of spirit. So in this
step, I needed to find examples of the kind of physiology I wanted for my whole
run. So I analyzed all three parts of my
run, found the obvious best part (the end) and noted my physiology. (If you
have no examples of great physiology, you’ll have to call me for another
exercise). In my last few seconds I
noted how my hips were moving...my shoulders…my core. How did my arms move? What was my breathing like? How did I
feel? I wrote down and itemized all noticeable
components I remembered about my physiology at this point.
3) Apply the
findings: Once I had noted my physiological attributes,
and literally had goose bumps via the memory, I applied these attributes to my
next run, right from the get go—the rolling shoulders and extended hips, right
down to the softness of my facial features, and the peripheral gaze of my
eyes. And it was amazing. I got into the Zone in less than five
minutes, not the usual 20. By changing only
my physiology, I was able to trigger my high performance form in all parts of my run. And the best part? If ever my run started to flag, simply
triggering one of the attributes would return me to the Zone.
So, before your next run, follow
the three steps and divide, analyze and transform. Whatever you find in your physiology, it
holds the key to making your whole run efficient, enjoyable and sustainable.
Give it a try, and if you want
to learn more strategies, call us—877-967-5747.
www.sportexcel.ca
