You have a secret. You love your job, the experience, your co-workers, etc., but you know you can get it all done in six hours a day. Or three. Problem is, The Man won’t let you. You gotta punch the clock, have to show up between 9-5, do the commute thing, etc.

Unfortunately for you, your boss isn’t interested in the outcomes of your work as much as the inputs. There’s a direct assumption that if you work 40+ hours a week, you will be a productive, informed, and all-round good employee. So you follow the rules and toe the line, but deep down you still think about your little secret.

So how funny is it that when you finally get out of work, you apply the same thinking to how you train? More time spent swimming, biking, and running isn’t necessarily better, it’s just more time. You – yes YOU – can absolutely do a better job of training. Let us explain by comparing your training to…work.

WORK is SPEED Entering the Body
Found on every Endurance Nation singlet, cycling jersey, running shirt, hat or visor, as a reminder to our athletes.

As a triathlete, you move your body down the road, either by running or cycling. Your body has mass, you move it a certain speed/velocity and by doing so you perform “work.”

You and I weigh the same and we run the same course. I average 8:00 miles and you average 9:00 miles. I’ve moved the mass of my body the same distance in less time. I’ve done more work than you. Lets call it 300 units to your 200 units.

The reason why I can do 300 to your 200 is because I’ve forced my body to adapt itself to be able to support a work load of 300 units…to run 3 miles at 8:00 pace, for example. So how do you develop the ability to go from running 3 miles at 9:00 to running instead at 8:00 pace?

It’s not rocket science: you need to run 8:00 miles, or faster, a lot in training. More generally, you need to do more work. Your body will only adapt itself to the workload that you expose it to, nothing more. So doing more work forces your body to adapt. The expression of this increased ability to perform more work is…drumroll please…your ability to bike or run faster. Hello 8:00 pace!

What does this mean for you? Well, aside from training, your “job” as a busy self-coached triathlete is to ask yourself:

• Is this activity applying a greater workload to my body and thereby forcing it to adapt?
  Understanding, of course, that longer does not necessarily mean more work. I ride 3hrs at a level 8 of 10 and accrue 300 units of work. You ride 4hrs at a level of 6.5 of 10 and accrue 250 units. I’ve imparted to my body a greater workload, forcing it to adapt, in less time. See below.
• It this activity time efficient? That is, could I achieve the same or greater effect in less time by running or riding faster?

Triathlon coaching can be challenging, but the fundamentals are pretty simple. It’s not rocket science, it’s not as complicated as triathlon coaches seem to make it, and it’s certainly something you can manage on your own.

Now get out there and stop training like your boss would want you to!

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Kona OutSeason Training Plan Sale

We would like to off you another opportunity to save on our OutSeason Training Plans!

This Saturday, October 10, from 7am-11:59:59 KONA time, use code ENRawks20 to save 20% on our OutSeason training plans. That’s $159, or only $8/wk!

This is your opportunity to plug into the tools that:

• Have demonstrated gains of 15% cycling power and 4:45 half marathon PR’s over the last two years, on only 6-8hrs of training per week!
  
• This season have created 4 Ironman wins, 7 podiums, 8 Kona qualifiers, and 125+ Ironman finishers.
  
• Have grown our Team to over 400 members, with 94 joining just this month.

Does your training plan or coach have a similar pedigree or documented success?

Use code ENRawks20, during Kona only, to save 20%!