August

How long have you been training for an upcoming race? How long have you been lifting weights looking for that massive increase in your bench press? Or squat? Weeks? Months?

I'm sorry if this comes as a disappointment, but your break through does not arrive like a package from Amazon. "Your break through is now here and tomorrow you will begin running 6 min. miles for 10 miles"...um, sorry, it doesn't work like that.

Instead of waiting for your big break through, start tracking your progress - yes, your progress.

Progress is a process. (There is probably a motivational poster with this on it somewhere out there...) Progress towards your goals comes through discipline, following your training plan, resting when you're supposed to rest, and cranking up the effort level when required.

Progress is running 8:30/mile for 10 miles in early July and then running the same distance at 8:15/mile a month later. That's progress.

Progress is not bonking at Mile 5 of a 7 mile tempo run, when you consistently bonked at Mile 5 the last two weeks.

Progress is shaving 3 sec. off of your 400m intervals over a 3-week period.

Progress is adding 4 reps to your max effort 225# bench in two months. As you continue to train and rest - this may become 6 reps in 3 months and 7 in 5.

Your progress towards your training goals is similar to a blue-chip S&P 500 stock. It doesn't make powerful 8-10% moves in a single day, it makes slow, incremental gains everyday. Some days it even goes down (you get sick, didn't get enough sleep, worked too many hours), but it ultimately grows. Then, 3 months later, you review your stock's performance and realize, "wow, it's up 10% in the last 3 months - that's pretty good."

Each training session in an investment towards your goal. Treat it that way; as a small deposit on the way to bigger gains down the line. Not only do these "deposits" build short and medium term fitness, but they also provide the foundation for additional gains the next time you begin a training plan.

Train hard AND smart.

Talk to you next month.

-Ed