Physical training is a journey inside oneself and can be a very personal thing; training hard alone can be an extremely rewarding experience. That said, training with others and in groups has its undeniable benefits. I was reminded of this over the holidays, amidst the cornfields of Northern Indiana of all places, en route via car from Akron, Ohio to Chicago, Illinois. NPR was on and a guy was talking about New Year’s resolutions, citing various stats and tossing out random bits of information for quite some time.
I think I dozed off a few times (as a passenger) when the monotonous landscape and the lulling tones of the radio made my eye lids heavy but two points from the NPR piece managed to catch my attention. The guy said that "resolutions are far more likely to be successful if they, and intention of reaching the goal(s), are made public to friends, co-workers and family." The more people who know what you're trying to do, the more parties you will feel accountable to. Of course, the more people you can get to do it along with you the better; misery loves company after all. Probably my favorite part of living in Portland is the plethora of wonderful people to run and train with. There is a seemingly endless supply of inspiring and fascinating folks to help push your limits and keep you motivated through the rainy days.
As I set my personal goals for the year and look toward the Miwok 100K trail race in California in May, I share my intentions, my goals, my training "resolutions" with a couple of the most hardcore training partners and friends around–Tony Barbero (world-class wild land firefighter and ultra-runner, temporarily living and training in Portland) and Yassine Diboun (no intro necessary.) I feel pushed now just because I told them what I intend to do, what crazy things I want to achieve this year. Seeing others giving it everything makes me want to give it everything too. So I am willing and eager when they share their goals and aspirations with me–of first 100k races, epic firefighting seasons, and thousands of pull-ups without rest to battling international competition around volcanoes, Western States 100 mile glory, and records on long trails. It is now part of my role to hold them accountable and bear witness to the immense hard work and pain and wonderful suffering that both will endure to reach their goals.
If they don't succeed I will never talk to them again … ever.
Just kidding.
The other part of the radio piece that stuck with me (not relating to group training) was when the voice said something like: "Surprisingly most people are successful in keeping their resolutions to 6 months or more if they don't shoot too high too soon and they don't freak out if they slip a little bit at first." I liked that. Those ideas are ones that I try to instill in myself and in people I coach and train. There's simply no use in risking the potentially massive mental, emotional, or physical toll of attempting something too big without being truly ready for it, especially if the impending "failure" will really set you back. Just make a more appropriately sized goal to use as a stepping stone and you'll be where you want to be soon enough.
Lastly, "resolutions" (a.k.a. goals) can be made at any time of the year, crazy schemes and epic plans can be hatched in any season. 2013 is a ripe time for going big, for doing something unthinkable that you've never done before. It's simple … just properly prepare and tell some people what you're doing to help keep you in line. Better yet, convince them to do it with you.
Success always feels so good.
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