“Systems create success. Randomness creates regret.” – Jay Shetty
While I’m on my “strategically planning your racing and training” kick this month, I want to talk about systems for success. Do you have systems in place for your training? Some of these things you may already have in place and they have become ingrained in you that you don’t even realize what you do is a system that contributes to your success. Some of these things are things you may be overlooking and they may allow you to approach your training in a more efficient way that you haven’t thought about.
Do you know each of these things in regards to your every day training habits? They may sound like simple questions but when you set your intentions for your training and create systems around on these questions, you allow yourself the opportunity to greater success.
1. Why? What’s your why? Why is it important?
Ask your self why you’re doing this workout right now. How is this getting you closer to your end goal? If you truly understand why what you’re doing in the next hour or so is going to get you closer to that goal, that training session has more meaning to you. In turn, motivating you to want to do it more!
2. What? What is the workout, in detail, you’re going to do?
Do you know what your workout is? Or are you just going to go out and do whatever you might feel like that day? While lots of people have different approaches to their training, having an end goal to your workout can lead to more measurable improvement. Say your workout is 5 easy miles. What exactly is “easy” for you? Are you going by a set “easy” pace, or a set heart rate, or a set RPE (rate of perceived exertion)?
3. How? How are you going to complete your workout?
How are you going to approach your workout today? Are you going to start off at an easy warmup pace, perform your set intervals or mileage, and do a set distance for a cooldown?
4. Where? Where are you training today?
Do you know where you’re going to train today? This may be wherever you can get it in. But in general, knowing whether you’ll be on the trail, the road, or the treadmill, is a pretty easy question to answer. Are you going to the gym or training at home?
5. When? When are you doing your workout?
Again, this one may be whenever you’re able to get in in, but knowing whether you’re doing it first thing in the morning or right before you go to sleep and having a plan to complete it at that given time is going to allow you to be more likely to complete your workout.
6. Who? Who are you accountable to? Coach? Training partner?
This one is super helpful. WHO are you accountable to? Having someone to be accountable to as to whether you complete your workout or even show up, chances are you’re more likely to get it done. When you know you’ve got to tell someone you actually did it or not.
I realize these are simple questions. But a lot of athletes overlook these small details in the day to day training grind and just do what they can to check off the workout for the day. Having an understanding with all these things in place, you create a system to succeed!
