I’ve seen a lot of posts recently with yearly totals of training, which led me to Garmin Connect for some tallies of my own –
It’s profound to think about just how much time some of us spend training, like the fact that I put 355 hours in the saddle (14 days worth), or covered nearly 9 thousand miles swimming, biking and running, representing 10% of my year (including hours in the gym) in 2014. And that doesn’t contain time spent driving to/from workouts, changing, showering or recovering on the couch.
When I got into triathlon so much of my concern was with volume and how much the pros were doing. It took a lot of grinding into my head from my coach the significance of quality over quantity. This year I don’t intend to do any more volume, in fact I’d be happy with less. And my focus of quality really lies outside of the workout. I’d like to focus on maximizing the value of my time in and around training and work. Simple concepts like creating balance, breaking away from routine, trying new things, putting down the phone, and enjoying moments before posting them to Instagram. Meeting new people and staying connected to old friends is very important. Seeing my family this Christmas holiday reminded me how imperative it is to get home, and not just for races.
The New Year is a great time to focus on goals. Even the most disciplined individuals can make improvements. Sometimes it’s the most regimented that are the most in need of change and who also have the most difficulty with it. I hope 2015 has a lot of good moments in store and can’t wait to keep things going.
David Welby 