Trust The Process
TRAIL|Issue 37
Hold the vision for long haul gains.
Megan Mackenzie & James Montgomery
Trust The Process

In a society driven by instant gratification, running can provide a wonderful illustration of how being patient and playing the long game can pay dividends.

As Arthur Lydiard, the great New Zealand running coach said, it takes five years to become good and 10 years to become world-class.

Whether your goal is to become the best runner you can be (given your lifestyle, work and family commitments) or to become the best in the world, the road map is similar.

For athletes, it can be really difficult to balance the desire to get the most out of yourself now, while trusting that the best version of yourself may only be five or 10 years down the line.

Complexity

Perhaps too often we hear the adage that instead of short-term goals we should embrace the process of training and take joy and gratitude from the discipline, patience and intention of what this entails.

Without a decent understanding of physiology, it can be challenging to see the importance of layering different training stimuli over years to get the most out of your body on any single day on your racing calendar.

For many, the thought of this may be either too daunting or boring to even comprehend. Instead we do as much workload as we can when we’re motivated, and try to limit the fitness losses when we’re not.

While for some this may provide some level of success, for most it just leaves us despondent, plateauing – or worse – injured.

Managing Intensity

What makes our job as coaches even more challenging is that for any endurance sport, but particularly running, the majority of our training will be at an easy to moderate intensity. The nature of this exercise is aerobic.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Issue 37-Ausgabe von TRAIL.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Issue 37-Ausgabe von TRAIL.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS TRAILAlle anzeigen
Heat Cheat
TRAIL

Heat Cheat

In his How Or Why series, coach SEAN TAIT, founder and Running technique coach at Off the Mark, digs deeper into specific issues troubling TRAIL readers.

time-read
7 Minuten  |
Issue 38
Pacing The Way To Change
TRAIL

Pacing The Way To Change

Seeing a need, Jo Keppler ran 130km to raise funds for the Southern Lodestar Foundation breakfast programme on Saturday 6 November 2020.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
Issue 38
Die Ander Tafelberg(e)
TRAIL

Die Ander Tafelberg(e)

Dalene van Staden developed Die Ander Tafelberge* project, recruiting Caro Jordaan and Magan Hanekom to summit all 15 Tafelberge in the Western Cape, ending with Cape Town's Table Mountain.

time-read
9 Minuten  |
Issue 38
Dodge The Super Plods
TRAIL

Dodge The Super Plods

We all want to get faster, not slower. But the plods are real – if we overdo our training. Stay fast with Joburg-based coach Neville Beeton.

time-read
9 Minuten  |
Issue 38
Grounding Is It The Missing Link?
TRAIL

Grounding Is It The Missing Link?

Durban biokineticist Stephan Terblanche has been in private practice for almost 25 years. One of his biggest frustrations is that some patients do not get better, regardless of treatment, for unknown reasons. He believes that a lack of grounding is a major factor.

time-read
7 Minuten  |
Issue 38
THE ALIENS ARE HERE
TRAIL

THE ALIENS ARE HERE

Why do we run? There is no simple answer.

time-read
4 Minuten  |
Issue 38
Meeting Rona
TRAIL

Meeting Rona

Being young and fit doesn't faze COVID-19. Salomon runner THABANG MADIBA (36) experienced this for himself.

time-read
7 Minuten  |
Issue 38
For the Love
TRAIL

For the Love

RACHEL MANYATHI is an ultra runner and high school teacher whose life centres around kindness, and mountain adventure.

time-read
6 Minuten  |
Issue 38
Cultivating FLOW
TRAIL

Cultivating FLOW

High-performance coach CRAIG CAROLAN shares the Tao of Mike and positive psychology to help you reach maximum gratification on the trail.

time-read
6 Minuten  |
Issue 38
Bites & Stings
TRAIL

Bites & Stings

Life support medic ALET MAARTENS is a Gauteng-based trail runner with a few tips to keep you safe against summer bugs with big appetites or short tempers.

time-read
4 Minuten  |
Issue 38