Building character through endurance training Consistency can be seen as a means of training oneself to do something in a controlled and habitual way. More than that, it is doing something despite a conviction not to do it. Structured endurance training is an amazing tool that can teach the characteristics of both consistency and discipline. These two characteristics for success work hand in hand. Without discipline, your actions cannot be consistent. And without consistency, you will never learn to be disciplined.  Endurance sport has taught me that the biggest challenge you have to over ..read more

Self-made heroes of endurance sport Endurance sport has taken over the amateur community with a storm. And for good cause. The health benefits of 150 min/week of moderate intensity exercise are well cited in scientific literature. Another benefit is the aspect of community development and building what I believe to be the foundations of strong social characteristics attached to participation in sport. Our societies need strong people to lead the way into a prosperous future. Sport has always been a catalyst for this sort of movement. The exponential rise in the number of social running, cyclin ..read more

Consistently Pursuing Excellence A verb is a word that conveys action, an occurrence, or a state of being. It requires some form of intention to do something. Consistency is a verb, and I believe that this action word is the key to success in anything you do in life. There is a saying that to start something new, you just have to take the first step. I would rather say that to start something new you need to be consistent in your choices and efforts. I have seen the fruit of consistency in many aspects of my life to date. It is not a rapid rise to success though, it is like a slow burner that ..read more

The missing link in your endurance training program Training for an ultra-endurance event is a special process. There is a lot of change that happens to your physiology and your mental ability. The science of training load management is robust and well documented in the scientific literature. The basic summary would be this – don’t increase load too quickly, ensure there is progressive increases in load, and ensure there is time for recovery.  Training progress should always occur in different blocks. A macrocycle is a season-long cycle, anywhere from 6-12 months. Within this period there ..read more

Resilience Forged in Solitude If you have listened to a conversation of the most successful athletes in the world, the top businessmen, the greatest scientists, or anyone who has made significant waves in this life, you will notice a particular way about them; something different that just stands out. There is a certain head space that successful people learn to function in. Endurance training, I feel, is a great classroom to learn this sort of mindset. Anyone who has undertaken a training program for an endurance event like an IronMan triathlon, an ultra-trail run, or a long-distance swim, et ..read more

Polarized Training The list of endurance training philosophies is long. Each training theory has aspects that get good fitness and performance results, and some aspects that leave athletes with questions about their program. At the core of any training philosophy is the need to physiologically change the body from its current capacity into the capacity required for the demands of the sport. The road to this end goal is paved with different theories to peak endurance performance. One such method is the Polarized Training method. This method separates physiological adaption into two distinct tra ..read more