The majority of our time is spent training for our athletic events. Tri's, marathons, ocean swims, you name it, the time we spend practicing dwarfs the time we actually race, even for those who race often. This is also true in team sports. Although it doesn't look like it, the NY Giants spend a ton of time practicing for the games they play. But there is a big difference when it comes to perceived outcomes. The sports teams usually have a really good idea of what they can do, and what they can't do, and game plan to match those abilities. They then go out and try to nail their plan. But many individual athletes have an unrealistic idea of what they can do come game day and because if it underperform. Let's look at how this happens and what you can do to perform to your potential on race day.
The most obvious difference is the participants in team sports have an extra pair (or more) of eyes evaluating their talent. Unbiased opinions of your talent and abilities are extremely important for you to develop a training plan that reflects your true abilities. Then your not wasting your time training for race goals that are too lofty, or even too low. A coach can also assess your weaknesses and make a plan to systematically improve them. Now being an endurance coach myself I have to report to you that this is extremely common! One of the biggest contributions I bring to the table for my athletes is in evaluating his/her abilities and preparing a program to best suit the needs of that particular athlete. Something those pre-fab plans cannot do.
So back to all that training time we started out talking about. If you spend the majority of you time training in zones and speeds that don't suit you, you are then practicing something you cannot pull off. Why waste all that time and energy? By training in zones that suit your heart rate and talent you will perform better on race day and may elevate your overall performance. Really? But who does that you say?? Well...
There has been some investigation done on how athletes do during a race when compared to how they trained. Only 30% of those studied where able to race at the pace they trained for and therefore met their goals. A tiny percentage, about 1%, were able to race FASTER than they trained. A whopping 70% raced some degree slower than their estimated, and trained at, race pace. What happened? Well by over estimating what they could do a majority of the athletes set themselves up for failure and in fact stunted their times. Let me give you a triathlon example: If you overestimate your ability in the swim and/or the bike, and go out faster than your body can truly handle, not only will your run be affected but it will affected in a BIG way! The time on the run will be exponentially slower than if you had a proper goal time on the first two events. In this case proper pacing when then have lead to an overall better time.
Where do you go from here? First I would seriously consul that you get a good coach. Ask around there are definitely some good live bodies out there that can be a big help. Let's face it between all the money you spend on equipment and the time you spend on training it is an awesome investment. Even just for a few months! Additionally I would look into obtaining one of Sally Edwards books on Heart Zones training. She has been doing it forever and is the best at it. Lastly take this off-season and run some tests. Find out your max heart rate, maybe even you VO2 Max, and set up some reasonable goals for the athlete that truly you are. Not only will it make the whole experience more satisfying but you may find out you have been practicing slower than you really are!
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