Maybe I don’t have what it takes… (and other lies we tell ourselves)

How fun is it to get a PB (personal best) or to meet that time goal that you want.  Or to simply say I am going faster! I am stronger! And yet that time goal can be missed, we don’t seem faster and we wonder why, how or is this it? Have I already met my peak? Maybe I don’t have what it takes…

Chasing time (or power) can be motivating and can feel crushing when you don’t quite get it.  This is when both understanding how fitness shows up and setting realistic time goals is important. 

Let’s first define fitness.  “Physical fitness refers to the ability of your body systems to work together efficiently to allow you to be healthy and perform activities of daily living.”

How can we see that we are more fit?

• Look at your energy at the end of the session.  Could you do that months ago at that heart rate? (Cardiovascular fitness)
• How did you tackle that hill (they NEVER get easier) or that sprint effort AND then take on the next one? (Muscular endurance)
• Could you lift your body or that weight in the same way previously (Skill and strength)

It is not just time that measures fitness. But sometimes it is what we care about! In that case the goldilocks rule comes into effect– a bit of a stretch (the nervous anticipation of knowing it is hard but you CAN do it!) but not too much that it is out of reach.

We sometime underestimate how hard it is to take minutes off a time.  Just think how excited you were when that 6:30 pace became a 6:25 pace.  You worked so hard.  At the end of a 10km/mile run that difference amounted to 50 seconds.  THAT IS HUGE. And yet we are so quick to demean all the work of every one of those seconds. As we get older we then start to forget that holding onto that pace is equally something to celebrate because it takes the same amount of work to resist the aging process.

Watts on the bike are equally as fickle. Ten watts can be about 0.5mph faster.  ALL THAT WORK! If we only look at the end result of time we miss the most important things of doing what we love…

THE PROCESS!  Being able to work hard. Being able to see places we would not have seen. Being in community that shares our crazy passion for hard work. Learning about our body, our nutrition, fueling.  You are in a rich conversation with your body the whole time. Pushing yourself to see what you are capable of in this moment.  There is no other. 

In our coaching call we talked about how we want to finish the race or event – strong, with a smile, proud, positive, not hitting ugly town (aka – did things right). We talked about how race day is special because you are sharing the activity with others. It may be your family or friends who are SO PROUD already. They see what it takes. It is also all those other athletes out there in the struggle and triumph with you. The time you are able to do on race day is already there within you.  You don’t have to do or be special.  What is special is how you take on the day… being present in it from start to finish.  You have what it takes.  I have no doubt. 

Resources to check out:
How to calculate speed
Fitness Defined