Lies, bribes and deceit: the tricks to successful training

Dory Dory

I suspect we all have our own little bag of tricks to keep us going during a miserable I-wanna-quit-real-real-bad session, and I thought it might be fun to share some of those quirky and/or effective tools that coerce/inspire/shame/energize each of us to not quit while slogging it out in training. In other words, what goes thru your mind that keeps you moving forward when you'd rather stop? And remember, things can get a little weird out there when you're pushing your limits, so no answer is too crazy. :)

BTH

Don't get beaten by Gibbo in Copenhagen. Don't get beaten by Gibbo in Copenhagen. Don't get beaten by Gibbo in Copenhagen. Don't get beaten by Gibbo in Copenhagen. Don't get beaten by Gibbo in Copenhagen. Don't get beaten by Gibbo in Copenhagen. Don't get beaten by Gibbo in Copenhagen. Don't get beaten by Gibbo in Copenhagen. Don't get beaten by Gibbo in Copenhagen. Don't get beaten by Gibbo in Copenhagen. Don't get beaten by Gibbo in Copenhagen. Don't get beaten by Gibbo in Copenhagen.

joey100

This is going to sound like it comes from a self help book but when it gets tough I try to think that that is when other people will give up. That's the training that makes the real difference. Like when it's raining, windy and cold out, they are the sessions you will get more out of, not just because you are getting out and it will seem easier when conditions are good but they are the days that other people are less likely to train so giving you an advantage over them.

Other thing I like is a quote, from I think Derek Jeter, basically says that there may be people who have more natural talent than you but there is no excuse for anyone to work harder than you (except Zico ). again sounds like it comes from a self help book but I like it.

tunney

You're not doing the training you are just watching a video of someone training sit through their eyes.

There is no such thing as possible from exercise/fatigue (although this over isn't actually a lie)

tunney

You're not doing the training you are just watching a video of someone training sit through their eyes.

There is no such thing as possible from exercise/fatigue (although this over isn't actually a lie)

mossym

get it done or the coach will just make me do the f*&king thing again

mossym

and i should add, it doesn't always work, and guess what happens...

shotgunmcos

Hardest thing for me is simply getting started. Once I get out the door it will get done. Once I sit on the thing it will get done. Once I dive in it will get done. Quality of training is another measure but simply executing the session... JUST DO IT!

How often I have sat on the bottom step of the stairs "mapping my route", "stretching", "fixing my earphones" or hitting the snooze button when I know the pool beckons...

JUST GET UP!
JUST GET OUT!
JUST EFFING DO IT!

Occasionally you are fecked and stop at the wall for a "stretch" and contemplate getting out of the pool, calling for a lift or walking home. Same rule applies but it is breaking the remainder of the session down.

JUST DO THIS LENGTH
JUST 1KM TO GO
Dont let your heart rate drop, JUST MOVE, MOVE NOW!

As for occupying the mind while the kms tick by. Some people work out how to achieve world peace, some recite war and peace, some want a piece of their own shadow.

I just watch how people behave, wonder what they are about, why the dog ran that way, how the wind sways the trees, how the air feels like it will rain, why the hurry....

griffin100

I think what's the alternative? Go home and mope about having ditched the session? The training session will be a lot shorter than the moping about.


I also think about how much fatter I'd be if I ditched every session

sconhome

119 hours to go...118 hours to go....117 hours to go.....

shotgunmcos

sconhome wrote: »

119 hours to go...118 hours to go....117 hours to go.....

I never start the countdown until I'm over half way..

:P

hardCopy

Working out fractions in my head on ling runs. "Another km and I'll be a quarter of the way through, that's halfway to my turnaround point"
"I'm a third of the way around, only two more of them to go". "Half way, I just have to get home now, sure I could get home from anywhere" etc.

For shorter high intensity stuff I'll often use the lap pace on my garmin to drive myself to push hard for the rest of the kilometre, every time I bag a km at goal pace it's an added incentive to make sure the next one is on target so the earlier suffering won't have been in vain.

Neady83

Great thread DD. There's a couple of things for me.

The first is that if I don't keep going, keep putting one foot in front of the other then there's usually no other way out, quitting just isn't an option. I was climbing in the Alps a few years ago, a few days before I left I went for blood tests as I wan't feeling well, it turned out I had anemia so I knew going that it would be a struggle. On the fourth day of climbing and trekking hut to hut, we had two big 4,000m+ climbs to do. I got the first one done and I was a third of the way up the second one but I had nothing left, I wanted to bury into the snow and sleep, I was blaming it all my iron levels but mostly it was in my head. I realised that there was no other option but to dig deep and get to the top so that I could get off the other side and into the hut.

It was the same last year during the Beast, pushing the MTB up the Comeragh mountains, I wanted to quit, I was imagining myself throwing the bike down, sitting and just stopping .... but there was no other option, I had to keep putting one foot in front of the other to get off the mountain. When I'm going through a training session that's tough, I remind myself that there's no other option and usually when I get over that, things come around and it gets easier.

One other thing, I work with people with disabilities and have many friends who are not physically able to do what I do. They're great, they always want to know about my races and adventures and they enjoy hearing about mountain biking or kayaking or running. Gerry Duffy says that what motivates him is that he gets to run, I am very aware that I get to do this and that helps to motivate me.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Race visualisation. In those really tough sessions RV gets used a lot because when you add up all those tough sessions it makes a difference.
Cause we know when we add up all those inches that's going to make the fvcking difference between WINNING and LOSING between LIVING and DYING (said in an Al Pacino voice)

Alterntively for last nights horrible 10x3 best effort run session i bribed myself. If i got through the session i could have a cadbury creme egg when i got home with a mug of hot chocolate.

In summary if RV does not work, if Al Pacino speeches don't work, there is always the bribe of chocolate.

boysinblack

' I get to'

Pmaldini

i read in a book about a guy called Big Ted, his mantra was "some people bend and break but i'm not one of those people" its kinda stuck in my head ever since and now when i am struggling with a hard and sometimes easy session it just pops into my head and i keep going, i also count alot, during JB's torture turbo's or long tough intervals on the road last year i used to count over and over again until i got through them, it kept me in a rhythm and took the focus away from the pain i was in:D

Dory Dory

Things I do :D:

- Tell myself to pay my dues now as that will make things easier later.
- Remind myself that every single minute of training is an opportunity to become faster, stronger, and more enduring.
- Think about the wench who has no idea there is a target on her back and vow to be a better, faster, and more accomplished athlete than her.
- Scare myself with: OMG!!! I'VE ONLY GOT 9 MONTHS UNTIL MY IRONMAN!!! :eek: (I used this one last night!)
- Tell myself that I can quit anytime I want.
- Remind myself how I'm the type of person who likes to do her homework, and how confident I'll be at the start line knowing I could've done no more to get me there in race shape.
- Lie and convince myself that what I'm feeling is not fatigue and yuckiness, but rather that feeling is normal and good. "It's just a feeling....and I am in control of deciding what that feeling is."
- Tell myself I am just passing time.
- Pretend I'm the Angry Bird at Kona.

dave04

early morning runs , no one else around. The run gets it done!!

Green&Red

I go for fractions and percentages too

Also I picture the Salmon run triathlon and how I'll feel on the run, imagine who I'll be chasing or who will be chasing me

For the turbo I just think that I want to be the strongest I can be for when I get out on the road, imagine the people I'll be leaving on the hills

pgibbo

I tend to use fractions and percentages a fair bit too.

One the swim definitely so. The bike is a mix of SHUT UP LEGS and percentages. I tend to suffer better on the run and just say - get it done. Visualising the next A race is a big driver too.

RacoonQueen

If I'm doing reps or in the pool I'll do fractions / percentages. So if I'm doing 400's - each 100 is a ticked box. If I'm doing 8 x 1k on a 1k stretch, up and back is 2, so I've only 3 more to do (rather than 6 more) etc

In August / September 2014, I remember reading a tweet by Christoper Brisley I think it was that simply said ''Fatique comes before fitness"

That has stuck with me since, especially on those days when I'm in work feeling tired and drained and I know I've got a hard session that night or when you've just arrived home from a long day with a session to do and during your warm up you still feel tired. "Fatique comes first...fatique comes first..."

During IM training, or the early stages of it this is what got me up in the mornings..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzm6TEManmQ

woody1

i dont do much so the thought that if races are so hard now what will they be like if i do even less , and then like a lot of people , it will get easier if i do more

fractions half done less to do now, every step ,pedal, stroke whatever is one less,

mostly competitiveness, the group of people that are at all the races you go to, keep the ones that are normally behind you , behind you, catching the people in front,

time limits.. if i dont get out now then when ,

the "i get to" thing, rather than "i have to", and more importantly "i like to"..

fresh air, scenery , the world going by, ideally without being rained on or blasted by a gale, but i know that once im out the door il enjoy it..

tunney

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8

RJM85

Dirt off your shoulder by Jay z gets regular plays in my head during tough sessions and races

Choc Chip

Fractions and percentages here too. I have a friend who looks out for signs and tries to make anagrams out of them. I tried that once for a change and just found that it made my run even longer.

Neady83

shotgunmcos wrote: »

I just watch how people behave, wonder what they are about, why the dog ran that way, how the wind sways the trees, how the air feels like it will rain, why the hurry....

I did this yesterday evening on the treadmill, watching people coming and going on the dreadmills at either side of me. This is off topic a bit but why do people run so fast on the treadmill that they have to hold onto the front of it? Then they slow down, speed right up and hold on again.

tommy_tucker

Neady83 wrote: »

I did this yesterday evening on the treadmill, watching people coming and going on the dreadmills at either side of me. This is off topic a bit but why do people run so fast on the treadmill that they have to hold onto the front of it? Then they slow down, speed right up and hold on again.

practice for high speed pram pushing

Djoucer

Neady83 wrote: »

I did this yesterday evening on the treadmill, watching people coming and going on the dreadmills at either side of me. This is off topic a bit but why do people run so fast on the treadmill that they have to hold onto the front of it? Then they slow down, speed right up and hold on again.

Might be getting their HR? Sensors on the front bar of some treadmills. You need to hold on for about 10 seconds to get a reading.

zico10

I think if pushing hard, boredom shouldn't be an issue. During long steady paced runs and cycles, especially turbos, it is an issue though.
When boredom sets in on long runs and I start to look forward to the end of the session, I try to compose A, B, C,.,. lists in my head. They could be based on anything, 'People I went to school with, Books I've read, Cities I've been to', the possibilities are endless. Time passes a little quicker if my mind is thinking of anything other than the monotony of step followed by step.
For long turbos, I just pick up my iPad and browse the Internet. It's hard to focus on things to any great degree, but having the telly on can also be a distraction. If watching a film, I prefer to watch something I've seen before. It's not so important then, if I zone out for a while.
On hard turbos, I think having the television on is just a waste of electricity. To stay focussed, I sometimes count my cadence for a minute at a time on my stopwatch. My own version of a cadence sensor, it also helps me to keep the effort consistent in the absence of any training tools.
To keep pushing in harder sessions takes a different approach. For these, I picture someone I've came close to in a few races, but who I have never beaten. I can convince myself, that getting through the tough training sessions will help me beat them the next time we face each other. Sometimes this prophecy has came true, and with others I've yet to beat, they are still there in my mind as motivation.
Then there are the training sessions that I find it hard to get out the door for, such as a 24km run starting at 10 p.m. I can't be sure what anybody else is doing, but I tell myself most people would bail on such sessions, and that this will give me an advantage when I face them in a race.