The LONG GAME
For the first time in several years, I don’t have a race on my calendar for the next ~12 months. It’s a bizarre feeling to not be training for something that's coming up.
But that doesn’t mean I’m training for nothing. In fact, it’s probably the most important training of the year.
One of the mistakes many endurance athletes make is either wasting or rushing the space between races.
Many of us will take time off from sport and build up a plethora of habits that negatively impact performance. It’s easy to do because we aren’t training, so it “doesn’t matter” if we have less energy or gain a few pounds. (There may be some truth to this, and certainly it’s a time to relax the training and mindset but the degree to which we take this is what is in question.)
Or perhaps we rush (as I tend to do) right into the next training block, failing to give our bodies and minds enough time to recover and reset. We might be motivated to keep the positive momentum or to prove a poor performance wasn’t an accurate indicator. In either instance, we are focused on external metrics without regard for how the internal system is doing.
In the short term we can prioritize performance over health and see a small benefit from it, but in the long term this can be (severely) limiting to both our health AND our performance.
So, in the time between races, focus on the LONG GAME.
LONG: Think longevity. Not just getting stronger and faster for your next race but a 3-30 year time horizon. We want to live longer, but we want to live BETTER. It’s not just our lifespan we want to improve, but our Healthspan.
1000 day pacing as Gordo Byrn likes to say, or a 3 year Vivid Vision. This time frame is great because it allows you to make drastic improvements while your life generally stays the same. Granted, it might depend on the phase of life you’re in; some phases bring changes more rapidly than others. Still, regardless of circumstance it is pretty hard to imagine in accurate detail what life would look like beyond 3 years.
This doesn’t mean we can’t look beyond it. In 30 years I’ll be nearing 60, potentially with grandkids by then. What kind of state do I want to be in? Hopefully my bloodwork looks great, my bones and joints feel good, and I’m able to actively do the things I enjoy doing. That process starts now…
G.A.M.E. The Great Aerobic Metabolism Experiment. As I learned in Dr. Howard Luks book Longevity Simplified, many diseases are actually symptoms of the same root cause of metabolic syndrome. Simply put: most of us have poor mitochondrial health and over time this leads to many different negative consequences. One of which is particularly concerning to me as my dad was diagnosed at a young age with Alzheimer's disease; while there’s a genetic component, there is also a massive lifestyle component. Mitochondrial capacity is also concerning to me from a long term performance perspective as it dictates my ability to:
a) burn fat for fuel
b) reuse lactate for fuel
a) + b) combined = increase endurance performance capacity by A LOT.
Unfortunately, when training for races only a few months out with busy schedules, we tend to over rely on sugar and caffeine to power early mornings and intense workouts. We get the workouts in, but this short term bump in fitness comes at the cost of improving mitochondrial health and capacity in the long term.
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So, what’s the plan?
There’s no race on the calendar (for a long time), but I’m still training for “something” and that something is the LONG GAME. For most of us the long game isn’t tangible enough. Here’s how I’m making it feel more real:
Vision: Create a 3 year vivid vision and a 30 year prospective vision. Knowing which direction the ship is headed is important in knowing how to stay on course.
Metrics: Understand the metrics that determine longevity and mitochondrial health. Fortunately, most go hand in hand with long term endurance performance.
Vision:
~3 years out: Ironman age group podium…
~30 years out: be an active 60 year old who still runs and bikes and hikes and plays pick-up basketball
Metrics:
Blood work via Inside Tracker: focus on LDL / HDL / Triglycerides / fasting Glucose / + inflammation markers
HRV + Resting HR + Sleep
Fat Burning: use gasmask to see grams per min of fat/carb use at various intensities
Heart Rate, Pace, & Power @ Lactate Threshold 1 (LT1) and Lactate Threshold 2 (LT2)
Mobility
None of these metrics are static. All are continuously (albeit slowly) changing; they’re moving targets. Thus, I need to retest/measure accordingly.
Blood work: quarterly
HRV and RHR: daily in AM check via HRV4Training App
Fat Burning: quarterly
Lactate Threshold: various - spot checks for certain workouts (long runs/rides & Threshold aka LT2 work) along with step tests on bike and run.
Mobility: a bit harder of a metric to track, but regular yoga and mobility drills will do.
Improving these metrics is just like improving any metrics for triathlon with just a slightly different focus. It will take a specific plan to cause adaptations on these. Thankfully, most are trending positive already, but it’s time to be more deliberate about them. I’ll continue to share this process as it unfolds!
Lastly, the important thing to remember here is that it’s not about being perfect. A few beers here and there, some ice cream, some late nights with friends, etc. might have a negative impact on the metrics but a positive impact on life satisfaction. Find the balance between playing the LONG GAME and living in the moment. The thing is though, when you focus on improving these pieces for the long term, you feel better and better in the short term. There’s a wonderful freedom found in the ability to move well daily and do epic things often.
Happy training!
