Add Consistency to Smash your PB
As we start to approach the end of a busy year the distractions of Christmas & New Year pull away from your goals and plans to build your running platform for 2023. This is especially true if you have secured a London Marathon place for April. It is going to become increasingly hard to stay consistent with your training plan. As the nights grow longer and the weather grows colder the desire to reduce your running or cut out sections of it completely increases. However, like the old saying goes “consistency is key”.
To help you on your consistency journey try to picture a brick wall. This brick wall is called your performance wall. Now try to visualise that with each run you finish, a brick is being added to the wall. The more runs you complete the more bricks are added. Eventually due to your consistency you will have built a very tall and strong wall. This wall reflects the new increase in performance gained over a period of time spent building the foundation of the wall. This wall, however, is not impervious to damage. Skipping workouts, having additional days off, poor nutrition or lack of sleep and recovery time can lead to a brick falling out of your wall. This will lead to a real time reflection in your performance. If enough bricks are removed from the wall, you have figuratively caused a breakdown of your wall that you have spent so long building.
The best way to build fitness is to focus on putting as many bricks into the wall each day as possible, no matter the size. Noting a short sharp sesison will add so much in the long run to your foundation. Whilst a full-strength wall may not be built in a month or two – although the resembling’s of a wall will start to come to fruition – over the course of six months or a year following a consistent brick laying process your base levels will be the key to running success.
Benefits that come from building consistency is the adoption of an excellent daily routine. People’s daily routines dictate what we do with our lives. It is in these small and consistent details that we repeat day upon day that set us up for an excellent routine. “The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine” and making running and other details part of it will help set up and keep that performance wall stronger for longer.
The mental benefits of consistency can equally have a great benefit to one’s wellbeing. Talk of the physical benefits to consistent training are well documented but the mental benefits should not be understated. A big performance wall will lead to mental benefits such as improved self-discipline. Doing something that you really do not want to and having the courage to keep running or going to the gym or doing that recovery session leads to developing that consistency and consequently that self-discipline. Furthermore, with the increase of consistency, an improved daily routine and improved fitness starts to build to thus highlighting the physical and mental benefits consistency can have.
Recap
- Build your training platform and plan
- Be adaptable to change but consistent wiht training
- Build a strong foundation
- Address your physical development and your mental well being
Build A Stronger Runner