Efficiency & The Time-Crunched Athlete

Being efficient is the key. Efficiency is the value of reducing wastage. It is not merely about doing things fast, often mistaken for efficiency. Expediency and effectiveness are factors in this simple equation of being efficient.

1) Planning and organising

Where will your training take place? Proximity and ease of access is critical. Will you be doing your core-strength workout at home, or at the nearby fitness park? You can do a warm-up jog to the park, then do your exact sets based on your prescribed menu of exercises. If riding, factor in warm-up and cool-down time, so you are not late in your appointments, thereafter. Today, as planned I did a 60-minute pool-run, and this evening a 105-minute ride/60-minute swim 'brick session'.

2) Specificity of Sports

You can do one type of exercise, or a combination. Squeezing in too much into one workout may be counter-productive. Our body responds specifically to the type of activities we do. Type refers to any of the platforms of fitness including flexibility, aerobic, anaerobic, strength, power, agility or balance. For triathletes, you need to do 2-3 sessions of each discipline depending on your next race. For maintenance, two sessions of each discipline will be adequate to provide the ‘training effect’. It is akin to musicians practising occasionally once they have mastered the chords/keys. Amplify the workouts to three each before a half-Ironman or full one. Rule of guide: one workout for endurance, one for strength, and one for race-pace. If you are training exclusively for a marathon, you can still incorporate cross-training. That is why I run only three times a week, and I rarely exceed 40-45K in total mileage. My base fitness allows me to train with less chance of injuries, and I enjoy integrated fitness from my swimming and riding.

3) Stay focused on your goals

What is your intention of training? Is it to complete a race, earn a personal best time, to maintain basic fitness, weight-management, or to enjoy more vitality and vigor? Every session, however long or short must serve its purpose. You must also inject a modicum of commitment to completing the sessions you set out to do. Excuses are easy to formulate, however when they accumulate can/will impair your progression. There is no reason you cannot achieve more, with less (more concerted, focused and scientific approaches) sessions (total hours). Even a short 30-minute home-workout can comprise proprioception (balance) work, core-development, muscular strength, flexibility and anaerobic/power work.

Leadership Lessons: How do you organize your life? How much planning and preparation goes into your day and week? How efficient can you be at both your profession and pastime? How do you pack more bang for your buck with your time? By the way, I wrote and published this piece in 25 minutes after helping a friend remove her pedals from a road-bike.

Having the Runs On the Run

I read with relish and delight 4-time, Ironman triathlon world-champion Chrissie Wellington’s biography ‘A Life Without Limits’. In particular, she highlights her tumultuous relationship with coach Brett Sutton; and her dramatic episodes of peeing and pooping on the run, literally.

Fellow athletes have teased me about taking a pee on the saddle during a race. They give me grief about nobody willing to buy my bike over (like I would!). The fact of the matter is, through my conversations with my coach and competitive age-group participants, I found out that they minimize down-time by taking a piss during the three disciplines. The trick is to do it with respect and discretion. While riding, preferably on the downhill, look behind you (so that you are far and away from the next rider) and then release your stream. It will trickle down one leg and, perhaps, into your shoe. That's about it, and you whip out a bidon of water and spray it over your groin, and rinse it off. When hydrated, your discharge should be relatively clear and free of pungent smells. It is also fair warning for an annoyingly close, drafting rider!

If you have a lead over your competitors and take time out to go into a porta-loo, you may loose valuable minutes. Efficiency is about minimizing wastage. However, if you have a bad stomach, you got to relieve the discomfort – so you whisk off and do the deed as quickly as you can. Then, it is back to the race with a lightened system.

So, Chrissie has relieved herself in a canoe, on the bike and behind the bush. You can’t fault a champion athlete for her absolute honesty and incredible speed. Make waste; I mean, make haste.

It May Not Hurt (Much) to Take A Break

The reality is, few people will be fondly remembered for coming to work early, leaving later than others. That is old school and out of date. Result and performance matter more, than putting in the lengthy, unpaid, overtime hours. We are the sum of our efforts, but not because of it. Effectiveness and efficiency ranks higher than people who look busy, are unproductive, and slow in their movements.

One thing we can draw from triathlons and journalism is: fail to meet the deadlines, and you are done. It is painful to watch swimmers being dragged out of the swim leg of the Ironman triathlon for failing to meet the 2 hour 20 minutes cut-off timing. You have 17 hours (exactly) to complete the 226K of swim, ride and run. You need to respect the stringent guidelines for each discipline/phase, for therein lies the challenge of sports. Faster, stronger and higher – these are and to be the Olympic ideals.

If your work-life dominates your entire being, then it may be eminent that you may seriously need to take a break. Request for the nearest duration of leave days you can use. Workaholics are employees who allow their work to dominate and desecrate their lives. All work and no plays, does dull your mind and body. If you choose to bring work home, you do it out of your choice. If you think it spells into future results, do it for deliberate and clear reasons.

If you think that as a marathoner, that you must do 70-90 kilometres a week of running then that is your belief. If another runner attains similar if not better results than you do with less mileage, then you need to recognise that. There are many variables to factor in for sporting excellence, and over-training may not be one of them. Some of our elite age-group runners run only three times a week, and supplement this activity with cross-training: star-climbing, hill-running, weight-training, core stability work, cycling, swimming, and others.

I just took a two-day hiatus from work and endurance training and did some travel. One of the physical discomforts I experienced was newly found, soreness and stiffness in some of my muscles. I may have exercised some muscle groups used in retail-therapy, or it could be my body responding to rest. When muscles heal during inactivity, they may feel weak and sore. Fret not – it is merely nature’s way of repairing overworked muscles and weaving a stronger fabric. That way, you will be cut out for the work when you begin training or racing.

Leadership Lessons: Take time to smell the flowers. If you are Type-A, learn to slow down occasionally. If you are pushy, hold back your forcefulness. Push through with your earnestness; yet pull with your influence. There are more to life than work and play; explore, discover and enjoy. Work less, however work effectively.

Elastic Laces, Elastic Bands and Being Flexible

I was taught by my coach to fix my bike-shoes onto my pedals in advance, so that my Transition 1 would be faster. To facilitate my mount onto my bike, my shoes are attached, with elastic bands, onto the rear wheel. This keeps the shoes parallel to each other, and do not drag on the floor. Upon mounting my bike, I can begin peddling (feet on my shoes) and the elastic bands will snap upon spinning.

Elastic laces are useful attachments. Instead of lengthy laces that flail during the run, and take a little more time to tie a ribbon with, elastic laces are more relevant during the ride-run transition (2). When affixed and cut to the required length, all we need to do is slip our socked feet into them, and then tighten then retaining locks. Then, off we go! To put on lock-laces, or similar devices, here are clear instructions.

Between the two elastics, the laces cost more, however they can last for at least a dozen races. The rubber bands cost no more than searching for them, and they are ubiquitous in our environment. We use these springy materials creatively to allow us to safe time, thus becoming more efficient.

Leadership Lessons: How do you facilitate your meetings? How do you facilitate productive conversations with your colleagues and customers? How do you stay flexible in the presence of tension or conflict?