the mental game… These days, endurance events in Ireland are everywhere, from half Marathons, to Triathlons to full Marathons to 300km Cycle Races, not to mention Ultras and 100 milers! I have spoken to some of those taking part in the likes of Ultras and 100 milers, and it has become blatantly obvious that people have no idea of their personal limits. A worrying notion is that people are training for these events without testing them selves, picking up injuries from overuse and even worse yet – poorly trained muscle groups and joints, pulling out of races because they realise they just can’t go on, or simply finishing but ending up with severe pain and injury afterwads. There are an abundance of adventure races at the moment, WAR in Wicklow being one and GaelForce West being another, I have worked with some people doing WAR and one person whom completed GaelForce West.
The biggest obstacle in the minds of these people before completing their race was the mental element of it; would they have the guile to complete the race? Physically they knew they could, but mentally they were not sure where their limits lay! I find a lot of athletes out there are training, but their training lacks structure, this could be because they are pretty much doing it all alone and without advice from a club or private coaching. I my self don’t offer private coaching. What I do offer is a test of character and the chance to develop mental strength and endurance.
Anybody working towards any sort of endurance event should have a structured training plan, many are available online, and this is great. However, in order to apply that training plan, a person needs to know their base, that’s key to any training plan. It is of course all relevant to the individual, and those ramping up mileage each week or laps in the pool or km’s on the bike need to bear this in mind. We use training to get us to a point where we are capable of competing, but, just how far can we go?
There are many ways of testing this, one would be to do the entire distance of the race you are entered into, but this would mean you need to do it very early on, and on race day, it won’t compare. Anyone that has done a race knows this. The best way of testing if you are capable of taking on something physically enduring with a mental barrier or wall, is to take a test!
Wouldn’t it be great if you could take a physical endurance test to see just where limits lie and what you can do to overcome them? I am not talking about a race, or even a training session! I am talking about a genuine test of mental will power!
If you’re tackling your first Marathon, Ironman, Tri, Swim, Cycle or other endurance event, or want to improve on your last one and need something to give you that extra little push, then you should try one of my Evolution Endurance Sessions. Based around elite military fitness regime, disciplines and ethos, you will be pushed to your limits and beyond.
The term evolution is used for two reasons, 1) the demands placed on you change each hour and evolves from the previous level and intensity. 2) You grow and evolve as a person with each new evolution because you have come through to the next stage.
Bootcamps will come and go, and they are great for conditioning and building base fitness levels. In order to be competitive you have to go beyond that and take it to the next level. That’s where Evolution Training comes in.
I have only done one Marathon in my life, having come back from injury and illness covering almost a decade of my life. I have a military background and thoroughly endorse the ethos of that lifestyle. With numerous courses under my belt and numerous different experiences from fitness training I took a scaled down version of a 9 week programme that will take you from fit to super fit to super “willed”! This is not about simply building physical strength; this is about developing mental strength.
When the chips are down and you need to dig deep, it’s your mind that will carry you the rest of the way, not your body.
In fairness, the 9 week programme requires commitment and dedication. This will only work for a select audience.
There is another programme I run on Saturday mornings, a 4 hour Evolution Endurance Challenge, and it is just that, a challenge! It is aimed at anyone looking for a test of character and endurance.
For 4 hours you undergo the most challenging, demanding and gruelling training you have ever experienced. As I said, this has been developed as a scaled down version of an elite military selection programme. It is an intense challenge involving ordinary callisthenics for the first hour, followed by an hour of calls, running, dunes, working with logs, sandbags and more, the third hour takes you to the cold element, we work on the beach and the water is our friend, or enemy, depending on how you approach it. The last hour is where it all hangs in the balance, if you have made it this far, the first 20 minutes of the last 60 will determine if you have what it takes to go the whole hog!
For those that have had enough and simply can’t go any further, you can ring out by ringing my bell three times! You will then be DOR – Dropped On Request. You will then know exactly what your limits are both physically and mentally, but you will walk away figuring out a game plan in your head for that upcoming event!
You will also come away with some new training ideas for your club or team. I guarantee that you will enjoy the challenge but you will also find it the most difficult thing you have ever done in your life – no matter how many Ironman challenges you have completed, or even won for that matter.
Don’t believe me? Enter into the challenge on 2nd of October and find out! Online entry is available here on https://www.runireland.com/events/hwpt-4-hour-evolution-endurance-challenge and cost is 12 Euro total.
Will you be standing tall at the end, or will you ring out and fall?
