Less Pleasant

Not fun training today. Yesterday I wrote about the grind and how it is important to persevere with those sessions, because it is by working through the hard days (as well as the good days) that we build success. But boy, some days that isn't very fun.

Yesterday training was a grind because the weather was average and I was fatigued. Today graduated from a grind to plain unpleasant as the conditions went from average to properly horrible. Unnice.

The question is, did I get value from the session? Grinding through a tough session yesterday undoubtably gave value. It was hard but there was a definite fitness benefit. With this morning's session that distinction was less obvious. Was there fitness benefit? Yes. Could I have done more effective training elsewhere? Possibly a yes on that one too.

That is yet another tricky thing with training, getting that balance right. Knowing when to persevere with training and when instead to change tack and do something else instead. With triathlon you might go for a run or a swim instead of a ride in a storm (or ride on a trainer). In other sports you might do an indoor cross training session during bad weather or find a treadmill etc. There is no easy, right answer, however, my general rule is that if the weather is bad enough that it is going to impact the quality of session execution, then it is time to think of something else. I didn't realise it beforehand, but the session this morning was right on the edge of that line.

Whether you execute the session as planned or whether you elect to do another form of training, one thing is for sure, you are still ahead of those that took the easy option and stayed in bed.