Finally …. found the time for a new post.

Absolutely right…….I have been slacking on my posts.

The reason is, as you maybe guessed:  lack of time. Since a few months I started coaching a young athlete again, so I spent time out on the track after 14 years, but, as things go sometimes, another athlete joined me and so I spent even more time on the track again.

Also my (our) new book just finally found its way to the editor/publisher and while organizing our regular seminars, I decided to combine it with a Masterclass as well and then go to training camp abroad with my new athletes.  More about this in the next posts.

All of this besides my “normal” work at Vortx, and the normal share of interviews, lectures and podcasts (e.g. World Speed Seminar)

Being back on the track more frequently is time consuming, but great. It also pushes you back into the harsh reality of sport. Concepts, ideas, protocols are going to be tested in real life. Ideas that might sound promising, tools that seem to work miracles (at least on paper) or concepts that seem to make sense now face the hour of truth. Patience is a great asset, if you have it. If you don’t have it, find it or learn to get it, from somewhere.

In Holland we don’t have accessible (and affordable) indoor facilities for training, I am not willing to pay $35 an hour. And just like when I was an athlete myself, 40 years ago, until recently, I had to climb fences and gates again in order to train on a track, the difference is that I now have to use a ladder.

For my two new athletes I think in terms of 5-6 years, not about the competition next week or month. I am not in a hurry and time is on my side. We are not blinded by the fact that the next championship is in 10 weeks, I know I only have 8 or 9 weeks to do my job. It also helps to leave a lot of anxiety-driven-load out of my program, saving time, physical and mental resources, recovery time and reduces the risk of injuries.

These athletes are also kind of “guinea-pigs” for my concepts of training. The goal is to make their training more efficient and effective, while reducing the risk of overload and injuries. Yes, indeed, you guessed it…….. train as much as necessary (to improve), not as much as possible.

In the next posts in the coming days, I will share some of my experiences of the last two months.

 

 

 

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