Training plateau – Serenity Through Sweat

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. I’ve struggled the past few weeks finding topics that I’m really excited about. I’ve also been struggling to get research done for my book project and struggled to make progress in my ironman training. It’s not that I haven’t been putting in the time, and doing these things, it just seems like there has been a relative lack of forward progress. Like I’m stuck in the doldrums.

The doldrums are nautical term dating back to the 1700’s that refers to the latitudes 5° north and south of the equator, and their relative lack of wind. Known as the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (or ITZC) this is the area where the northern latitude trade winds blowing southwest, meet up with the southern latitude trade winds blowing north east. Combined with surface heating along the equator this results in predominantly rising air rather than lateral surface winds.

Ships that got caught in the doldrums could be stranded for days or even weeks with no forward progress because of the lack of wind. The term has since been adopted beyond it’s nautical roots to mean a period of stagnation or a slump in our own individual journeys or some other external phenomena (think low sales numbers or no new music from your favorite band).

I remember learning about the concept of global atmospheric circulation in my aviation meteorology class in college. The idea that we can map out and predict the predominant weather patterns that affect our planet is pretty cool. Understanding those concepts 300 years ago is almost unfathomable to a generation that has grown up with technology.

Stagnation is a completely normal occurrence, both in a maritime and an everyday sense. The wind can be blowing at your back (a wonderful thing for cycling, running, and flying,) or it can challenge you, blowing head on (which you need to takeoff and land, and grow in general). Despite being a normal occurrence, It can be somewhat eerie when it disappears altogether.

As the name of the blog suggests I’m a person particularly predisposed to perspiration. The plight is only exaggerated in stagnant air. Detailing airplanes in a hot Florida hangar with no airflow, I would lose track of whether I was wiping up sweat or cleaning spray. I would finish cleaning an airplane and look like I just finished a wrestling match.

Stagnation can be in your mind as well. I can feel the anxiety beading up and rolling down my forehead like the sweat rivulets otherwise would when I feel stuck on a particular task or goal. Coming up with new exciting weekly topics and continuing research for my book project can definitely fall into this topic.

Regardless of how or why you experience periods of stagnation, and in spite of your ability to rationally and scientifically explain it, it is still a real drag. The doldrums can feel like a life sucking force.

Unlike those sailors caught in the middle of the ocean without wind, we have a lot more options at our disposal to combat the doldrums today. Maybe it is pivoting to a new topic or approach, maybe it is taking a break to return refreshed. As we’ve talked about on this platform before, there is value to be gained in pushing through a stagnant point in training even if it is only mental.

I’m trying to put one foot in front of the other, and one more mile together after the last one. Trying to string together words that reflect my own thoughts and feelings, and hopefully provide something of value to you and your own journey. The winds will rise again at some point, and when they do, I’ll reflect on my plateaus and stagnation points as I breeze by. The path to serenity isn’t one of linear progression, but no path worth taking is.

Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.

There are a ton of different workouts that make up an effective training program. My Ironman training program consisted of runs, rides, and swims of different varieties including: low impact, interval, endurance, and time trial. Each of these individual workouts has their own important place in the training program and each one has smaller goals and benchmarks associated with it. My favorite goal that spanned across all those workouts, and the one that I find myself coming back to, is embracing “middle miles”

It is human nature to take large complex problems and break them down into smaller manageable chunks. Most of us are generally excited to start a new project or training plan, and approach it with that level of enthusiasm and focus. And, most of us can find that little extra in the tank when we see the finish line ahead. But the “middle miles” when the honeymoon period has worn off but before the finish line is in sight is an easy place to get lost or lose focus in.

The middle miles represent the most challenging part of the activity, but also the most rewarding. The Zen or flow state that runners talk about, that’s only available in the middle miles. But, that state is only available if you can maintain focus and form throughout those middle miles. When new personal records are set, it’s almost always improvement in the middle miles that drives those new records, because there is the most room to improve.

Embracing middle miles can apply to activities outside of fitness as well. That college course, that home construction job, that new project at work, potty training toddlers, are all subject to doldrums in the middle. Embracing that plateau and leaning in to it in the middle is a great way to push through and keep making progress or even breakthroughs.

Next time you find yourself in a training plateau, or you are dragging through a work project, try to embrace those “middle miles” and refocus your effort. There is Serenity to be found in all parts of our life, sometimes it’s just requires a little more focus than others.

Thanks for joining me and stay sweaty my friends

Tag: Training plateau

Doldrums

Embrace the Middle Miles