Commitment

It's easy to say, right? You need commitment to whatever you are trying to do. Whether it be your job, your studies or sport, there needs to be a plan and there needs to be 100% behind that plan.

The issue for most of us is that we deviate at some point from whatever that plan is. We try to cut corners or we struggle to believe that there isn't a better way. With sport, it is very obvious. Athletes that believe in their plans and their coaches are some of the most successful. I've always been surprised at how often and how rapidly athletes switch coaches or alter their race schedule or even their goals. If nothing else, unless you see something to its fruition, there is no way to understand what went wrong. I will say this, if you have given 100% to something and it didn't work, step back and try something else.

I see it all the time in swimming. Speed is power. Turnover is a limited factor in the ability to go fast. You can only move your hands so quickly and at some point you are at the ceiling. Power is what allows for speed and if you have it and then can turn it over, you will truly progress. However, here is the issue...it doesn't FEEL fast. It is hard to let a slower turnover and more power in the stroke work because it feels slow and it takes time in training to develop. Many times, particularly in hard training or racing, I see people go back to the old habits and then wonder what went wrong. Patience is the key.

This is true in training too. Neal Henderson and all of us at Apex are huge proponents that zone 1 and 2 training is the key to getting faster. But how hard is it to spend 80% of your time cruising and accept that this will be enough to make you faster. It works, but it seems counter-intuitive. In the end it makes complete sense, but it doesn't FEEL right.

Be steadfast in your commitments my friends. See them out to their end and trust them. The most dangerous thing to do is a little of one plan and a little of another. There is no better way to create a lot of wrong.