In this episode, we do a deep dive on what we consider to be the endurance athlete’s most valuable trait: durability. Sub-topics include: what durability means in an endurance sport context, how to build physical and mental durability, why optimizing for leanness instead of durability is a recipe for disaster, what happens if you don’t have durability, and how to know if you are durable or not. We also share the story of one of our most durability-inspired adventures: running Maine’s 100 Mile Wilderness in 3 days back in 2022. Finally, we share some recent insights from coaching and training, answer more listener questions on swimming, and share some of our favorite Vermont-born gear!
New segment — weekly coaching & training insights:
As we move into harder, longer workouts, fueling is key. I’m seeing that in my Nordic ski sessions which by nature include a lot of tempo and threshold work. We have left the comfort of the fat burning Zone 2 work. Hard work requires carbs!
My recent California 80 mile / 8500 elevation ride was a big lesson. Not fueling enough after with suppressed appetite, ended up waking up starving in the middle of the night and my body was in freak out mode. Haven’t had that happen in a long time because we got out of practice (haven’t done a big day like this since Kona) but you need to be taking in carbs like you would for a race to execute these mega days successfully.
Exercise snacks: 30’ runs and bikes are perfect to get us consistent and maintain a level of fitness. When you are struggling, mid winter exercise snacks might be the answer and bridge to warmer and sunnier days when your motivation returns.
Katie: This is jumping ahead to listener Qs, but an athlete asked me this week about whether she should be trying to hit 10k steps per day as she is very sedentary outside of IM training. I recommended mobility work and short walks to keep things loose but no need to be systematic about it (ie a day with a swim and bike where you don’t get 10k steps != a day where your only activity is a 6 mi run, so it’s a bit of an arbitrary cutoff unless you’re counting non workout steps, and you already count enough!) One recommendation is EC Fit 20 min mobility workouts
Some thoughts on big goals:
Big goals are often why we have chosen endurance sports and we welcome them. Dream big. You can accomplish more than what you think. There is a narrative we all tell ourselves about what kind of athlete we are. We have an internal dialogue that is often limiting. But with months and years of proper training we will rewrite that narrative because we far exceeded our expectations. Big goals with proper training are life changing. It is a very powerful medicine!
Katie: Never EVER would have believed I could go to Ironman World Championship 3x when I couldn’t swim across the pool. By consistently stacking bricks in the foundation (metaphorical and literal bricks!), big dreams start to become reality. ANYONE can do this.
When you proclaim big goals, you strongly signal to yourself, family, friends and your coach that you are all in. Again, dream big, be bold. Let’s GO! And if you choose this path, as coaches we will hold you accountable because we are being held accountable by you. If you skip key workouts, regularly go off plan, if you take a week off during the specific prep block because you made other recreational choices, our job is to step in and point out the inconsistencies between your pronouncements and your actions.
As coaches we want to ensure that your big goals are backed up by consistent, mindful and patient action. We want to separate fantasy and ground our training and thinking in reality.
Katie: And if your goals don’t materialize, that crew will support you just as much. It stings a little, but even trying to reach a goal and not getting all the way there can be a huge learning process. (We will do another episode on failure and resiliency!)
Patience always wins in an impatient world.
Coaching is about being gentle, precise and honest. Gentle because we have a person first, athlete second coaching philosophy. Precise because training is about applying the right workouts at the right time to get a specific result. And honest because we are partners in helping you live up to what you said are your goals. Are you executing on the commitments you made to yourself, your family and your coach? We are here to help you answer and guide you through that question and process.
Additional lesson from Katie - process goals over outcome goals all the way. Outcome goals are too far out of your control and should always be secondary to process goals. And you can have as many process goals as you want.
Durability Main Content
As coaches we train endurance athletes for many traits - speed, power, aerobic and metabolic efficiency, lactate tolerance, VO2 max, dedication and grit - but the one that we value most and try to build in our athletes and in ourselves is Durability.
What is durability and what does it mean to be durable?
Durability means: you can tackle really big days in adverse conditions, and not only survive but thrive. And you bounce back even stronger afterwards.
Durability is also in context: Your big day may be someone’s moderate day or vice versa.
Physically, you don’t often: get cold, get overuse injuries, get sick, bonk, etc. You become known among your friends as being someone they can really count on to stay clear headed and strong when the adventure gets hard or goes sideways.
Mentally, you are confident and relaxed before and during big days, and you know how to push through when you are deep in the pain cave. Your ability to keep cool and logical during an adventure helps lead others to the finish.
Important: Optimizing for leanness is not optimizing for durability; we do not optimize for leanness because that’s a shortcut to disaster.
How do you build durability?
Starts with stacking a lot of small workouts, month after month, year after year, building that huge aerobic base.
If you are just starting your fitness journey, training for any distance race is the best starting point on your durability quest.
Ironman training is a perfect way to build durability. (Jim: tell story of new athlete worrying about IM training making them slow).
In race context: Big Days / Race Simulation Weekends.
Big days outside (of many forms): trail running, mega hike, biking, even hunting day (Jim), etc., especially in adverse weather conditions.
And wear/bring proper gear -- we don’t believe in handicapping to build durability. Set yourself up for the best chance of success
Fuel your activity really well -- you never want to be on the ‘edge’ of low energy availability
Strength train (and organic strength training via hill climbing, weighted carries
Incorporate lots of movement - exercise snacks - into your day besides training (10K steps, stacking wood, up and down stairs, etc.)
On the mental side -- do things that seem intimidating, push your boundaries or scare you and practice pushing through when the going gets tough. Start with small challenges and build from there. Examples: add one more big hill at the end of a long run or bike, swim another 500 yards. If you’re not an early morning person, get up early and tackle a workout.
What happens if you don’t have durability?
You will inevitably get: at best, not faster, and at worst: injured, sick, burnt out
You will be cold all of the time (anecdote: Katie originally not a very durable athlete; turned around on Madison because too cold first time going into Whites)
You will get injured a lot / not able to sustain big days, even if you have 1-2 good races
How do you know if you are durable?
You can roll into big adventures on little preparedness and trust your body to handle the load
You are sleeping well, your HRV is up, your resting HR is down, you don’t get sick often or easily; women -- regular cycle
You feel calm and confident going into big days or races; good mindset; while pre-race nerves are common, they don’t cripple you or impact your performance
You don’t bonk often and can sustain hard efforts late in the day as well as early in the day
Summary: If your goal is longevity and joy in sport (and the ability to do literally whatever you want whenever you want in the outdoors), your focus has to be durability
Story of the 100 Mile Wilderness Express and Durability.
Listener Questions:
When swimming should I do bilateral breathing? You should know how to breathe on both sides but we highly recommend picking the side you feel most comfortable breathing and take a breath every two strokes. This gives you the most oxygen and works best when incorporating open water sighting.
Why do I get exhausted swimming? Most triathlon training is front the hip down - think run and biking. Upper body fitness is hard to get unless you do upper body like swimming. Swimming fitness is very specific.
Are the swim yards listed in your swim workouts exact? No. Consider them a guide. Everyone should develop their own warmup routine that is 10’ - 15’ long, anywhere from 500 - 1000 yards. Then focus on executing the Main Set. Quick cool down and you’re done. Don’t fret the yards or even paces this time of year. The win is getting to the pool and getting in the water!
Should I wear my HR strap in the pool? Does HR matter? No and No. Don’t be that triathlete wearing a chest HR strap in the pool. We don’t look at HR data and not even sure how reliable it is in the pool. What you should work on is developing at least three speeds: easy, moderate and fast.
Gear Pick of the Week:
Jim: Darn Tough Men's Fastpack Micro Crew Lightweight Hiking Sock
Katie: Skida headbands/hats/buffs