Respect the process.
Over Memorial Day weekend, I drove to northern New York to run the Patch Sprint. I wrote about the race last year. The spirit and camaraderie of all those who’ve camped at Pok-o-MacCready is just really impressive, and I tried to catch that in the video below.
I won’t re-hash this year’s race, but I wanted to reiterate an important point. Last year, I won my age group. This year, I went eight minutes faster, but someone else won. A lesser result masked a better performance. Again, having multiple goals is great for keeping you focused and motivated.
After last year’s Patch Sprint, I crashed and burned by not allowing myself adequate recovery. I lost eight weeks of valuable training time and had to work myself back into hard training gradually. Constantly grinding away results in overtraining and poor results.
If you’re working towards a 1-rep max goal for squats, celebrate the milestones you hit on the way. Looking to lose 30 pounds? Honor yourself when those first 10 pounds come off.
Look at a long term goal as a journey. You may very well hit some potholes or traffic on the highway; just the same, you may encounter setbacks to achieving your fitness goals. It’s important to be patient, regroup, and move forward.
Respect the process, achieve results!