For those of you who are doing structured training plans, both newbies and oldbies(?), wondering if any of the principles of structured training have permeated into your non-cycling life, both by conscious choice and/or organic osmosis.
For example, are you now more productive or more organized or more/less…???
I think it has.
I am much more focused on achieving goals since starting with TrainerRoad. I have never been good at setting and working towards goals. But since I started TrainerRoad, I am really focused on achieving process goals by making sure I complete every week’s workouts according to the plan. I am not too concerned about my A-Race (Outcome Goal) because I am confident that if I achieve all the process goals along the way, the A-Race goal will take care of itself.
I am applying this way of thinking and doing into other areas of my life mainly in my work environment to get things done better, faster and more efficiently and in my studies (I am also studying via correspondence and it takes A LOT of self motivation!)
This has also been applied to my diet and eating habits as they go hand in hand with my weekly training goals and eventual A-Race goal
So yes, structured training has benefited me in other areas of my life…
For me the benefit has been an increased ability to plan for long term goals. After a few seasons training, one tends to find that everything can be broken into Base - Build - Specialty phases!
Major changes in all areas since I moved to long distance tri. Always had some element of structured training, but at 10hours per week it takes more than just following the plan. I plan my days and weeks better out of pure necessity. With a kid, my wife and I both working full time corporate jobs and some commuting I sometimes plan my days to the last 1/4 hour. I appreciate down time. I read less and hardly watch TV anymore. I am much more concerned with food and sleep and have become much better at both. Having to squeeze workouts into business trips has led me to appreciate new cities more and I now make it a habit to get at least one run in wherever I go.
And I am extremely lucky that a good share of my friends are endurance athletes as well with whom I can ride or run together, otherwise my social life would be a total wreck.
I’ve always thrived on having routines, both macro (annual patterns of work and holiday) and micro (e.g. my “coming home from work and getting on the turbo” routine or my “post winter-ride recovery nutrition, bike wash, and shower” routine. So a structured training plan fits quite well for me.
However I’m the main food provider in my relationship alongside working full time. So I’ve had to get VERY organised to make sure that I get fit and he gets fed. That means making a meal plan every Friday (double-checking both our diaries for any other engagements to be factored in) and ordering online groceries to arrive every Sunday. I then make double portions on Saturdays and Sundays so that Tuesdays and Thursdays are simple reheats of those meals.
Hey,
Biggest thing I’ve learnt is at the end of your day, setting yourself up for success for tomorrow.
So as a full time single Dad and a triathlete, I found getting as much done/planned the night before each day makes a huge difference e.g. bags packed, uniforms out, meals in fridge ready to go etc.
Batch cooking is a must too! It allows more digestion time once we get home from the school run as we get to eat sooner, once the little one goes to sleep I can hit the turbo!
Cheerio,
Rich
There are a lot of positive changes I’ve seen in normal life from endurance training. Many of which have already been mentioned.
But the biggest one for me has been to realise the importance of consistency. In everything. Whether it’s training, relationships, learning a language or building a business, I keep telling myself to put in the work, be patient, and trust that with consistently applied work (hopefully carefully considered to be the right kind of work) results will follow.
Definitely much less productive, but that’s mostly to do with forum.trainerroad.com I think.
I work on many long-term projects and naturally have to plan for them. improving on planning/structure is a constant process. by experiencing the same in training, there is certainly cross-pollination between the two and I can take examples of one to the other discipline.
training also reinforced some ways of living and has added extra purpose to stuff I was doing already (sleep/food).
most important impact on work/life has been that I choose to spend my evening training instead of going to a bar 
It’s a long story so I won’t get into it but August 2018 I had a revelation that let me get out of a hole I buried myself in with depression. The best weapon anyone can have in their arsenal is consistency. The first day is always the hardest.
Consistency will lead to habitual behaviour, next thing you know you’re on autopilot and it’s no longer a challenge to get up early on the weekend. You actually want to do it.
That’s of course using cycling as an example but since getting on top of one aspect of my life I’ve noticed improvements in mood, my place is always clean, more confident and I have more financial security.
In a way cycling saved me from myself
I was already extremely organized before structured training. I love having a plan and following it in all aspects of life. For example, I would be playing a PC game and when I would load up I’d be making my plan of “I’m going to do A, B, C”.
Honestly, it’s almost to a determent because now I struggle with pushing myself to ride outdoors when the weather isn’t perfect because I hate going off plan.
I have rough, frenetic, sado-masochistic sex on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
On Wednesdays we just cuddle.
Our safe word is “backpedal”.
Structured training helps people grow in the areas of ambition, grit, good habits and flow. I believe these are key areas to success in life as people who embrace these principles tend to do well in other areas. The four books in these areas I recommend are:
It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be by Paul Arden
Grit by Angela Duckworth
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
Finding Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
The question was if any of the principles of structured training have permeated into your non-cycling life…permeated, not penetrated!
That’s a paincave for an entirely different forum.
For sure, I think most of us are more disciplined and patient than others. Have you ever been with non-athletes who expect immediate results on anything they try (or thinking 8am is early). I sound like an elitest douche; mostly thinking of my circle of friends & SO; it’s easier to plan long term on beneficial habits.
Yeah…seems like I am always watching the clock tick away ever so slowly…whether it be doing intervals or at work.