The Deadly Art of Execution
I want to start this off with the thought that how we do one thing is how we do everything ? Do you agree with that or not?
“It depends”
Imagine a school teacher with a class of 35 kids. She decides to conduct an experiment. She would give them all a piece of A4 paper and ask them to make a paper aeroplane. What happened next was amazing.
They ended up with probably 10 different versions of a paper aeroplane. Some were rushed, some looked very basic, some looked like stealth bombers, some looked like fighter jets. There was a lot of testing and refining going on.
……and this is what happens in endurance sport every day. Sometimes twice or even three times a day an athlete has a task to execute a training session. A blank canvas.
Let’s take a track run.
5 x 1km at Zone 4 on 1min rest. Pretty basic bread and butter stuff. For most athletes what pops out will reflect that too. But for the best of the best what comes out is something different.
They knew the session that had to be executed. They then looked at their zones and got some paces. They checked in with their coach on where in the zone they should work. Top ? Bottom? Middle? Build from low to high?
With this info they scoured back and found the last time they did that set and got some reference points to improve upon.
The day of the session they knew it was a highly glycolytic session so they consumed 30g of carbs on the way to the track. They had a water bottle standing by ready to use as needed. They took a gel in the middle of the main set. Then after the run they had a 4:1 carb/protein recovery shake ready to go. They knew that they could do the session without carbs but depleting their stores meant that tomorrow they are starting low and that wasn’t ideal.
After the session they looked through data and got a feel for performance. Then they posted a comment to the coach on TP giving them a feel for how the session felt and maybe even a reflection on how it could be improved next time.
The result in a session like that, treated with care and attention to detail, is profound. It adds up over time and reflects across not just your training but also your racing as well. Then it rubs off on others. Your team mates see you doing the little things so they feel comfortable doing them also. So they get better too.
We have spoken before about Jan Frodeno’s ownership of his execution but there are many stories that are similar.
Tom Brady was waiting for a shot to show his wares at training. He was 199th draft pick so wasn’t given an opportunity until it happened by chance. He had a chance to throw 2 passes. The coach told him he only had two shots so he better not waste them. This is where his work ethic took over. His attention to detail when nobody was watching now paid off. He had been practicing excellence in everything he did u til this point and when it came his time to shine it was a simple matter of executing.
Ashleigh Gentle is the same. Her ability to transfer from being an Olympian over the short course distance to becoming one of the most feared middle distance athletes in the world comes from meticulous preparation, not just chance or luck. Ashleigh practices cooling strategies, rehearses fuelling models, tests equipment. She puts herself under mental pressure every chance she gets so on race day she doesn’t have to do anything she hasn’t done in training.
A Final Tip !
Start with 3 sessions next week. Make them opportunities for excellence. Fuelling, pace control, equipment testing, post session reflections. Own the execution. Take it to the next level. Make those 3 sessions count more than you ever have..
Execute like the kids that didn’t have to but turned their piece of paper into a jet fighter.
Cheers
Coach