Race Horses Vs Mules
Opinion.
In Japanese distance running there’s an ingrained belief that success comes only through hard work.
Nothing wrong in that.
Their philosophy is “the more miles you can run, the better you will be”.
Feeling tired is not a valid reason to skip training or slow down. Runners are expected to follow the coaches instructions without question. And most Japanese coaches are ingrained with the belief that success comes only through hard work.
Despite being at the forefront of global tech developments the traditional approach is far from rooted in scientific understanding.
They even have a favourite word “Doryoku” (effort) and believe in the ability to persevere in the face of adversity to achieve success. Can’t say I disagree. In fact, many of the personal challenges I’ve overcome have been down to perseverance and sheer pig-headed discipline and determination.
Endurance running in Japan is on a popularity scale equivalent to the Premier league, every time there’s an Ekiden race thousands line the streets to support their universities or corporate teams.
It’s massively competitive
With their good attitude combined with hard work philosophy, why is it some of the World Records aren’t held by Japanese runners?
You’d think they’d be giving the Kenyans and Ethiopians a good run for their money. They have world class infrastructure and support for the athletes, probably the best in the World.
What’s wrong? Could it be the Race Horse culture?
The general belief is they train too much, too young. And most of them are finished by the time they reach 25yrs old! I think some Japanese coaches are beginning to see the error of this philosophy, but they’re the outliers.
It’s odd to suggest that they must train too hard. You’d think that if you can run 150m+ a week at some point you’re going to get better.
Then again, if you look at the Kenyans
They train hard as well, however, they rest a lot too. A more Hybrid approach.
In the corporate world the philsophy is similar, they would rather have race horses than mules. Have people work relentless hours. Compete, push hard last man or woman standing. I’ve been around it 25 years, nothings really changed.
All in, pedal to the metal.
When someone seeks my help, it’s the same attitude to training too. They’ve only one gear. All out. Well at least spending an inordinate amount of time pushing too hard because they think that’s the way to get better given their time constraints.
Then they break. They get injured and sick combined with chronic sleep deprivation which drives all sorts of health problems from lethargy, insidious weight gain to burn out, to poor performance when it counts.
Their autonomic nervous systems are wrecked. They expect to able to work 12-14hr days and still perform a training session. They think they are indestructible. I suppose you have to admire the determination. Except, I know how it ends.
Eventually they listen.
So what’s the point in all this.
Is there ever a good time to be a Mule. Well, yes actually. Most of the time to be honest. The best Endurance athletes in the world understand this exceptionally well. It is what makes the difference between being a Champion or not.
In running, as with work life it is important to train intelligently. And not always harder.
Here Are A Few Things Worth Knowing This Week
Movement
There’s an illusion I come across often. Mentioned it above.
“More intensity is better under time constraints”. Wrong.
Here’s what high performance endurance athletes know. It’s about sustainability, how well you perform over time. Not how well you perform over one session.
They understand every session is a building block because they are building a body to tolerate the stresses of high intensity endurance performance – over time – races are their opportunity to push it to the max.
The daily grind is where the work is done.
They are concerned with staying healthy and getting the volume in. Some call it “baking the cake” so they can “eat the cake” when it’s time to compete.
The good news is that even though you’re not a professional athlete, what they do scales down. The science proves it. Listen to this podcast with Stephen Seiler who is the creator of the Polarised Training Method if you want to get better.
Nutrition
Why you should be taking a fish oil supplement.
No healthy nutritional program is complete without a high-quality source of omega 3’s.
These fatty acids work to keep you healthy from before birth through your senior years. And your body can’t make many omega-3s on its own. So, eating fatty fish a couple times a week is one way to boost your intake.
The fats you should limit are saturated and trans-fats. Saturated fats are found in red meat, milk, butter, and cheese. They are not as harmful as trans fats but should be eaten in moderation. The good guys are monounsaturated fats found in vegetable oils, avocados, nuts, and seeds. That’s because they don’t promote arterial fat deposits.
And polyunsaturated fatty acids—especially omega-6 and omega-3—are the most beneficial to overall health. Omega-6 fatty acids are found in poultry, leafy greens, eggs, nuts, grains, and vegetable oils.
This study found that people who do prolonged, aerobic exercise have muscle cells that are able to quickly break down and reduce levels of a fat called triglycerides. Taking a fish oil supplement can reduce triglyceride levels even more.
Mindset
Performance in endurance sports relies on athletes’ drive, which is the sum of all factors pushing athletes to exert effort during exercise. Mental fatigue can influence endurance performance by decreasing athletes’ drive to exercise.
An interesting article here explores maintaining performance when mentally fatigued necessitates more effort (‘thinking harder’), or adaptive strategies: often precision on a task needs to be sacrificed for speed (or vice versa), and these strategies might not always be available during long duration exercise.
Recovery
A few years ago I went through a divorce. Before that I fought tooth and nail to save things. It didn’t work. And that’s a good thing. I was doing it for all the wrong reasons.
I endured much pain and anguish. I ended up in a much better place. And through it all I became a much more resilient person and one who was able to handle adversity much easier. Tough situations can make you do that.
Today whilst I think resilience in the face of adversity is important, I’m starting to explore the concept of becoming Anti-Fragile which I will speak too in future editions. For now, I found an excellent article from Mark Manson author of the “Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F***. It’s a different take on resilience and handling adversity. Read on.
Culture
It’s funny how serendipity works. I was noodling around trying to find something cool for this edition of Remarkable Performance. And just like that, I sat down at my computer, opened up a social media feed and this popped up.
Perfect. I think you’ll agree.
Where were you when this happened? I like most was watching from my house, jumping up and down like a lunatic, I’m sure we all were. Let me know if you just happened to be lucky enough to be there live. Enjoy.
Sharing
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