Present you vs Future you: who wins?

I was in the middle of a conversation with one of my food coaching clients a few days ago, when I just felt the need to stop and congratulate him.

That’s because, by looking at the way he trains, eats, sleeps, and all the smaller or bigger habits that he does consistently, his lifestyle is starting to look more like an athlete’s than that of an average recreational runner.

It’s not perfect, but trust me that he is taking much better care of himself and being more consistent in his trainings than runners with much more experience and better results.

Of course, he doesn’t train at the pace of a pro athlete, that wouldn’t make sense now (it would actually hurt him and his goals if he even tried). But he’s challenging himself constantly, according to his abilities, and social, work, and family life, and that’s what matters. Also, he might not keep the same compliance over the entire year, but he knows that he can.

However, most of us find it difficult to align what we are doing now with where we want to get. I sometimes have to remind some people that, even though they want to drop 10 kilos, they are eating as if they had 20 kilos extra. Two different sides of the same person.

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Overcomplicating or getting even better at what you do

There’s a rather uncommon approach in running training that I’ve read about recently. It’s uncommon because it’s exactly the opposite of what most coaches tell their athletes to do.

When someone starts training and usually has a goal race in mind that’s taking place some 6-8-10 months later, the coach will have them do longer and easier runs. Volume. That’s because they need to create an aerobic base and prepare their bodies for the speed work that’s coming next, as the race gets closer.

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Pau Capell: I always put family before running

Just a few days ago, the Catalan ultrarunner Pau Capell defended his title in Transgrancanaria, with an amazing victory in the 125km with 7500m elevation race, finishing it in 12h 42min 08s.

I was lucky enough to have him answer a few questions about how he trains his body, his mind, and his nutrition to achieve such performances. His beliefs reveal the importance of the emotional balance that maybe we don’t often realize is that important for ultra runners who seem to focus only on spartan trainings and nothing more. It turns out that his personal life plays a decisive role in his performance and it’s something he advises all runners to prioritize. 

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