Having spent several years of my life doing countless hours of running, swimming and cycling alongside professional athletes, certain things became clear in how they operate.
One of the things that stood out for me was how they set up routines and the nature of their routines.
For a lot of these guys (some of whom went on to the world stage and even won world titles), their life was built around chunked time and routines. Everything (and everyone) else fit around this routine of training and recovery.
I can still remember it like it was yesterday:
Monday was 25-30km long run in the morning, swim in the evening
Tuesday was ride in the morning, light run later
Wednesday was swim and run and a massage
Thursday was bike (time-trial efforts) and then rest
Friday swim and run
Saturday long bike, with run later
Sunday rest
Now, here’s the thing. The routines were only lightly fixed.
When they were in each time chunk or activity, it was purely the focus. BUT, if the routine as a whole wasn’t working (based on rolling performance reviews, sleep, fatigue, training performance, recovery), then it was quickly adjusted. The adjustment process was fast, flexible and even a little ruthless.
For those of us specialising in one area, we can learn a huge amount from athletes. Focused time chunking, sticking to the routine, but having the ability to pivot and evolve are sought after attributes.
These three things keep us focused, on task, productive, but not overly attached and constantly evolving.
