Biting Off A Bigger Chunk

An update on my training, goals and how it applies to you.

It’s not been long since my last training update, but a lot can happen in a short time. Things had been tracking along towards my goal in a non-linear manner. Many ups and downs had arisen along the way, but progress was gradually occuring. Nonetheless, something felt a little off.

My goal, for nearly the last two years, has been to deadlift 300kg and run a Sub 3 hour marathon. The specific details in terms of timeline and execution were left somewhat open-ended as my training, and the associated sensations and confidence, would determine what was both realistic and appealing. I’d settled on the concept of deadlifting the 300 in the afternoon prior to running an official marathon the following morning.

It’s very unlikely that a suitable powerlifting meet would happen on the exact day prior to an official marathon, in the same city, on the same weekend. Given that I’ve deadlifted 320kg in competition previously and that 300kg is seven 20kg plates either side of a 20kg barbell - it seemed to me that exchanging some of the deadlift veracity for the benefit of an official marathon would be the better choice. Additionally, the logistics of a self-arranged marathon are more complicated (the course and hydration in particular), in addition to the result being more disputable.

The reason to do the deadlift the day prior is that it’d be close enough to the marathon to properly demonstrate concurrent abilities, but also because marathons in Australia almost always have a start time that’s earlier than 7am and typically closer to 6am. It seemed to me that the most impressive version of the combo-feat would be doing both on the same day, but that the early marathon start time rendered it impossible. Perhaps not impossible, but far more onerous. It would take a challenge that was already lofty and make it stratospheric.

Nevertheless, there was something about the clarity of the same-day goal that made it appealing and the more I thought about it the more attractive it became. When I thought about performances that I could reflect on with pride, the achievement of a 300kg deadlift and Sub 3 hour marathon on the same day carried far more weight than doing both on the same weekend. In the consciousness of others, and my own, it made far more sense.

And although there was added complexity, there was also certain increases in simplicity. Throughout my training thus far I’d been managing twice weekly variations of deadlifting one day and then running hard the next. The net outcome was that I had 4 days a week I needed to be ‘on’. I couldn’t say these were all hard days, but there was some level of arousal required. The consequence was that there would therefore be 3 days allotted to steadier efforts, easier training or rest. Each of those days was also primarily functioning as a delta between the more significant sessions and therefor limited. In summary, the balance of stimulus and adaptation was slightly off.

One aspect of pursuing concurrent non-complementary goals that must be accounted for is the consolidation of stressors. The core principle being that the body has limited recovery capacity, thus it is wise to consolidate your biggest training stressors onto the same days instead of spreading them out. This creates days that are harder, but also allows more space for recovery.

The concept makes sense and is how I arranged my training for the RowErg 1000m World Record, but it’s not without its compromises. When your training deadlifts are always followed by hard and/or long runs there’s no doubt an adverse influence on your ability to adapt and improve your deadlift strength. The nature of this and other concurrent/hybrid goals will always obligate compromises, so you may as well choose yours consciously.

After some days contemplating the goal and the requisite training process it became obvious that the same day pursuit was now my chosen objective. Does this make the goal harder? Yes. Is it more appealing? Also yes.

The Implications For You And Your Goals

Your goal must be compelling - to you

Occasionally I’m asked by someone what I think of the goal(s) they are contemplating pursuing. They’re also generally not asking about whether or not I think the goal achievable for them, but rather how I think about the goal itself. It’s a tricky thing to respond to because what I think of the goal isn’t especially relevant. My thoughts won’t be there to support them when the going gets tough.

What really matters is your opinion. Is the goal compelling to you? Is it something that creates enough enthusiasm to both plan the process, do all the hard work and then execute the performance? If not, then it might not be the right goal for you, now.