By Coach Troy Jacobson

"Going to the Well once to often." is a phrase with 14th Century origins that is essentially a warning against pushing one's luck too far. This phrase can be accurately applied to the triathlete who schedules a demanding and rigorous training and racing schedule with expectations of achieving a peak performance at each event. Many times, these highly motivated and focused athletes fall short of their goals, not realizing the root cause is that they have 'Gone to the well once to often' and can't 'reach down deep' again until they get recharged mentally and emotionally.

Triathlon is a sport of extreme suffering. As any accomplished triathlete knows, one needs to develop the ability to stay at or near their pain threshold for an entire race if they wish to be competitive and realize their potential. Some athletes are masters at this race-day suffering while others never really figure it out and never truly achieve peak performance on race day.

Physiologically, an athlete can 'peak' once or twice in a year, depending on the design of their training regimen. Similarly from a psychological perspective, an athlete can only 'Go to the Well' on a limited basis each year too. The key to having a successful season is to learn how far you can push yourself as well as how many times you can 'Go to the Well' at important events and learn how many times you can do it each season.

Related Articles

·  12 Week Duathlon Training Program for Beginners ·  Race Selection - Choose Carefully for Better Results!