I thought this would be a good time to give an update on Lathan and his progress.
He’s about 4 weeks into a 12-week phase, that started with two weeks of Ramp, and now into Build phase. The first two weeks allowed him to get used to training with a coach and get into a routine and allowed me to really understand him and learn from his feedback to make the Build phase better.
But instead of me telling you how it’s going, I figured it’d be better to just let him do it.
“And, they [the new Build workouts], were, hard. Importantly, they felt hard in a smart way, and not hard in a ‘workout till you’re tired’ way (which was my motto in the past.) It felt like I could actually tell what the goal of the session was instead of just trying to survive it.
Before, a lot of my training just felt like I was pushing until I was tired and assuming that meant it was working. This felt different.”
“I’ve already learned a lot about managing fatigue, and not letting it build up to the point where everything just feels equally hard. Before, I feel like I would hit that point a lot and just assume that was what training was supposed to feel like.”
“But this felt different. I could actually tell when I was getting tired in a way that wasn’t useful, and when I was still working productively. I didn’t feel like I had to just push through everything.”
“I felt like I was working on the right things, and that I was stopping at a point where I could come back and do it again better, instead of just digging a hole.”
We all already know this at some level. We know backing off is the right move. It’s logical. But in the middle of a session, we’re fighting decades of the opposite mentality. The voice in our head says, "if you don't do this, you’ll be weaker, lose your gains, or just need to toughen up." It’s a narrative rooted in fear and guilt. In fact, backing off today doesn't change months of good training; it keeps you from burning out or stagnating.
I'm happy Lathan is seeing that in real time—not looking back, but while it’s happening. He’s recognizing when something is productive and actually acting on it. An extremely valuable lesson in any sport, whether you’re an elite athlete or anyone just wanting to add healthy, productive years to to their life.
It reminds me of what a mentor told in college used to say: “Coaching is the art of applying the science at the right time to produce a positive effect in the client.”
I’m excited to see what Lathan is capable of, and how his road to 5.14 unfolds, and happy to share a small part of his journey with him.
Small tweaks.
Big improvements.