So says Brad Kearns. A former top professional triathlete and author of Breakthrough Triathlon Training, Kearns kindly agreed to answer a few questions on the subject of intuition and its positive effect on endurance training at all levels.
Nature Gym: You are a firm believer in intuitive training for endurance sports. Have you encountered difficulties in getting this message across to the athletes that you coach?
Brad Kearns: Yes I have had difficulty. Endurance sports attract highly motivated, goal oriented, Type-A people. The tendency is to apply the same success formula they use to get a law degree or close the deal or rise up the corporate ladder to their bodies in training. The attributes of discipline and motivation to get out there and train and push the body are overrated. The endurance athlete who restrains competitive instinct, harnesses energy carefully and strategically, and takes what the body gives them each day and nothing more will be more successful than the one driven by the “reptilian” part of the brain.
NG: As a pro triathlete, was there a turning point in your career that made you embrace intuition?
BK: The turning point was flying home from the 1988 World Cup Triathlon on the Gold Coast of Australia in a body bag, totally exhausted after a DNF result. It was the richest race in the history of the sport and a simply average performance would have been well rewarded. I was coming off the most outstanding training period of my life - 8 weeks of heavy, heavy mileage and some excellent quality efforts that had brought me to a higher fitness level than ever before. Alas, I was exhausted for about 8 weeks since the effort was beyond what was reasonable. Buoyed by stress hormones flowing through my bloodstream, I "felt" fantastic each day, but I was only using instinct, not reason. Humans are at the top of the food chain because they have the ability to reason as well as use instinct. I realized that will power and competitive instinct could override reason and intuition if I was not careful. This was a turning point in my career because after that I realized that not only did I have to "listen to my body", but also to reason with my mind and my body.
Many endurance athletes are familiar with the first refrain. They slow down if their knee hurts or take a day off if they have flu-like symptoms. This is only scratching the surface of what it means to be a complete, intuitive, reasonable and patient athlete. There is a cool flip side to this too. I've talked mostly about restraint and overtraining so far. But when you train intuitively you can also go for new heights when you feel it is the right time.
I started my pro career in Los Angeles in tandem with Andrew MacNaughton. His work ethic was astounding and it helped me reframe my perspective about what the body could do and what it meant to be a professional. Part of his routine was to ride at least 40 miles every day. Not hard, but to put that base in so one could perform well on longer or faster rides. I did some training in Los Angeles with Johnny G, RAAM finisher and creator of the Spinning indoor cycling program. As an Olympic distance triathlete, I believed that 100 miles was a long bike ride. I would go pedal 100 miles, congratulate myself on the great effort and go home and eat. When Johnny took me for some 200 mile rides I reframed my perspective about what was a "long" ride such that 100 miles seemed different in my mind. The 40km competitive distance felt like a sprint in comparison.
"Mile breakdown" on the running track ensured Kearns defeated the biggest names in the sport of triathlon with 32 minute 10km splits. Lots of rest helped too. (Pic. courtesy Brad Kearns)
A regimented athlete obsessed with reaching a weekly mileage total, pushing a tired body out the door for the sake of consistency, and so forth would not have the reserve or the positive spirit to tackle a 200 mile ride. They would discover a cracking point somewhere out on the road because the mind is so rigid. By the way, on a couple occasions of those long rides with Johnny G my mind and body became fatigued and it was pretty tough. However, Iooking over at Johnny and realizing that he had ridden all night for 12 hours before joining me in the morning for the other half of his 24-hour session helped me put my own fatigue into perspective. Hard to complain about a sore butt when your riding partner is falling asleep at the wheel next to you!
NG: What is your definition of Key Workouts? How can an amateur athlete apply these principles to their own athletic career?
BK: A Key Workout is one where you push and challenge your body to attain a higher fitness level. A 200-mile ride would do the trick, or an intense track workout - whatever.
NG: Could you describe some of your own Key Workouts and their benefits while competing as a pro triathlete?
BK: The first was in December of 1986 before the biggest race of my life, a rematch versus #1 ranked triathlete Scott Molina and #1 duathlete Kenny Souza at Palm Springs duathlon world championship series. I'd upset them in the first race of series as unknown rookie. They were gunning for me at race #2 and I was scared and nervous and stressed about each workout. I decided to just blow things out one day so I did a solo time-trial from my home in Los Angeles to Barstow in the middle of the Mojave desert. 140 miles in 7 hours flat. After that single workout I realized that I could compete with anyone and I became relaxed. 10 days later I won the race by 5 minutes and it was a good launching point for a 9 year pro career.
Here are a couple other memorable workouts that I remember 20 years later!
- Bike 200 miles with final 18-miles all-out time trial with Johnny G.
- "Mile breakdown" on the track following behind #1 ranked high school runner in the nation, hitting 68-second per 400 meter pace (4:32, 3:24, 2:16, 68)
- Swim three masters workouts in a row with the late Don Weaver, Northern California triathlon legend, totaling about 10,000 meters (he arrived early to warm-up and did around 12,000; the king of one-upsmanship!)
- Cycle 140 miles over the Sierra to Lake Tahoe, hilly 18-mile trail run the following day with Andrew MacNaughton and Olympic swim coach Bud McAllister
NG: What should an athlete do "training-wise" in between Key Workout days?
BK: In my case my breakthrough on the circuit came in 1991 when I won Bud Light USTS series/Coke Grand Prix title, national sprint championship, ITU Pan American championship and had 7 wins in a row. The change I made in training was to go longer on my Key Workout days and rest more on off days. My coach Mark Sisson, currently guru of the Primal lifestyle movement, inspired me focus on what I could do on my best days instead of worry about every single day of consistent training.
This was helpful to me because my peers did more training than I did. I could never compare to Mike Pigg or Kenny Souza training week, but on my best day I could put in a good Key Workout to prepare me for racing.
So, instead of Tuesday long ride being 5 hours (with 40 min run and 2500 swim) and Wednesday being 40 min run, 3000 swim and 2 hour ride) I did:
Tuesday ride 8 hours in the Sierras, run 20 minutes
Wednesday sleep till 10 am, get massage, rent several movies and watch all afternoon and evening. Maybe swim 1000m.
That two-day pattern is just a snapshot but I think readers will get the point.
Today, Kearns' athletic endeavors are more esoteric. High jumping and 100m sprints are two of his sporting pursuits as a retired professional athlete. (Pic. courtesy Brad Kearns)
NG: What kind of Key Workouts do you perform these days?
BK: I am following the Primal Blueprint fitness principles and pursuing a more balanced state of fitness than when I was a competitive endurance athlete. My main goals today are to qualify for national masters championships in the 100m sprint and high jump. My high jump of 5'6" would rank 9th in the 45-49 division. I also aspire to continue to dominate 8th graders in basketball so I do workouts that prepare me for these goals. I have essentially ceased any sort of endurance training. My longest endurance workout is a 20 minute run with my dog at a jogging pace.
http://www.bradkearns.com/
