Make every session count

I'm still reading the back-posts on Ron Lugbill's whitewater slalom blog, and new posts are appearing frequently.

One of the recurring topics on the blog is that of the importance of quality in all training sessions.  In his most recent post on the topic, Lugbill says,

Your goal should be to have excellent runs in practice.  Training is not about just some physical conditioning to train a particular energy system.  Training is about learning to have top quality runs so you will have top quality runs in competitions.

If for some reason, you cannot have quality runs in practice, you are better off not training than to practice having poor runs.  Wait for another time or another day to practice when you can do quality runs.

If you are too tired, in such a bad mood, sick, have bad equipment, or for some reason you are not up to having a top quality practice, then you should not go out and just do poor runs for the sake of conditioning.  Rest, fix your boat, do what you need to in order to get yourself ready to have good quality runs.  And only then should you go out and train.

Even though I'm not really racing slalom anymore,  I try to make every session a good session.  In flatwater/open water racing, it might not be as obvious what constitutes a good session as in slalom, where you know you're doing well if you're having good crisp runs without all the poles swinging behind you.  But just remember the main objective: propelling the boat forward as fast as you can.  That means taking nice fluid strokes with full rotation, and keeping your boat quiet (i.e., not rocking or bobbing the boat).

That's what I try to do every time I get in my boat, whether I'm doing an excruciating set of lactic intervals or just paddling around with my nieces and nephews.  If I let myself get sloppy at times like those, there's no reason to think I won't be sloppy when I race.

And I think this counts for out-of-the-boat sessions as well.  Two or three times in the past I've referred to what Greg Barton said in William T. Endicott's The Barton Mold: if you don't practice good form and technique while lifting weights, you're likely not to have good form and technique in the boat.

One of my favorite times to give serious thought to my stroke and boat control is on days after hard workout when I go down to the river for some light paddling.  It's actually harder keep a tippy boat balanced when paddling slowly, and I use this time to explore the connection between my hands that pull the paddle and my core and legs that keep the boat upright and push the boat forward.  In this way, even a low-intensity session can have high training value.