Benoit de Rosnay PT

I have been working a lot lately and struggled with motivation in regards to training...the frustration of not having enough energy and time to push as much as I would like..

I had 4 days off work which gave me the time I needed to re-evaluate my goals and push my endurance to the next level..

I reached my first 100k on bike! I feel it was a milestone for me, a great achievement and it makes me want to go further to seek at new projects!

I will keep you posted

The perfect way to end the day.
Managed to run an easy half marathon despite of the pain in my hamstring and was rewarded with this beast of a sunset view
All is good

In Nature

I stand still and stay silent, I can only admire the fragile beauty of Nature.

I pause for long enough so I can meet with the moment, I can meet with my true self.

Nature is the place where I find my inner peace.

We all face uncertainty and frustration at some point in our life that comes with the feeling of being lost. To get back on our feet we should be able to answer these questions:

Who am I?
What are my core values? Why I do I do the things that I do?
Are these things in line with my core values?

Answering these questions will help us understand if the person we are now is close to the person we want to be.

In my view, the further away we are from our true self the greater is the feeling of being lost in a life with no purpose. In order to feel good, we have to align ourselves with our core values. It isn't easy because everything around us is made to disturb our inner peace.

Once we answer to our core value questions, the mental map of who we are will become clearer. We can now build a strong routine, we can feel a sense of achievement and a purpose. We can take control and consciously bring back certainty in our life.

A strong routine reinforces positive mindset, consolidating this routine with ritual is what I do, is what helps me throughout the day.

My routine goes like this:

Morning: Run / swim or cycling (or all of the above if I can)

Morning & Evening stretching: EVERYDAY.
I do a longer stretching on days when I can't do my usual swim/run/bike

During the day: I always make sure to find time to read or listen to inspirational subjects, podcast, audio books

Evening: run /swim or cycling

I have to admit, lately I have been struggling with motivation. I'm also struggling to accept the fact that since I started working I have to train in pre-fatigue, in suboptimal conditions.

But few days ago, I managed to wake up early to go for a short run and a swim… I understood that I just have to accept these conditions as part of the training process because in endurance sports you always face fatigue and it is a mind game!! 

This is the way I see it and these are the alternatives you face:
You either deny and reject the mind game so in that case you will face demotivation, poor performance and evently you will quit...
Or you accept the rules of the game and find ressources to fight to and you rise above it to progress and perform.

So what will you choose?

« Most people quit at 40%. »

That day, I wanted to run 30KM, something I had never done before. What I didn’t know yet is that soon I would understand what means by « Most people quit at 40%. »

10-21KM: Everything goes according to plan.
I’m drinking and eating at regular intervals, I’m in the rhythm. I’m confident and I start thinking that my goal to run 30KM is too easy.

21-30KM: The battle is on.
I decided, I will go for the marathon. I spent the next to 2KM fighting my limitations and it felt like hell. I couldn’t drink or eat anything, I had pain everywhere and I wanted to puke. I was ready to quit...

30 to 42KM: Break it down.
I know the trail I am running on, I have done it many times. I decided to break it down into small sections and to reassess the situation at the end of each section. The deal is that if I start a section, I will have to finish it!
I managed to trick my mind, now I am back, deep in the battle, I have found the way to get through this... section after section...
No water, but I wasn’t drinking much anyway, however I stop to refill and take the opportunity to stretch... whoooh that feels good! F**k, I’m getting comfortable here...
I’m looking at my watch, I see 5h30minutes and my mind shifts...I am thinking...Really? Am I going to quit now!? After running 5h30 min and when I probably have 30 minutes left to run my first marathon?! Go and finish this s**t!!

When I finished after a bit more than 6H and 1368M of elevation gain, I realise that I was afraid of a number 42KM and all the signification that goes around it. I also realised that a lot of the time in life we choose we are responsible for to putting a glass ceiling on the top of our head. We choose live with this imagery limitations or to push further.

Hart rate monitor & watch is the perfect combo to take your endurance training to the next level!

Since I invested in the Garmin HMR PRO heart rate monitor and my Garmin 737XT Forerunner watch my training is more efficient, and not only I was able to train at the right intensity at all time (easy day easy/ hard day hard) but It allows me to train more and stay injury free!

I also like analysing data and I enjoy going into the details of my training to see where I want focus on in my next session.

Hart rate monitor & watch is the perfect combo to take your endurance training to the next level!

Since I invested in the Garmin HMR PRO heart rate monitor and my Garmin 737XT Forerunner watch my training is more efficient, and not only I was able to train at the right intensity at all time (easy day easy/ hard day hard) but It allows me to train more and stay injury free!

I also like analysing data and I enjoy going into the details of my training to see where I want focus on in my next session.

The Mental Game!

I am ready to go, I just have my shoes to put on, but the mental game has already started, self-doubt is building up!
Before I am aware of it, I am sitting on the sofa having the usual limiting self-talk. This talk once again hacked my mind, and I lost control of my emotions.

This is how it goes:
You really are going to this uphill tempo training? It's going to hurt, and you don’t want to be uncomfortable! You could be in the cosiness of your home, you could eat and watch TV all day!? Isn’t it a better idea? At this point, I am speaking to myself: Wake up! Wake up! Finally get back the control of my emotions and without hesitation, I stand, slam the door and I go...

During the run self doubt is back!
Here I am on the steep slopes, lactic acid Is building up in my muscles...It is difficult... sooner orlater, my heart rate will be too high, I will reach my red zone! The doubt is coming back... I'm pushing the pace as if I could run away from it! I'm focusing on being present, on the pain, and the obstacles in front of me, visualising my next move, focusing on my goal.... I am in the zone.

That day, I finished my run exhausted...the self doubt is gone, at least for now. I know it will be back but I will be ready for it, I will, because it is up to me to accept the challenge.... But for now I am full of positive energy, I'm content with my myself and with what I've achieved and overcame.

Life is full of doubts and uncertainty. Being aware of our emotions towards our doubts will enable us to dissociate ourselves from the object of our fears, of our self doubts, and limitations.... this will help us to accept those challenging situations as part of the learning process. Then we will be able to take compassionate actions to shift our paradigm to a positive growth mindset.

Heart rate training can be a smart technique to guide your intensity during training and working your various energy systems depending on your goal.

If your goal is like mine, to run faster for longer, a good tip is to do most of your mileage in your aerobic Zone 2 (Easy): 60-70% of Max HR zone to develop your aerobic capacity. Another advantage is that you will recover faster and you will increase your chances to stay injury free!

In a perfect week I would do 90% of my mileage in my zone 2 with 10% of interval training, and on top of this I would add some strength and core exercise to my short run or bicycle day.

keep easy days easy and hard days hard!!

We all have dreams and mountain to conquer.

It is up to us to accept failure as part the incredible journey of our lives. And It is up to us to attempt to the summit again and again.... or to leave this mountains unclimbed.

It is up to us to have a fulfilling life full of mistakes or to carry the extra weight of our regrets on our shoulders, only to watch helplessly our dreams becoming your worst nightmare.

Last week I spent a day cross country skiing, and I thought this was the prefect stop for a picnic before heading up to the summit!