Building Endurance in Training

At our recent Show & Share, Matthew Ames shared his insight on becoming a runner to address a growing health concern, later becoming a marathoner. He translated the lessons he learned about preparation, community, goal-setting, endurance, and resilience into meaningful perspective on corporate training and professional development.

Getting Started

Trying something for the first time is a messy process, whether it's a personal "new" or a professional opportunity. Matt admits that his first few runs were really walk-runs, filled with stumbles and tripping over his dog. To be clear, he didn't start his fitness journey with the expectation of running a marathon. His initial goal was simply to be able to run around the block without getting out of breath. 

Speaking of Goals

Setting goals can be complicated. Sometimes you need to adjust them over time, and they look different for everyone. For most marathoners, the goal isn't winning — it's finishing, often within a certain time, measured anywhere from minutes to hours to days. Matt found, too, that framing success in terms of A, B, and C levels of accomplishment was incredibly instrumental.

• A - What's the best I can hope for?
• B - What can I realistically achieve given the current challenges and circumstances?
• C - What's the minimum I'll accept as a "win," if everything goes wrong?

Looking at success through this lens turns it from a pass-fail assessment (I did it or I didn't do it) into something more nuanced. This model works well for both instructional design and within the training room.

Making it up "Heartbreak Hill"

Marathoners sometimes break down the 26.2 miles this way: the first 9 miles are run with your head, the second 9 with your legs, and the last miles with your heart.

In the Boston Marathon, "Heartbreak Hill" is a long climb up Commonwealth Avenue in Newton, at a point late in the race, when fatigue has set in for all the runners. Pouring their heart and soul into the task is the only way to get to the finish line! Helping them through these last few miles are swarms of neighbors, Boston College students, and fans, cheering at the top of their lungs and calling out names and numbers as runners pass. The energy and encouragement of the crowd help these athletes make it to the finish line.

Three Tools

Matt developed three Learning Endurance Tools to help trainers prepare learners for success marathon-style. These are a great resource for trainers working toward their own performance goals or coaching managers and teams on strategies to achieve growth goals. He breaks it into before (a preparation tool), during (a way to track progress as you go), and after (a reflection of how you've done).

BEFORE: Race Preparation

Consider these five questions to ready yourself for your next growth challenge:

• GOAL: Know your goal, but also understand WHY it matters to you.
• MOTIVATION: Consider how you'll stay motivated and energized
• AID STATIONS: Identify the people, practices, or resources that will nourish you along the way. Know that you might need to ask for help — don't shy away from it.
  
• SUCCESS: Give yourself some leeway with A, B, and C levels of success.
• HEARTBREAK HILL: Imagine the worst situation and consider how you might manage your way through it.

DURING: Mile Markers

Set out intermediary milestones and check-in points. Keep track of your, or your teams, accomplishments along the way, including:

• What may have changed since you began
• Boosts or Challenges you might have faced along the way
• How you're tracking towards your goal in terms of your A-B-C levels of success
• Any adjustments you might want to make, including changing your goal?

AFTER - Reflection

Give yourself time at the end of a challenge to reflect and celebrate. Ask questions such as:

• What tested your endurance?
• How did you need to alter expectations along the way?
• What kept you going?
• What did you learn? What will you carry forward?
• What and how will you celebrate?

Additional Tools for Goals & Growth

Matt Ames' session on endurance and resilience got me thinking about a few other tools that can help trainers and learners achieve big goals.

Road to There

The Road to There Facilitation Toolkit walks individuals and teams through the process of visualizing the future and creating a clear roadmap that identifies objectives, potential obstacles, and the distance between where you currently are and how far you need to go to get THERE. 

Developing Resilience Thumball

Ten skills are typically associated with resilience: patience, optimism, gratitude, acceptance, kindness, purpose, forgiveness, connection, composure, and listening. These overlay nicely with the Endurance Training Model shared by Matt Ames. The Developing Resilience Thumball allows participants to consider, discuss, and strengthen these skills.

Growth Mindset Kudos Notes

The Kudos for Growth Notepads allow trainers and participants to consider their own strengths and aspirations, as well as their colleagues'.  These provide an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate not only accomplishments, but also effort, risk, trial, and error.

The Last Leg of the Race

Whether you're training for a marathon or leading a team through a stretch goal, the throughline is the same: growth is rarely a straight line. It takes preparation, a realistic sense of what success looks like, people who show up for you at mile 20, and the willingness to keep going when it gets hard. Matt Ames' Learning Endurance Tools — paired with resources like Road to There, the Developing Resilience Thumball, and Kudos for Growth Notepads — give trainers a practical way to build that same endurance into their own programs, one mile marker at a time.