Today I ran, what I believe to be my 7th half-marathon. Though I am very proud of the accomplishment, I am even more excited about the life lesson that was reinforced during my running of this race. The lesson is simply this:

Proper training precedes peak performance.

The importance of proper training prior to an event or endeavor was made more obvious to me than it has ever been before. Though I didn't train for this half-marathon near as much as I could have (I ran a total of 66 miles, over the course of 13 runs), I definitely was more prepared than I was for the half-marathon that I ran in August! For the half-marathon in August, I ran a total of 20 miles over the course of 4 runs! Simply put, I trained about 3 times harder for this race than I did my last race and the results definitely showed the difference!

My last race was ran in 2 hours and 40 minutes, and running it was miserable. This race was ran in 2 hours and 13 minutes, and I felt wonderful! Now these times are in no way impressive to the more serious runner, but the point is, proper training allowed me to not only shave more than two minutes/mile off of my pace, but it also made the running itself more enjoyable!

Proper training precedes peak performance.

I understand more clearly than ever, that if I desire to perform well, I must train well. To think that I can perform well without putting in the time and effort to do so is delusion. But this doesn't only apply to running.

If I desire to perform well as a writer, I must train. If I desire to perform well as a communicator, I must train. If I desire to perform well as a leader, I must train.

In the same way that I had a plan for training for the half-marathon, I must have and execute a plan for training myself in these other areas that I desire to experience peak performance.

How about you?

Is there an area of your life where you are expecting results that you aren't training for? This is an important question to answer because...

Your level of frustration will always be directly related to how big the gap is between your expectations for performance and your commitment to training.

If you desire to perform well as an artist, you must train. If you desire to perform well as a parent, you must train. If you desire to perform well as a salesperson, you must train. If you desire to perform well as a student, you must train. Very rarely does one outperform their training. So with all that in mind, in what area of your life do you need to commit to a higher level of training?

Proper training precedes peak performance.

Choose an area of your life. Create a training plan. And execute. At 33 years old, I am living proof that these simple steps do make a difference!