Duncan

This is Duncan. Be more Duncan.

This year has not been straightforward.

Work has involved a lot of travel, consistency has been difficult, and we have often had to reshape his training week by week, sometimes day by day.

But the biggest shift Duncan has made has been in his mindset.

Instead of believing training has to be everything or nothing, his thinking has become:

What can I do with the time I have today?

That shift has helped him stay focused on structured training, maintain power on the bike, retain strength in the gym and keep moving his fitness forwards.

It has also helped him improve his nutrition and understand what it takes to stay in good shape.

We might not have got Duncan into the greatest shape of his life this year, but we got him into good enough shape, and feeling confident enough, to take on one of the toughest days you can have on a bike.

The Étape was hard.

On the final climb, there was a moment when Duncan was thinking about just how difficult it had become.

The old version of him might have stopped.

This time, his thinking became:

No. I can complete this. I just need to keep going.

And he did.

That gives me real satisfaction as his coach. Not simply because he finished, but because when things became difficult, he found a new version of himself that kept moving forwards.

None of us at Velo are elite cyclists.

We are masters cyclists with jobs, families, travel, pressure and responsibilities outside training.

But those things should never stop us from working on ourselves and becoming fitter, stronger and healthier as we get older.

Training does not have to be perfect to create progress.

Done consistently, it builds strength, power, durability and the confidence to take on challenges that teach you what you are capable of when things get tough.

From our conversation yesterday, I could hear Duncan’s sense of accomplishment and his drive to keep improving.

Chapeau, Duncan. You should be incredibly chuffed with yourself.

Keep on keeping on.

Duncan