I was recently reading "IronFit Secrets for Half Iron-Distance Triathlon Success" and after noticing a couple of similarities in how to approach training for triathlons with how to approach the PM role, I was inspired to write this post.

The book lays out the most fundamental concept of athletic training is the overload principle: "beneficial adaptions occur in response to demands applied to the body at levels beyond a threshold (overload), but within the limits of tolerance and safety". It's important to ramp up our training gradually, week over week, extending our capabilities and recovering without pushing to injury.

We do the same in our careers. To test our limits, we're invited to present to a forum where our manager would typically handle the presentation, we're given the opportunity to fill in for our manager when they're off sick, we're given a taster project before deciding if we have sufficient skill to manage that space. And it's these tastes that help us identify our weaknesses, and plan for how to execute at this higher level of performance.

A critical cornerstone of triathlon training is adequate recovery. Plans include rest days, where you don't swim, bike, or run on one day of the week, to allow the body to absorb the training load and prepare itself for the next week, ensuring that you don't put more load through your body than it can handle and subsequently get injured. What is lesser known is that plans also include recovery weeks. In a recovery week, volume can drop approximately 40-50% to allow for extra rest and replenishment for the body to repair.

The same is important in work too. You can't indefinitely sprint on projects or you'll burn out along with your team. Some companies explicitly build this in, take 37signals that run six week development cycles with two weeks of down time between projects to tidy up loose ends, prepare pitches for the next project. So to ensure the best results, schedule a week to reduce your workload, check-in on your progress, and prepare for the next cycle.

Triathlon training plans even come in phases. There's phase 1, the base building phase, where you focus on establishing a strong foundation by gradually increasing mileage to prepare yourself for the higher workloads to come. Phase 2 is where you build strength and endurance, pushing to your limits where you achieve your main adaptations resulting in faster times. Phase 3 is where you taper, reducing training load while maintaining intensity to allow for recovery, repair, and recharge before the event to allow for optimal performance on race-day.

I've experienced a similar approach with software projects, where base-building is ideation in the problem space, design and execution are in the pushing to your limits phase, and finally the taper is the accessibility passes, the reviews with support, marketing, and other teams where the final sculpting and polishing occurs before getting it into customers hands.

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I'm sure I'll come across some more similarities as I keep reading so I may publish a part two on how triathlon relates to PM'ing.