Ask Doctoral Advising

I write about training as if that is all one does:  run. 
But there is much more to training than running.   There is a plan for long runs, easy runs, speedwork, and running a shorter event.   One can accomplish a marathon without doing speedwork or doing an event, but one does need to run several times a week, with gradually increasing distances.  And one needs to Rest and Practice Refueling/eat healthy.

There are other critical components to training for an endurance event, it not just running.

What, are the critical components of a doctoral program?

Nutrition: One needs to refuel if running for an hour or more.  There are sport drink and gels that provide the calories and nutrition needed. Your body may not tolerate them while intensively exercising.  Consuming calories and training your system to use those calories are critical to completing the long miles and the marathon event.  The other component to nutrition is eating healthy throughout the week.

Rest days:  Taking time to let your body recover from the stress of exercise.  This is critical.  It allows you to reflect on the miles you’ve run, the cross training, the ‘why,’ and allows you to look ahead and plan for the next week.

Sometimes its easy to disregard components of training for a marathon.  Getting to the start line, as well as getting to the finish line will be much more likely ( and the actual marathon might be just a bit easier)  if  the critical training components are heeded. 

What components of  ‘training’  do you need to remember to practice?  What resources are available to help