The Season That Doesn’t Feel Fast

If there’s one thing sport teaches you, it’s that not every phase is meant to feel fast.

Some training blocks are electric - the heavy sessions, the peak weeks, the moments when

you feel the strength building in real time.

And then there are the quieter phases. The weeks where nothing looks spectacular from the

outside, but everything meaningful is happening underneath.

Lately, I’ve realised life works in exactly the same way.

For the first time in a long time, I feel like I’m in a deliberate, steady, foundation-building

season - not just in training, but across every corner of my life. And for someone wired for

momentum, progress, and the next challenge, slowing down can feel counterintuitive.

But I’m learning it’s necessary.

More than that - it’s powerful.

The Mistaken Myth of “Go Faster”

We live in a world obsessed with acceleration.

Faster growth.

Faster careers.

Faster results.

Faster everything.

But anyone who has ever trained for anything meaningful - HYROX, a marathon, a national

team, whatever - knows this truth:

Speed without foundation collapses.

You only get to push hard when you’ve built the engine to sustain it.

You only get to peak when you’ve earned the right through consistency.

And you only get to perform when the “boring work” is done, rep after rep after rep.

So when an area of your life feels slow, it’s not always a setback.

Sometimes it’s the season that’s preparing you for everything that comes next.

Right Now, My Whole Life Feels Like a Base Phase

Work.

Family.

Training.

All of it feels steadier. More intentional.

Less about chasing outcomes and more about building capacity - physically, mentally,

emotionally.

There’s something strangely comforting about that.

When you’re in a base phase in sport, you’re not meant to see immediate improvement.

You’re meant to accumulate small wins.

You’re meant to trust the process.

You’re meant to become someone capable of stepping into the next level.

That’s where I am.

A quieter block.

A stronger block.

A preparation block.

And I’ll be honest - it’s easy to underestimate these seasons because they don’t have the

adrenaline or the obvious markers of progress.

But this is where identity is built.

HYROX as a Mirror, Not a Measure

I’ve got another HYROX race this week.

Here’s the thing: race day never creates success.

It reflects it.

It’s a mirror held up to your preparation, your habits, your routines, the choices you made

when no one was watching. It shows the strength you didn’t realise you had and the

weaknesses you haven’t addressed yet.

And that’s why I love it.

HYROX isn’t just a fitness event - not for me, anyway.

It’s a checkpoint in the bigger training block of life.

A feedback loop.

A truth serum.

A conversation with yourself under fatigue.

This week’s race isn’t about chasing a heroic time.

It’s about checking in with the version of me I’ve been building in the background.

Foundation Seasons Don’t Look Sexy - But They Change You

Here’s what I keep coming back to:

The work that transforms you is rarely glamorous.

It’s slow.

It’s steady.

It’s disciplined.

It’s uncelebrated.

But it compounds.

It sharpens your decision-making.

It cleans up your habits.

It clears mental noise.

It rebuilds your confidence from the inside out.

People underestimate the seasons where nothing “big” is happening.

But in reality, that’s where everything is happening.

Breakthroughs don’t just appear - they accumulate.

If You’re in a Foundation Season Too

Maybe you’re rebuilding your career identity.

Maybe you’re aligning your personal life.

Maybe you’re tackling a challenge that doesn’t have fast rewards.

Maybe you’re training for something that scares you.

Maybe you’re just trying to steady the ship.

Whatever phase you’re in, don’t rush it.

Base phases feel slow - until suddenly they don’t.

Until you look up and realise you’re stronger, clearer, and more capable than you’ve been in

years.

That’s the entire point.

This is the block that sets up the breakthrough.

Race Week and Beyond

As I step into another HYROX event this week, I’m not thinking about the finish time.

I’m thinking about the season I’m in.

The foundations being built.

The steadiness that’s taking shape.

The identity forming quietly underneath it all.

I’m thinking about the future version of me - and the choices I’m making for him now.

And if this resonates with where you are in your life

Then you’re exactly where you need to be.

Keep going.

Your pace is right for the phase you’re in.