If there was a formula, or training plan, that if followed, would lead to winning World Championships, then a) everyone would know it or about it, b) becoming World Champ would be just a matter of academics, and c) sport wouldn't be much fun.

Fortunately, there is no such formula. There are great training plans, and great intentions, and great science, but ultimately these all face up to the that great big wall called "reality." And in reality, there are just so many factor affecting performance that it is all but impossible to quantify and sanitize the process we call training in order to ensure performance. Not only do the factors surrounding each athlete differ greatly, but most importantly, each athlete is a unique individual, who reacts differently to situations, training loads, and stress.

So how does one find that path-to-champion, that ever elusive, yet tantalizing goal of "figuring it out"? Few athletes have done it, few athletes have ever "figured it out" and even those that have become World Champions, sometimes cannot repeat it, proving how difficult it is to fully have a finger on one's own pulse of performance so to speak. So the goal should perhaps not be so much to figure it "all" out, but to start to find what works for each one of us, and start to build on that over time. This past year, an athlete on the world cup said to me "You have a list of things that work, and a list of things that don't work, and the list of don't work is more important because you never do them again." This excellent advice leads to the concept of experimentation.

I have long felt that the only way to develop my own list of things that work and things that don't is to continually experiment and try new things. Now I'm not saying anyone should start trying every hair brained idea that floats along, that's where experience and the good advice of a coach can help. And new ideas should not include any extreme or get-fast-quick ideas as lets face it, training is training and there are no short cuts to being the best in the world. But what separates the top 30 of the world where everyone is training hard, and everyone is putting in such effort, must be small things. There are no Big training secrets and ideas, just small ones that require particular attention to detail, and finding out which small things affect you individually, and how, is a big challenge, and a big factor in performance.

Experimentation of training ideas must be approached somewhat scientifically to try and eliminate as many outside factors as possible, but ultimately it will rely on your perception and honesty in analyzing yourself and not rationalizing results. This is where the art of experimentation comes in. This is what makes it less than a science. It's knowing when to worry, and when to shrug it off; it's knowing when to train and when to rest; it's knowing and feeling something that has such intrinsic personal attachment, our bodies, our emotions, ourselves.

"Know yourself" Greek aphorism