Find yourself in a rut? Ready to throw in the towel? Thinking “why am I even messing with this!?”
Happens to the best of us, and ALL of us. You will not find one single person that is 100% on point all the time to crush it. EVERYONE has a time when they are just not feeling it. Triathletes are no different.
To that point, here’s my top 6 thoughts to keep you going through the pre-season phase for most of you out there.
- It happens to EVERYEONE. It’s normal and ok. Accept it. Embrace it. It will happen that at some point you will feel down. Don’t right it, don’t deny it. Just plainly accept it.
- Don’t make it more complicated than it needs to be. Swim, bike, run, strength, hydrate, eat well and rest. Keep those keys in mind and don’t sweat the complications of the training schedule and workouts. To that point if you can, get a coach to worry about the details to allow you to just focus on doing the plan.
- Keep track of your time. It’s SO easy to fritter away time on social media taking in content on the latest cat video, but what does that really get you? Fill your time with the big things (family, friends, work) and then smaller things (hobbies, training) and with other odds and ends when you have time. Don’t waste time watching TV or other pointless activities. ALSO don’t OVERSCHEDULE yourself. Don’t cram as much as you can in every 10 minutes. Allow some breathing room.
- Rest conquers all. If you don’t get good sleep, your mood will pay the price. Make sure you are getting to bed at a decent time, routine to power down leading to bed time, proper setup for good sleep and have a plan ready for the next day. Don’t go to bed stressed or right after you have been running around.
- Goals are good, plans are better. Figure out your goals, and then make a doable plan to get there. If you start out training for an IRONMAN 6 months away and start hitting 5 hour rides and 2 hours runs out of the gate, you will burn out fast. Break it down into workable chunks and keep the plan doable.
- Give yourself grace. It kind of goes with accepting it in #1, but allowing yourself the space to forgive yourself for not feeling it, or maybe even skipping a workout. Do not beat yourself up. Life goes on and you will get another chance.
So there you have it. Take them to the bank and twice on Sundays.
Any other ideas? Thoughts? Need some advice? Hit the contact page and drop me a line!
