September 19th, 2023

Coach Jen

Do you ever feel so overwhelmed that you just want to shove life in the closet for a bit and run away? One thing leads to another and the next thing you know you’ve lit the pasta on fire (as I reminisce about dinner last night). Sometimes we know exactly why we feel a heavy burden- perhaps things at work aren’t ideal, you’re stressed about a relationship, or even your physical training is lacking a certain umph- but then there are other times where your life is a bit like a combo meal and it seems a little of everything is coming at you, you can’t pinpoint the source of your distress, and you feel as if you are stuck in a constant string of Monday’s (no offense Monday).

It can be easy to throw in the towel completely when things don’t go to plan. Thoughts pop up like, “If I can’t hit the paces for a workout I’m not doing it at all” or, “Well, I had pancakes for breakfast now my whole day is ruined”. If we can’t be all in we resort to being all out…what if instead we gave some grace to our pace and made small adjustments.

Something is better than Nothing-Workouts

It’s so much easier to pick up training to a normal level when you haven’t shoved everything to the side for an extended period of time. It’s often advised during an off season to reduce training to roughly 70-80% instead of resorting to nothing. It’s much easier on the body and mind to make incremental increases to a training load then to shock the system when you need to jump back in. I was NOT feeling my cross training session today so I simply reduced it by half and it felt much more feasible. Often times we so greatly want to veg out on the couch and watch re-runs of real housewives when in all reality that will make us feel much worse. By continuing to move in some fashion, you maintain the mental and physical benefits while telling your body it’s okay to slow down a little. Don’t stop! Just give a little grace to the pace.

Sprinkle in the Treats-Nutrition

I’m truly not a fan of cheat days or cheat meals. First of all, the concept of cheating convinces us we’re doing something wrong-in turn creating a mindset of guilt, making it that much harder to eat “better”. If you’re not feeling on top of your nutrition, don’t think it has to be all or nothing-we’re all only one meal away from making the more nutritious choice. Have a cookie or two with your afternoon coffee? Great! Hope you truly enjoyed it! Instead of convincing yourself that you’ve ruined your diet and might as well not care about your next meal, think of a way that your next meal can be just as delicious but maybe a bit more nutritious. Again don’t lose momentum just give a little grace to the pace.

Even Superheroes Sleep-Life

It’s impossible to be 100% one hundred percent of the time. Perhaps you’re feeling a little worn from a heavy work, life, or training load and you need to rest. Your body can’t tell the difference between life stress and training stress so it’s common for one to spill over into the other. True rest is critically important to be able to perform at top levels in all ares of life. Disconnect from what takes your energy and connect to what recharges your batteries (and I bet that’s not television or social media). Be intentional with your rest. Sit on your patio and drink coffee, read a book in bed, stretch with soft music playing. Sitting on the couch playing a video game may look like rest, but in all reality you’re just swapping a pepsi for root beer. Be intentional, check in with how you’re truly feeling, call a friend, cry to your spouse, and give some grace to the pace. You’ve got this!