“Life got in the way.”
How many times have we used that excuse because we didn’t race the way we wanted to? Maybe we had a DNF or maybe even a DNS. We blame life for it. Let’s face it, you didn’t do the work. You made up flimsy excuses to skip a workout and as a result, you had an awful race. As a single woman, I have a lot of good excuses to get out of just about any situation, but it doesn’t help my ultimate goals.
“Life got in the way.”
How many times have we used that excuse because we didn’t race the way we wanted to? Maybe we had a DNF or maybe even a DNS. We blame life for it. Let’s face it, you didn’t do the work. You made up flimsy excuses to skip a workout and as a result, you had an awful race. As a single woman, I have a lot of good excuses to get out of just about any situation, but it doesn’t help my ultimate goals.
Find Your Weakness
I am going to ask you to look inside and see what you are avoiding or afraid of, but first, we need to find the weakness. Review your training data and find where you have been purposefully avoiding doing the work for the past 3-5 months.
Let me remind you that the avoidance of running won’t make your running better or stronger. Did you really want to walk the whole run portion of your triathlon? I can almost hear the time slipping away from you and your race happiness fleeting.
With enough scrutiny, you may find what type of workout you avoid most. Don’t forget to include your pre and post-race nutrition, rest, and recovery since they are critical to training and overall success.
Do you binge drink and eat a lot of high garbage calories after a training session or beforehand? Do you get enough sleep? How is your training/racing hydration and nutrition? There is no point in doing all the physical work to undo it all with poor nutrition and lack of adequate sleep.
Look Within and Make a Plan
Armed with some new information you have uncovered, I’m asking you to look inside yourself and see what is actually holding you back. A large percentage of the population sabotage themselves for fear of success, the fear of being good and some have just lost motivation. There is a multitude of reasons why but be honest with yourself. Let’s make some changes to achieve the goals we set for ourselves.
The last step in this journey is to make a plan. If the sport is what you truly love and want to give it your all, I suggest spending the first part of the offseason training for the love of the sport and leave the Garmin at home.
Just enjoy the feeling again. Find a new coach, join a masters swim club, take up trail running to reignite the passions. If you are feeling that your blockage is you that is keeping you from your goals, find a source of motivation.
There are several motivational biography books from incredible authors, find a mentor, or a training/accountability buddy. Reach out to me and I will be that buddy! As always, if you think you need the assistance of a professional to help you dig deeper please do so, thankfully that is something we can all do without the stigma attached.
