Your Endurance Lifestyle. Redesigned.

Once again it’s the end of the year, almost Thanksgiving Day, and it’s time to look back at another season gone. Hard to believe that another year of races has passed. But I know that that’s not what’s on your mind. You can let the races go, the warm weather, the camaraderie, that’s all good. Your biggest fear? The off-season.

As a savvy, time-conscious, well balanced athlete, I know that you are looking at the off-season with anticipation. Now you can finally get all of those tasks and chores done that it been piling up on your desk and at home, right? Believe it or not, the answer is YES.

Even though you haven’t been drilling yourself with excess training hours and poor impulse control when it comes to long workouts, you still need some downtime. What that downtime is for you is entirely personal. Some athletes need to walk away from the sport for a while and then ease their way back in. Other athletes prefer to keep some activity on the schedule in order to preserve their sanity. And some people never take any time off at all — and it’s this trap that you have to avoid.

Being able to operate at peak performance means that your mind and body are working together as one. This “sweet spot” is difficult to attain, alluding even the most diligent athletes. In order to reach this peak state you must be able to walk away from the fitness gains you’ve made thus far. Whether you realize it or not you are carrying some level of residual fatigue — both physical and mental — from the past 11 months of training taking time off, proper time off, we’ll give your mind and body system the chance it needs both to heal and to prepare for next year.

Intellectually, I know that 90% of you reading this are with me. You get it. Time off, he says, fine! But if we take a closer look, I bet that your body is thinking something else entirely. A much more basic level is easy to understand the fear around losing fitness. After all you get a lot of hard work to get where you are. This is where we need your brain to kick in and override your body, for without this break the number one thing holding you back from achieving your potential will be yourself.

So, what’s the type A endurance athlete to do? I think the off-season is an excellent time to score major points in non-exercise related areas of your life. Stay late at work, take on new projects, to all the chores you need to do around the house and then some, hang out with friends, you get the idea.

Aiming for, and actually working towards, peak physical condition is in and of itself a selfish activity. It requires solitude, discipline, and intense focus. The inability to switch that off at the end of the year could actually mean your undoing. Do yourself and everyone else in your life a favor by putting down the tri bike, taking off those 6 1/2 ounce racing flats, putting away the spandex for awhile, and pretend to be normal.

Off to rake some leaves,

Coach P

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