So you are done with your season …. NOW WHAT!?!?!?!?
🥳 CELEBRATE 🥳
<3 REFLECT <3
✅ Step 1 is to to WRITE UP and race report and a season report. I love love love doing this part in my Journal One app on my ipad. Love it! I add pictures. Take the time over a week or two to get pics together and put all my thought and emotions down.
- What did you really enjoy!? KEEP DOING THAT SH$T!
- What didn’t work so well? Objectively look at it. Think about it from a couple of different views if you can. Try not to judge yourself harshly. But it IS OK to re-experience the situation, work through the emotions a bit in order to process them. Write them down. This activity takes the power away from them. When you see it in black and white, you can look at it from a couple of different perspectives. Then decide if you need help with making changes. Or do you need help with figuring out what to do?
one side note … sometimes we don’t know what we don’t know. Thats why getting different eyes on the situation is a good one. For triathlon for example, maybe you feel like you just suck because your running at the end of a tri has always sucked. But … maybe you need to hear that if you were to do your electrolytes different, maybe that would totally change up that picture? Worth the ask right?!?
another side note … a LIFE TRUTH is that generally, in order to be different we need to do different. And in order to DO different, we need some different in our lives. Whatever that is. In my 15 years of coaching, I have seen over and over that until someone allows change to come, things never change. That means that you need to be teachable, coachable, open to change. Doesn’t mean that you need to be all NAMASTE about the change, but that you see it and are ok with it coming and deal (hopefully well) with the uncomfortableness of change.
GOD / Universe / Life / Karma are all very faithful in giving you the next lesson. The next thing you need in order to get to that NEXT BEST VERSION of yourself. For me … these lessons are coming from Coach John and Coach D, and my kids!! <3
So … WRITE UP your race season. Your life season. From here back to the last time you did the write up or … you’ll know when. REFLECT.
…. this is part of the activity of our health/performance assessments. This is how you set up for doing the next step well.
💥💥 SET NEW GOALS 💥 💥
CHALLENGE YOUR COMFORT ZONE
✅ Step 2 is about committing to doing something different. About working towards that NEXT BEST VERSION of yourself. After having spent some time in step 1 …
(and this is why goals and such don’t work all that well sometimes, you skipped step 1, the connecting with your heart and soul <3 <3 <3)
You will be crystal clear on what you want to keep and what you want different. Will you know how to get there. Sometimes not. Thats why we have coaches, teachers, mentors, strangers, etc. While I think books are ok … they don’t have a lot of ENERGY and JUJU in them. People do. So if you are particularly stubborn and think you can do all this yourself … well, I’d challenge you to look back historically and see how well you do change and personal evolution by yourself. You are biased. 😉 hehehe.
Seriously though. We need each other. Our tribe.
The things you want different …. less sucky runs, drop some belly weight, faster on the bike, take on a LONG race … it’s time to set the goals. High level goals. Then start to break it down. And if you aren’t sure how to get there. Don’t lower the goal. Go get help.
✅ NUTRITION
EVERYONE can stand to look at nutrition and work to make changes. If you are considering a long distance race season, it’s stupid smart to work on nutrition, body systems (example – hormonal balance), etc. Things to work on in the off season …
Sleep better (hormonal)
Gut health
belly fat / brain fog (hormonal)
Drop stubborn weight (hormonal)
Do better at fat burning
Decrease anxiety/depression (hormonal)
✅ STRENGTH
WE MUST DO THIS. If you want to be injury free.
(as most of us aren’t spring chickens 🐥🐥 🐥 and already have out of whack things going on…)
Strength training is key for being a well rounded and injury free athlete. It’s a great time in the “off season” to learn some of the basics of smart and balanced strength training for runners and triathletes. If you consider the motions of running and triathlon, you can see the common sense need for good/smart strength training. To be faster. and to remain injury free. Or get there. Admittedly it is not the easiest thing to do to balance strength training with endurance. It’s a skill and hard to do during the season. Our athletes spend the off season cultivating change, balance, strength and skill so when they get to the big season and sneaking up on their A RACE, they are in a great spot to be more aggressive, know what they are doing and change navigate it all. Plus … they are learning that they can focus more on strength work at the expense of all the time for endurance. With the same or better results in performance and happiness. IT WORKS!
✅SPEED / TECHNIQUE
WHO doesn’t what to be faster?! You have to really get outside the comfort zone to accomplish this. (though strength training is probably the quickest way to get faster once you’ve reached a certain level of technique).
INTERVALS (with good fueling and hydration practices)
Drills to change the way you do things.
Sometimes you don’t need to work harder, you need to be more efficient. Doing this work in the off season is S M A R T!! Say you decided you want to take on IM Wisconsin! OK!! Cool. Now you need hill climbing legs! How do you get those? You start in the off season because doing both speed / technique work and endurance is a lot to ask. If you spend the off season cultivating change you get to the A RACE season more prepared to KICK TAIL.
You know what this buys you? LESS ANXIETY about your race, your training, yourself and what not. So that means a happier experience. For you. (and those around you).
Do you now where you are? Do you know where you want to be? Do you know how to get there? If you want help, we do free athlete health/performance assessments. It’s an online form you complete and a phone call with a follow up email with recommendations and resources, and coaching options if you’d like. Easy Peasy. No Strings. Our gift to the community.
What is your off season going to look like?
Free Athlete Health/Performance Assessment
🌟👉🏻 www.bonniekissinger.com/aha
