Usually, we talk about how New Years, birthdays, the end of a racing season, or even the beginning of a new school year despite not being a student, can feel like a great chance to renew, reset, and get moving again towards whatever goals you currently have, or to choose new ones. But this time of year is also an awesome time to get moving again, or get refocused. The beginning of any season can make for a great time to pause and reflect, but the start of fall is particularly useful. That’s because right now—mid-October—isn’t a particularly noteworthy time of year. And that’s what makes it special.
Because there’s not as much going on this time of year from a racing perspective (unless you’re a pro cyclocross racer or marathoner, at least), you may still be racing, but you’re likely home on some weekends. The kids are back in school. Work might be ramping up heading into the holidays, but it’s not quite there yet. And perhaps most important, we haven’t actually hit the holiday season just yet.
What if, instead of finishing the year feeling like we need the new year to get refreshed on our goals, we headed into the new year feeling confident about them and like we were already making that progress instead?
Case in point: I’ll be talking about this a lot in the coming months, but I actually just signed up for my first (gulp) 100-mile trail race… in mid-February. Yep, that’s right. I put a 100-freaking-mile run on my calendar for mid-winter. (It’s in Oklahoma, where the weather will be a bit more mild.)
Why February? Well, it gets back to what I was just talking about. I’ll get into my motivations and what I’m excited about in a later post, but from a logistical perspective, I knew I wanted to go through the holidays feeling really strong and happy with my running and training, and usually, I need some kind of goal that I’m chasing to feel that level of motivation when the couch and Christmas movies and mulled wine are calling my name. Now, don’t get me wrong: I’ll still enjoy the holiday cheer. But I want to spend these next two months heading into December/January feeling as though I’m building to something awesome, so that I’m already well on my way to being prepared for this early 2022 goal.
For most endurance athletes, the winter as an offseason serves as an important rest and reset, and that’s critical to long term development. But if, like me, you haven’t raced much in the last 2 years thanks to the pandemic, maybe an early spring 2022 goal is something you should consider to get your butt in gear. (On that note, we do have a 6-month plan leading into a mountain bike stage race, if something like that is on your radar!)
TL;DR: You don’t need to wait—in fact, you shouldn’t wait—until December 31 to get back to healthy habits or training.
This is the time of year when we’ve noticed most people are more likely to move away from the healthy habits they know are helping them. It’s easier to stay out a little later or get a bit less sleep as holiday parties pop up on the calendar, it’s easier to eat more candy and less veggies after Halloween, and it’s easy to skip training in favor of binge-watching a show because it got dark earlier than you expected. But rather than letting yourself head into an end of year slump, get back to your goals and habits now. Don’t wait!
PS: Before I sign off of this post, I do want to add a note for the Type A go-go-goers. This isn’t about never having a rest and recovery period. If you’re fatigued or burned out, you absolutely need time off. And it’s 110% okay to enjoy the holiday season (we certainly do!). It’s about finding a healthy balance year-round, rather than spending the whole year having huge vacillations between a laser focus on goals and veg-out mode. Think gentle waves, not huge spikes!
Want more on goal-setting? Check out our book, Becoming A Consummate Athlete, right here:
