It’s next year now

A little sleep, a little slumber, and your unfitness will come on you faster than you can eat the next doughnut!

If you are like most, over the holidays you had some downtime. Less working out, more time with friends and family and more eating.

Now it is the middle of January. It is now time to take our hands out of the cookie jar and get back to work. No more snooze alarms!

For me, if I have no race plans, I stagnate and just go through the motions. That is OK for a while. We all need that downtime. I also know if I have events scheduled, something clicks in my head and I go do what I have to do to get ready.

So, now (if you have not already) it is time to make plans and sign up.

And, if you are happy with your results from last year, good for you! Carry on! But if you are like most, you realize there is always room for improvement. Here are a few tips to make next year the most fun, enjoyable and safe year you have had.

• Set realistic goals and expectations. Doing the same old thing, working out the same old way, running, riding and swimming the same speed doing continual repetitions over and over again will not help you gain speed, strength or stamina. Set your goals to accomplish just a bit more than you think you can do.

• Get some help. Coaches can do wonders getting you to make forward strides in accomplishment. A good coach can bring out the best in you and help maintain focus. The funnest seasons I had have been those where I accomplished more than I thought I could. Thank You Coaches!

• Get involved. The good news about race teams like RTB is groups of people going out and doing stuff together. Mutual suffering makes the task at hand much more pleasant. Better yet, challenging your buddies results in you both pushing harder and everybody wins.

• Work on your weaknesses. That may mean going to the gym and working on strength. It may mean going to a doctor to have those nagging injuries looked at. It may be acquiring a new bike to replace the relic. Check out the rehab exercises on Kriss Chiropractic’s YouTube channel.

There is much more you can do like listen to podcasts, watch YouTube videos on “how to”, and simple things like read books. Where your brain goes, so does your life.

More and more I hear “I am not competitive”. Chances are you are or you would have read this this far. If you were not competitive even if it is against yourself, you would not sign up for a race or any other timed event. You would not own a Garmin or other timing device. Since you have, give yourself permission to go ahead. Let yourself dive in deep and attempt to top your recently best activity.

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