It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Yes, I love this time of year. There is a distinct rhythm all around; a time when drinking egg nog lattes and nibbling on delectable sweets brought daily into the office allows the ever-so-subtle expansion of the waistline. Now before I go any further into my explanation of of this season with my greetings, I want to clearly state I’m not talking about the Holidays. No… I’m talking about that period between your last race and the new year mostly referred to as “The OFF season.”

The off-season allows dedicated endurance athletes a chance to get a break from the weekly grind of training. It provides time for the body to recover from nagging injuries caused by over use and provides the mind a chance to erase the grooves etched in the soul from daily routines washing away fatigue and pouring motivation back into an empty tank. The off-season allows you to reconnect with relationships recently forgotten and it gives you freedom to explore other endeavors worthy of humankind. For the little bit you do during the off-season it can have huge results for the year ahead! But this doesn’t mean you’re to be lazy. I’ll explain…Two things must accompany the off-season: Activity and Focus.

Activity is anything that keeps you, are you ready… active! When people find themselves in a rut, in other words, a general malaise toward life they tend to search for something new or different to recharge the soul and renew their spirit. The problem is these changes are often too extreme and cause greater damage in the long run (pun intended). For example; a guy is board with his career.He’s good at what he does and often performs above expectation yet, finds himself tired and are looking over the vocational fence at greener opportunities. So, one day he applies for a job or to a college  and quits his current job. Sometimes this can workout wonderfully, but often it doesn’t. The time and cost it takes to make the transition usually ends in a diminished result and only to find the ruts are just as big if not bigger in this new place! When people tell me this is what they’re thinking of doing I just ask them… “Are you sure you’re supposed to do something DIFFERENT or would it be better to somethings DIFFERENTLY?”

In triathlon you don’t want to take on a new hobby unless you’re sure you’re moving toward something completely different and waving goodbye to the pool, your bike and the trails. But in the offseason, surfing, mountain biking and snowshoeing along with weight training, cross-fit, yoga allows you to do things differently by refreshing the mind and keeping you fit which keeps your focus sharper!

When I use the term focus, I am referring to the future. It’s during the off-season you plan the coming year. It’s during this time you assess your goals and determine what best practices will help you achieve those goals. It’s often at this stage where your motivation returns and you find yourself eager once again to lace up those shoes and start logging the miles. Say, this wasn’t about triathlon or Ironman and it was about war and you were moving an army toward victory. Wouldn’t it be easier to count the loss, re-establish strategy and take the offensive when paused then while on the go? The off-season gives us a chance to stop, evaluate and plan for success along the way.

For those who are people of faith this notion of pause and recovery, pause and reflection should be no surprise. The Bible refers to it as Sabbath; a break within the work to rest and focus on God. This is how the writer of Hebrews puts it…

So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world.  So let us do our best to enter that rest. Hebrews 4:9-11a (NLT)

One of the hardest things for a triathlete to do is acknowledge his or her need for rest! We know in our heart it is the key to success. Our bodies literally ache for it yet our minds tell us we have to push harder because we know it too, is the key to success. So, find the balance, move with the rhythm and enjoy those extra few pounds… as my coach told me a couple years ago, “You have to gain weight in order to lose weight.” Not until writing this did I realize it had become part of my rhythm.

“Uh… excuse me, miss barista gal? Can you make that a grande?”