I’m a firm believer everyone needs a little windshield time in their life! My competitive spirit got the best of me on my most recent road trip to train in FL, 18 hours one way and 16 back both solo and in one day…but alas it was awesome! I had my cooler of food and enjoyed endless cups of coffee. A week of “traincation” in the not so warm FL weather was a great way to focus and get in some solid workouts leading up to Puerto Rico.
“We can keep talking about the past and our inconsistent training blocks, but how is it going to help what we are doing right now? We are waisting time continuing to talk about it. So get your head out of your a@!, the bar is being raised now,” paraphrased from Veritas Coaching. I digress but this Monday morning conversation from FL seemed a bit fitting as I recently had looked out the windshield of my car for countless hours focused on solely moving forward for a great week of training.
It’s so easy to get caught up in the rear view mirror obsessing about our past whether it be our training regimen or life in general and that darn side view mirror comparing ourselves to our competitors and others in our life. This hyper focus ends up taking so much of our precious energy. Yes the past is important….hopefully used to grow, evolve, become stronger and appreciate our journey…not to obsess about what we should have done differently. And that sideview mirror can get the best of us too, why compare ourselves to others? What makes each of us tick and succeed is quite dramatically different…surround yourself with those in your periphery that make you better, spark new ideas and push you beyond your limits, no need to waste energy comparing all the time.
My rear view mirror and side view mirror have proven to give me the snapshot I’ve needed to find drive and passion in my life. I’ve also learned you keep that snapshot in the back of your head, draw on it from time to time…however now it’s time to focus on 2016 and the fun that is yet to unfold. I'm quite lucky that my sideview mirror of coaches, friends and family keep me grounded and enjoying the ride!
Here’s to focusing in February and keeping my eye on the prize in March, toe’ing the start line in Puerto Rico for my first race of the 2016 season. The infamous question, how’s training going? Well let’s talk about the present, it’s great. Part time work and full time athlete are proving to be just what I needed to focus and get in the quality and quantity of workouts while allowing recovery time (I never really knew what that truly was) as the training bar has been raised. I’m healthy, injury free and enjoying a recovery block, yep enjoying every second of it until my final push heading into Puerto Rico March 20th. P.S. I might have had a beer at lunch today with my family, cheers to recovery time?