Advice from a pro: have some fun in the off-season

Even with a full plate of recreation, I find I have a lot more free time. With the choice of using that time to catch up on sleep or fill it with experiences, I always go with the latter. Restaurants, live music, art walks, comedy shows, dancing and theater are my favorite evening adventures, and this is the time to enjoy the nightlife that is typically past an endurance athlete’s bedtime.

Whatever you do, make time for your loved ones. You train long hours and work even more. By the end of the season, the endurance lifestyle wears on your relationships. Make sure your activities include your family and friends. Bring your kids kayaking, go dancing with your wife, plan a family hiking trip. Use this time to share experiences with the people who support you the rest of the year. And if you have to slow down to wait for your friends? Good! You should be taking it easy anyway!

The most important thing about planning your time off is to plan it. It is the monotony of routine training, boredom of repeated bike routes, the annoyance of seeing that same guy with the pink sunglasses doing the same drills on the same section of the track week after week that makes us crave a few weeks off to recharge our batteries. Don’t waste that time getting bored with inactivity. Figure out what you want to do and be ready for it as soon as you cross that final finish line.

Now, since this blog post is probably getting to you a little late for this year’s planning, get off your butt, go do something fun and different, bring your family and friends and remind them why they stick by you through all that crazy athletic dedication.

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