Top Ten Tips To Supercharge Your Offseason: Part 1

10. Take 2 weeks off

“WHHHAAATTT!?!?! “ You say. “Two weeks without exercise! That’s impossible.” No it isn’t actually. Millions of people across America do it all the time. You can be a normal American for just TWO weeks. I know you can. If the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything, can do it- so can you.

  I often hear people talk about how they like to “keep moving” and “just do some easy workouts” during their break. That’s all well and good and I firmly believe there is a time for that as well but I think total rest is important. If you can’t handle taking time completely off I challenge you to examine yourself and ask WHY it’s so difficult for you to take a break? It doesn’t have to be two weeks exactly, maybe it’s 10 days or maybe it’s a whole month. The point is it’s good to let your body have some down time from ANY sort of physical activity. You have 11 ½ months to beat your body into submission so the least you can do is take a couple weeks off and just rest. I promise you, after two weeks you’ll be so mentally and physically rested that you are just craving activity and it makes it so much more worth it when you do start training. Bernard Lagat takes 5 weeks completely off every year and he’s pretty fast.  

9. Train Unstructured. 

Call it the "transition period" or whatever you want but after some total down time I’m all for doing unstructured training. This is actually one of my favorite times of the year. If I feel like going for a run then I’ll go for a run. But if I don’t, then by golly I’ll just sit on my butt and won’t. And I don’t feel one hint of guilt. The important thing is to listen to your body. Yes, exercise is good for us and as triathletes we typically do it because we enjoy being active. I like to do unstructured training for anywhere from 1-4 weeks AFTER my 2 weeks off. I try to re-discover my love for the sport and remember WHY I love training. There’s no set rule on how long this time has to last but don't rush it. Enjoy the time to stay healthy but not overdo and not have to stress if life get's in the way.

8. Do something fun for a change. 

Like bake a pie

Play croquet

Or maybe just do a little dance

This girl is in full-on offseason mode

Yes, yes, I know we all embrace that identity of being “the boring triathlete” during race season. Believe me, I’m just as boring as the next guy when it’s time to get down to business. In fact, I’d like to bet that my wife and I could compete for the most boring couple in America with our complete lack of social interaction. In a “most boring couple under 30” contest, we’d win handily. During this offseason though I try to rise above “boring” and just be “dull.” Being dull means that maybe I go a little crazy and take my wife to a movie, or dinner or maybe even one of those concert things. Oh trust me we do it big at the Saroni house. The point is to do stuff out of your regular routine that you would normally not do when you have 6am swim practice the next morning or just finished up a 7 hour brick session. You don’t have to be the most interesting man (or woman) in the world, just try being a little less boring.

7. Reflect on your season. 

Yes, this sounds very serious and contemplative and it is. After a week or two have gone by and you’re not as emotionally connected to what went right or wrong in your last “A” race take some time to look back and examine the season as objectively as possible. Look for the area’s you improved and where you could have done better. Don’t be too hard on yourself. As triathletes, we are normally our own toughest critics but the agonizing thing about endurance sport is that improvements come very slowly and often by miniscule margins. We are usually too quick to judge ourselves harshly and not see the steps forward we made throughout the season. There are many other variables too look at other than just time too. Time and splits vary so widely and depending on terrain and conditions. There are other factors to consider- Was your mental approach stronger this year? Did you have a better nutrition? What about time management skills? Recovery? Transitions? There are a TON of different ways you can improve year to year other than just “going faster.” (Though of course going faster is the primary goal). Often the races that weren’t the best are where you learn the most and can help you improve for the future. And if you can’t find a single positive thing to reflect on from last year? Than, ouch. That must have been a really, really bad one.

6. Stay up late- 

This one goes along with doing something fun for a change. Contrary to what your parents may have told you, sometimes good things DO happen after midnight- If you can make it that late. Personally, for my wife and I, staying up late means we don’t hit the sack until 8:30 or maybe if we’re being extra crazy, 9:00. Yes I know we’re boring and dull. In all seriousness though a lot of times I find that I’m not as tired from training so it’s hard to go to bed early. So I’ll stay up and read a book or work on other stuff I don’t have time to do when I’m in full on tri-geek-train-hard-win-easy-race-till-I-die mode. Reading is one of my favorite past times actually-

This is a completely accurate depiction of my utterly-sheltered-
100% homeschooled-childhood. (Actually I give my mom
great credit for instilling a love for reading in me from a very
young age).

Or I’ll go do some of the aforementioned “fun” activities that often involve staying up late. (I’m still astonished sometimes when I’m told that a certain activity or show doesn’t START until 9:00 pm. I really don’t know how I use to do it in high school and college when I’d be out until 2am and then come home to START working on my paper due at 8:00am that morning. Crazy times).







Stay tuned next week for Part 2!!

This actually has no connection to my blog I just thought it was funny
and brings back many other homeschool memories.