Golden Trail Series 2021: Making it Happen
I had two major aims for the trip: to see where I currently sit in the world scheme of the distances I currently race; and learn about the European mountain terrain/the training required to compete on that terrain.
Nurture your body, invest in your mind.
Whether you have any degree of disordered eating, mental illness, or not, we all have an inner critic that can both drive and destroy us. Athletes can use it to our favour; our inner critic can spur us to attack and persevere through hard training. But currently, many of us have more time alone with our inner critic, don’t have our usual outlet of competition to keep self-criticism constructive, and have less ability to properly debrief with our social supports. Not to mention increased social media use and opportunity for downward self-comparison! This perfect storm can lead to focusing on insignificant and unhelpful outlets, such as food, body image, excessive training or worse.
Acceptance: The best way out is always through
Athletes are taught to “keep the ball rolling” — but when life changes and we no longer know what the ball is rolling towards, keeping it going without taking the time to reassess is to risk moving for months in a direction that won’t do anything other than lead us haphazardly down paths that end nowhere near what we wanted.
Relinquishing Control: A Guide For Athletes In The Wake Of COVID-19
Athletes love the cliché “control the controllables”. It offers solid ground in uncertain times like the present pandemic with a clear sentiment: shrink your focus to the things within your sphere of influence. But in our experience, trying to control small things in an attempt to manage the anxiety stemming from a lack of control in the rest of your life can be disastrous. Just because you can control something, doesn’t mean you always should.