Counting down the days!
Hey Athletes!
I am counting down by the day now, my flight leaves Wednesday morning and my first day of riding is Saturday.
This is of course the time when I (or sub in your name here if you wish), feel the insane desire to do something stupid. Its the final crunch and out mind starts to wander to the thoughts of “Have I done enough training?”, “Should I try a different piece of equipment?”, “What have I forgotten?” “Can I sit a rodeo the way I think?” “Maybe I should drop 10lbs to save my horse”
STOP
BREATHE
There is very little than you can or should change before a big adventure. You can either trust in your training, or trust in your ability to figure it out, or best yet both. Nothing you can do in the last week or two before your adventure will make your trip… but it can break your trip. So again.
STOP
BREATHE.
Ok now having been through this a couple times, here are some of the things I am doing to avoid doing something stupid before I leave because I think I haven’t worked hard enough. You can do these too, whether you are prepping for a big race like the Mongol Derby, or you just need to take some time to yourself to chill and be kind to your body and mind.
Got a massage
Fixed some nagging dental issues
15 minutes of daily stretching and/or mobility work
10 minutes of low weight strength training daily
Walking the dog
Building my packing list and online shopping for anything I am missing (PS if you want a copy of my packing list, reply to this email and if I get enough I will make it a free digital download)
Focusing on others and making sure they are prepared for me to be MIA for 3 weeks examples:
making food for my spouse
arranging alternate coaching for my Team Riders
filling up supplement buckets for my horses
making clear instructions for the person who has to do my day job while I am gone
Basically… busywork that keeps my mind off the race and help me feel like the stuff at home can STAY at home and I can enjoy my ride
Fixing the things that hurt - my broken toe is getting iced daily in hopes of bringing the inflammation down before I have to shove them in boots for 750km
Talking to others about anything I am struggling with, its surprising how many great ideas you get when you JUST ASK!
No hard rides on crazy or green horses (ok other than this weeks photo where I am cross country schooling, if you have ever ridden Westie you know just how safe that is with him!). No high intensity workouts. No big equipment changes (just some tweaks like duct tape) and most importantly…
NO NEGATIVE SELF TALK
I’ve got this. You’ve got this.
-Sarah