Thinking I’m One Behind
As we head into summer and training load increases, you may find your nutrition and training start becoming erratic.
There is nothing quite like a big increase in stress to flush out any weaknesses in our overall approach.
One sign that you’re on edge will be a frequent feeling that you’re “one behind.”
There are two ways that are common in my team, and my head:
- I screw up my nutrition, either from missing a meal or binging, and start to think that I’ll sort that out on my next meal.
- I’m training and I have a strong urge to make up for a session that I didn’t get quite right earlier in the week.
This type of thinking will screw things up because it leads you to bounce between too little and too much. It’s also a mental habit that is a disaster for effective race pacing!
If you pay attention then you will find that the thinking pops up well before illness, burnout or injury.
I treat the thoughts as my early warning system. The thoughts are telling me that I have too much stress in my life and too little sleep. So I dial down my stress and bump up my sleep.
As you get better at identifying your mental early warning system, you can back off early, maintain consistency and avoid the trap of always feeling like you’re trying to catch up.
