Do you dread Monday's run or ride?

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TRAINING BREAKDOWN

“No more Monday training hangovers”

By Emma O’Toole

Hello,

I hope you’ve been enjoying the first week of March and seen the the sunshine- what a difference it makes! Today’s newsletter tackles the Monday training blues, when Strava and your Garmin smartwatch have reset all of last week’s training data and you’re back at zero.

Answering honestly…

Do you dread Monday's run or ride?

When your alarm goes off, do you feel ready to take on your training, or do you hit the snooze button and skip it?

Or are you lying there conjuring up countless excuses to give yourself "permission" to miss Monday's session? “I had a long ride yesterday.”, “I didn’t sleep well”…

You might be telling yourself it's ok and it won't happen again - “It’s a one off!”

Or maybe you’ll say “I’ll do it later”… after work, after Ethan’s football club, after Violet’s netball practice… after dinner… after scrolling for a little bit… once I’ve sat down for a bit because my legs are sore from yesterday’s ride/run, suddenly it’s nearly time for bed and you’ve missed your session.

If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. For a lot of runners and cyclists this is a cycle they are caught up in the loop of, and it’s difficult to break.

You should ultimately enjoy your training and take an extra rest day here and there when you need it. However part of training is getting it done, it’s ticking off those sessions that move you closer towards reaching your goal. It's perfectly normal to not wake up every day full of beans and ready to go for your upcoming session- because despite what you see online, that is not the reality for runners and cyclists… especially those over 30 where we have an abundance of other commitments.

However, if you feel you need to skip Monday’s session every Monday and that then also feeds into Tuesday’s session…

... then something needs to change. Something is off.

You need a circuit breaker.

So what can you do about it?

Firstly, you want to review your training:

What’s that looked like over the past 4 weeks? Have you been consistent? Have your sessions changed? Is every session about running/riding as fast as possible? Have you been increasing the distance week on week? How have you been feeling in your sessions?

Next up you want to make sure you're eating, sleeping and hydrating well. You’re nailing the pillars of athleticism:

How has your sleep been? Having you been waking up more in the night? Are you skipping meals? Have you been eating more than usual, or less? Are you constantly finding yourself eating on the go? How much water are you drinking each day?

Thirdly, you want to consider other areas of your life:

Have you been more stressed lately? Are you taking more on? Have you set boundaries and said “no” to things? Are you surrounded by positive and healthy relationships?

And finally, you want to be strength training:

One of the most overlooked benefits of strength training is, in my opinion, its ability to help you recover and go again. Imagine waking up after a challenging session, or a big race, and feeling fresh and strong. You can keep your routine, and start back training much sooner than if you were sore for days. And this means that you’ll continue to make more and more progress as time goes on. No more Monday training hangover!

Now imagine experiencing that with something that only takes up less than 1% of your entire week for 2 × 30-45 minute sessions - a no-brainer, right?

What does this mean for you?

• No more making excuses.

• No more missed training sessions.

• No more leaving progress on the table.

If Mondays are a training write-off, maybe it’s time for you to change the script.

That’s not going to happen overnight, but here are some actions you can take today to help change your narrative.

1. Ask for help with your training.

Join my free community and drop in your training questions. I’m more than happy to help and look over your training plan as is everyone in the group to help provide you support with your training.

2. Log how your sessions went.

Most training devices now ask you to rate how you found the session. Do it and reflect on it. Identify patterns and trends.

3. Spend 5 minutes a day reviewing your sleep, nutrition and hydration.

You can use the sleep tracking sleeper on most smartwatches and food diaries to help.

4. Ask yourself the following questions:

• In my life’s important areas, what am I not saying “no” to?

• What is the impact of me not saying “no” on my life?

5. Assess your priorities.

If you truly want to improve as a runner and cyclist, recover better between sessions and become the best version of yourself, then you need to be strength training.

If you’re unsure where to start, worried about time or what exercises to do and how many of them, then please reply to this email or drop me a message here as I have several suggestions for you!

Are you ready to take that first step and make Monday’s training great again?

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and enjoy training tomorrow!

Emma

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