Coach Carter

A thought for Christmas – I have received many emails from PBscience athletes this week on the difficulties of being an athlete at this time of the year: the pressures of socialising, feeling the odd one out and isolated at Christmas functions, the temptations of rich food and drink, fitting in training around family / friends commitments. If I had a pound for each time I have read / heard “I wish Christmas was over so I could get back into the routine”, my Amazon shopping list would be very big (and its big already!).

Some of the more common pitfalls / challenges are:

• it feels like every other day is a social engagement - late nights, a lack of sleep, mixing with people who are ill: an athlete's worst nightmare!
• too much rich food on offer: often compounded by the popularity of buffet style food (portion control goes out of the window)
• the weather - we have gone from wet / windy to ice cold

I came across this related story on "Discipline" from the Velonews website.

Even the most goal orientated, motivated athlete finds it hard at this time of year: so be gentle on yourself if you do get waylaid. Just remind yourself of the bigger picture, weighing up the short term pleasure vs long term gains. Beware those people that rise to the role of being your saboteur though - if you know who these people are, avoid them; or even better, laugh their attempts off and show them how much you enjoy being disciplined rather than moaning about having to restrict yourself.

It is tricky – our loved ones expect more time with us, yet we see the week off work as a way to clock up more training and benefit from the rest alongside it. I know when I was competing, Christmas was like a mini-training camp: morning rides followed by big lunches and a sleep, then an afternoon in front of the television. I was fortunate that my friends and family understood my ambitions. And, I think this is the key to survival – share with people what your real desires are. Of course, not everyone will understand your ‘madness’ in enjoying a 5 hour ride in the freezing cold! But, if you open up and explain why its important to you (note, "opening up" is NOT screaming at them in anger or resentment!), they may begin to cut you more slack. Frustration from others often comes from a lack of empathy or understanding: their frustration can be seen as difficult behaviour by you: so help them understand you, and try to understand them in return. Even better, discuss how you can achieve what everyone needs / wants at Christmas – maybe training earlier, or how about making ‘appointments’ in your diary – training time, family time. It sounds too easy, but amazingly, it works!

But, before you can communicate what you want, you need to KNOW what you want! Like any time of year, set some clear goals as to what you want out of the next 2 weeks:

1. By January 2nd, where do you want to be with your fitness?
2. What training do you need to be there?
3. What other strategies do you need to employ to ensure you attain that level?
4. What are the main obstacles to achieving those aims?
5. What solutions can you put in place i.e. the 'Plan B' or contingency?

You might find an even bigger buy in from your loved ones if you involve them in this goal setting process.

Happy Christmas!