"I NEED this tether right now. I'd be lost without all of the direction and support available in the groups you have fostered." - Michelle, Maintain
I've said in the past, that the times you need a coach, a plan and a team the most, are the times when you least able to connect with one.
So it felt like a great time to start my weekly coaching emails back up!
I’ve also compared periods of uncertainty to running a marathon: CONSERVE, RESERVE & PRESERVE your energy until you can see the finish line, then SERVE up everything you have left.
Distance runners tend to be planners, and not being able to plan is immensely frustrating. Without a plan or a race on the calendar, it’s easy to lose sight of why we run in the first place; the race was the excuse, it was never the reason.
Races are how we justify the time we spend training when balancing our other activities. It is easier to say ‘no’ to anything that could lay claim to the time we plan to spend running when we are training for something, and easier to get out the door when we’d rather sleep in.
Now is the time to reconnect with why we decided to pick up running in the first place; that happened before you bought your first bib.
We run for all kinds of reasons:
For our health
For some alone time each day
To spend some time outside
To have goals that are uniquely ours
To belong; to have a place in a sport and community
All of those reasons still exist without a race on the calendar.
In order to connect with those reasons and find your motivation each day, you need a coach, a plan, and a community.
This is my gift to you: April’s Maintain training plan, free of charge. We have no idea where the finish line may be right now, but I am here to support you until it is within sight.
Log into your Training Peaks account, then click here and use the code APRILTh1s727 to download it for free. (We recommend starting the plan on a Wednesday so your long runs will fall on Saturdays.)
Runners are TOUGH. If we’re in this for life, and most of us believe that we are, it’s gonna take more than an empty calendar to derail our dreams. Preserve yourself for the long haul and we’ll be ready to serve it all up when the time is right.
You are coached, you are loved, and whether you are running or not right now you’re winning at life.
Coach MK
Want to know more about Maintain? Listen to this podcast and let our participants tell you how this program has worked for them.