A Day off.

Today was a good day. I'm tempted to say that I didn't train today, but I did. Even though you won't see a Strava entry today, even though I wasn't in the pool, on my bike, out pounding the pavement running, or even cross training, I was training. I spent the majority of the day with my feet propped up, don't even think I broke a sweat. How does someone train for a triathlon without sweating? Well as my coach, is quick to remind me, we can't go full bore all the time, and not every training session is meant to create a PR.

Today if anything left me chomping at the bit, ready to rock, ready to get out there, and able to go out there and do more do better and do it all faster. Our bodies are incredible, amazing things, capable of much more than we might dream, but always capable of exactly what we think they are.

Rest days are the glue that hold your entire training plan together, they can keep you from injury, from burnout, and most importantly from quitting. I use my training days not only to rest my body but to nurture, cultivate and train my mind. I always focus just a little bit more on personal development. I take extra time to cultivate my spirituality, my mindset, or my focus on these days.

Today for me was "Still Waters Run Deep", a meditation technique that I learned about from one of my personal mentors, ex-Navy Commander Mark Divine in his book The Way of the SEAL: Think Like an Elite Warrior to Lead and Succeed. While I spent time focusing on sharpening my mind, my muscles have a chance to relax, heal, and get back in fighting shape.

While I understand that for some of us, taking a day off is hard, it might even be contrary to the competitive nature and obsessive personality that brought us into Triathlon in the first place, it's necessary and something that we must focus on and "train" just as hard as those ladder runs, interval bikes, and hard swims. Rest Day is important, and deserves our respect, and our concentration. So enjoy that next day off, but consider using it to better you mind, because as we all know, Triathlon is 90% physical and 95% mental!