We have officially entered the holiday season with Thanksgiving around the corner.  The holidays are a busy time filled with planning, shopping and attending many holiday parties.  The holiday season sometimes is an excuse to skip exercise.  However, we must beware of these thoughts so that we can move past them and continue our marathon journey.  Giving into these thoughts and skipping multiple marathon training sessions can cause you to fall too far behind to catch up.  Here are some suggestions to implement into your thought process this holiday season in order to stay on track and cross that finish line.

1.  Remember your excitement and your commitment to train when you signed up for the marathon?  Committing to training for a half marathon can be a metaphor for so many other areas of your life because it is about changing old thinking, habits and your lifestyle.

2.  Realize you are a new you.  Old thought patterns and behaviors do not support your new lifestyle.  Take the time to stop and think about yourself.  The more you take care of yourself the more you will have to give to others.

3.  As the holiday season gets closer, start to write down what you need to do for the week so you can see it on paper.  Be sure to include your training.  Writing it down helps to make sure we achieve what’s on the list.

4.  The positives have to outweigh the negatives.  Take a minute each morning to write down the reasons you decided to do the half marathon. This will help you re-inspire yourself each morning and assist you in staying focused.

5.  It is never too late to find an accountability partner!  Call your marathon training buddy or a family member who knows you have committed to this training.

6.  Remember today is a new day!  Rid yourself of negative internal talk that does not support your goals.  Become aware of it and let it go. There is always time to get back on track with your training, but stay focused on today vs. being focused on the past.

Staying focused does not come easy to many of us.  It’s natural to go through phases of being unenthusiastic and feelings of being burned out.  However, it’s important to find a balance during this holiday season. It is not about saying no to every holiday party or only staying an hour just to say hi.  It is about changing that traditional holiday ritual of making cookies for your entire staff.  If you find yourself saying, “I do not have time,” step back and find what is most important to you at this moment.

Look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday at our 10 mile run/walk this week!

Happy and Healthy Training,

Prudence