Navigating Off-Season Motivation, Emotions, And Expectations Ep 117

 Coach Chris and Coach Carlie, sports performance consultant, unpack why “I’m not motivated” often means “I’m feeling big emotions,” how to reframe perfectionism, and simple tools—like the 10-Minute Rule—to build an off-season you’ll actually enjoy (and stick with). 

You'll hear:

• Why the post-race motivation dip is normal—and what’s really going on
• Weather, daylight, and social routine shifts that change how training feels
• Perfectionism detox
• The 10-Minute Rule for low-friction consistency
• Journal prompts to get curious (not judgmental)
• Comparison trap: someone else’s training highs may be your peak
• Strategic resets: how stepping back can refill your cup
• Coach tactics: label “Optional,” pull unhelpful reds on Training Peaks and  celebrate effort

Find journal prompts and more info here: https://www.theenduranceedge.com/navigating-off-season-motivation-emotions-and-expectations/ 

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And The “Motivation” Question
• 3:00 Motivation vs Emotion Explained
• 5:20 Seasonal Shifts And Routine Disruptions
• 8:30 Perfectionism, Fear, And Expectation
• 13:30 Normalize The Dip And Show Up Anyway
• 17:20 Curiosity, Journaling, And The 50-50 Rule
• 21:10 Make It Fun Again: Practical Tweaks
• 25:10 Optional Workouts And The 10-Minute Rule
• 29:20 Rest, Reset Months, And Individual Needs
• 34:00 Comparison Traps And Hustle Culture

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 1:00

Hey friends, welcome back to the Find Your Edge podcast. I am Coach Chris and I am here with Coach Carly because we're here to drink coffee or water or whatever and have a little chat about the season change, the transition from like being in season to off-season, and then what the heck do I do with myself? Uh why aren't I motivated? Maybe I'm motivated, maybe it's something else. So let's chat about that. And and um I'll kind of kick it off that I've got this sort of all started because an athlete was like, oh well, I'm just trying to find my motivation. And you said, and I was like, Oh, we need to start recording right now.

SPEAKER_01: 1:53

I wasn't sassy, y'all. Further records. No, you get sassy, but I wasn't. We are never sassy. But what you described made me say, are they are they is it a motivation thing or is it the emotion that they're having surrounding their motivation at the moment? Because they're two different things. But sometimes we let our emotions get in the way and then we feel like we're unmotivated, but we're not. We're just not excited about our motivation. Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 2:20

Say more, pretty please.

SPEAKER_01: 2:25

Okay, so I'll say the the more grandiose example that everyone can sort of resonate with is like I've decided to sign up for my big exciting race, right? And you hit take all my money, and you sign up, and the like that week you show up every morning, you hit all your workouts to a team. Motivation is high, right? Because you're really excited about it. And then you sort of fall into this rhythm, and it the the motivation dips, right? And we see this big wave. It's in flux with the excitement we're feeling about it. We're not gonna stay feeling like, oh my gosh, I'm doing this really excited race every morning at 5 a.m. for the next year. It's just not gonna happen. Uh and so sort of separating the two a little bit and getting curious, really, if it's just that you're not excited about it at the moment. Because let me tell you, swimming at an outdoor pool through the winter is not something that sparks super joy for me. But that doesn't mean I'm not motivated towards the goal I'm working for. I'm just not super excited about what surrounds that goal at the moment.

SPEAKER_00: 3:47

Let me go. Yeah. So, like, as it's getting cooler out and maybe and the daylight is shorter, and we can't do our group runs or rides as much. Or to your point, like, I don't really want to swim outside anymore. And then open water goes away, for that matter. Open water swimming. Um so then it's kind of like, oh my gosh, may it have is it because our routines change?

SPEAKER_01: 4:18

Well, and you also just described a social change too, right? If I meet up with a group every weekend for open water swimming and all of a sudden that group's not doing that anymore, now I have a social change in my pattern. I have a temperature change, which can really impact how we're feeling about things. Uh so yeah, and generally we get busier around this time of year with holidays and events and all that sort of stuff. So it all shifts. And again, it doesn't mean maybe you are having a dip in motivation. I'm just saying get curious about it. Because it might not be that you're lacking motivation. It could just be that things are changing right now and your motivation feels different.

SPEAKER_00: 4:59

Yeah. Because I uh it feels like to me, this population, and I'm probably talking to you out there, uh, Mr. and Mrs. Hardcharging person who's like, you know, I will reach all the goals professionally and athletically and personally, and I will do them all all at once. So if that sounds like you, it's almost like we have to be on high all the time. And it's it's like this expectation, maybe societal pressures or our own pressure that we don't allow ourselves to come down because of this. Maybe it's a fear, and maybe that's an emotion that's coming up. Like, well, what happens if I'm not riding my bike outside anymore? What happens if I'm not swimming anymore? Or way less? Like, will I lose fitness? Will I disappoint myself? Will I disappoint my coach? Will I disappoint the world? I don't, I don't know. Chat with me.

SPEAKER_01: 5:59

Yeah, no, yeah, you're like going deeper into Pandora's box with all the different things that could be happening. And again, this time of year just comes with lots of changes to our routines when the weather, especially if you're listening from a state that has like deep winters, which isn't something we really get here. Like, honestly, the weather is gorgeous out here right now.

SPEAKER_00: 6:20

It is I should not complain at all. I'm like looking outside, I'm like, hello, sunshine. You are so like I'm pretty sure there's not a cloud in the set in the sky at all. But like if you're living in Iceland, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01: 6:35

But the grander sort of scheme. And right now, right, anyone that's thinking about their training right now, likely, I mean, there's a few exceptions, but likely they're thinking about a goal that's for next year sometime. So we're thinking a little bit longer term here. And again, to have this expectation and our high achievers that do all the wonderful things often fall into this. It's a manifestation of perfectionism when we think we have to be highly motivated and excited for the thing all of the time. Just like any area of your life, it's gonna wax and wane with the times. And it doesn't mean that the motivation isn't present. It doesn't mean that you shouldn't stick with it, but to expect to be excited to show up and train every day four months or years for some of you on end because some people don't like to take a break. That's a different podcast. Um it's just it's not it's not real life, friends. We gotta take, take some tip. Maybe the season is telling you that you do need to chill for a little bit, and that's all good. There's nothing wrong with that. There's also nothing wrong with showing up when you don't feel like being there, and there's a lot of magic in that part. And then, yeah, it's super great when you feel like working out and you go and you do it. Like, yeah, that's great. But it's not gonna be like that all the time, and that's okay. Yeah, like just sort of pulling back that level of perfectionism or the desire to have it always feel super great and exciting to be out there. It's just not gonna happen.

SPEAKER_00: 8:04

Yeah. I mean, hopefully, people can resonate with that. Like, have you gone out for every single training and been like, oh my gosh, this is amazing?

SPEAKER_01: 8:14

For I mean, anything. I love my job. Love, I love my job. Are there days that I'm like, I just want the day off? Does it have anything to do with my job? No, it's it's me. You know, you just need a break sometimes. I love my husband dearly. We've been married for almost 15 years. Do I always want to like spend time with that man? No, I need a break sometimes, okay? It's normal. We just sometimes it's a little different. It's all good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 8:42

Same with your training. So is it is it that we need to lean into the or lean out of perfectionism and change our expectations? Or you know, because I just I I fear for folks that they're gonna be disappointing themselves, or maybe they're disappointing someone else. I don't know. You're welcome, Pandora's box. I don't, you know, like so many different things.

SPEAKER_01: 9:12

Yes, I I am I would circle that back to my statement of get curious, because that's that's a different answer for each person. Do some people maybe could maybe if you're training for an Iron Man could lean into a little more perfectionism. Yeah. I'd say most of the time we're saying we need to lean a little out of the perfectionism, but that's not, you know, it's not a blanket statement for everyone. Everyone has different skills and tendencies and habits, so it would depend on them. But I would say to get curious is my biggest thing. Think about how often, if we circle this back to your original example, right now, I'm not excited to get out and train right now. Or as more specifically said, I don't feel motivated to get out and train right now. Why? What are the things that's making you feel that way? Are there other things that are contributing to that emotion? Again, maybe like work stress or family stress or something else that's kind of just making you blah already. And then like the blah about training is kind of just making it real fierce.

SPEAKER_00: 10:17

But to your point, like getting curious, do you have some ideas of like you you sort of mentioned one, like let's say if we were to create a few journal prompts for people, like literally writing out of the question, like, why do I not feel motivated right now? I feel like so many generations are not taught to, like, you had brought up emotions. They're not taught to be like, this is the emotion you might be experiencing. You know, like I know my generation was like, go sit in the corner and good luck with that emotion. You're like, I don't know what I'm feeling. Yes, nobody really taught me. So, like, uh so is it motivation? Is emotion? I don't know, do it like I I have this tendency, you very well know this about me, is that I like to ask six questions at once.

SPEAKER_01: 11:02

So I'm used to it now. That's okay. Uh back that up a couple. And so I hope you guys all enjoy all of the squirrel moments that Chris and I have. When that's why we're calling a coffee shop. When we have casual conversation, it yeah, it we it goes everywhere. When we get curious about what's happening, why am I feeling this way? How often is it happening? Is a big one. Has it just been like the last week? Then meh, if this is becoming a longer term pattern, okay, let's think a little bit more about it. I always look at that 50-50 rule. If we're tipping into most of the time, I'm not enjoying this. What's going on? Is our life out of balance? Do we have extra stressors? Are we burnt out? All of that sort of stuff. If it's less than that 50% and you know, we've just had like a couple weeks where it's whatever, then let ride the wave a little bit. Just let's see what happens. Keep checking in with yourself about what you're experiencing to yourself about like your point about what prompts could we maybe use? Yes, definitely explore that. Like, what's happening? When is it happening? What am I feeling when it's happening? What are the contributing factors? But let's look at the opposite too. All right, I haven't wanted to get to the pool in three weeks. What would make me excited to get to the pool this week? What, like, do I need to go have an unstructured workout? Do I need to go join the group? Do I need to go, I don't know, do all drills instead of speed? Because we're in a speed uh just or just get in the water and just start swimming.

SPEAKER_00: 12:39

Yeah. And then just don't stop.

SPEAKER_01: 12:40

Yeah. But but again, get curious, what would make it exciting? Okay, let's try it. Did it work? Let's do more of that. So again, thinking about what what's going on. Do is it something we actually need to change, or should we give ourselves a little grace and just ride the wave? And then what could we do to start sparking some enjoyment? Because if we're not having fun, friends, we need to be having fun. That's why we're here.

SPEAKER_00: 13:06

Yeah, it's lifelong enjoyment, is at the end of the day, what this company is all about. Like you, you deserve to be and feel healthy, like via your movement and habits and behaviors and nutrition choices, and you know, you're probably not gonna sustain the same level of fitness or the same level of doing the same activity all the time. So it kind of has to like, you know, be like a palm tree. Or just like bending here and there.

SPEAKER_01: 13:35

Well, your happiness and your sanity at the end of the day, if we don't have those going on, what what are we doing here? Like it's gotta be fun. Again, most of the time. Some days are gonna not be so great, and that's okay. It's also why we do this. We like the challenge, right? So, yeah. Yeah, like pull like pulling teeth.

SPEAKER_00: 13:57

Like, oh, I don't want to get up this morning. Yeah. My my trick, and unless it's going somewhere, is, and by that I mean like I am going to a pool workout with the group. Like, if I am going, I'm generally going to be committed to that. Like I will get in the water and I will stay the whole time. Generally speaking, unless something is just terribly off. But if I'm going up on my own, I usually try to do the 10-minute roll. Like, I'll start, I'll just be like, you know what? I'm just gonna go to the end of the street and back. That's gonna be my 10 minutes. At the end of 10 minutes, I'm like, okay, all right. This is not so bad. Like, I'm feeling okay. Maybe I keep going, or maybe I just don't. Yep. And the end. And like move on with my day. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 14:46

But that also has a level of like a layer of perfectionism pulled back from that, right? Oh, tell me more about that. Well, to be able to have that flexibility and not beat yourself up. Training Peaks wasn't green that day. I went out, I did my 10 minutes, and I was like, that's it. It's it's better for me to head home. To be able to be comfortable with that outcome, that's not perfectionism. Which is great.

SPEAKER_00: 15:15

Yeah. Ooh, I feel so perfect right now. The irony. The irony. Like, I made Carly excited. No, I'm just kidding.

SPEAKER_01: 15:27

Uh, it is that's great. It's also something if my athletes are listening, you might be one of the ones that I've had that role with. And particularly exactly what we're talking about. I've had athletes go through seasons where they're like, this is I'm, I don't want to show up. I don't want to go to classes, I don't want to train for the thing that I said I was gonna do. And again, it's almost always this time of year, my friends. It's totally normal. Yeah, let's normalize it. But I often implement that exact rule that you're talking about. I'm like, all right, what is the least objectionable thing? Okay, you you want to go run. That's what gets you most excited right now. Let's do it. That's what we're gonna focus on. We're gonna have a 10-minute rule. And after that 10 minutes, if you're just like, no, I don't want to do it, turn around and come back. And you're gonna get a big old high five from me that you showed up for yourself for 10 minutes and gave it a try. Because every time we show up for ourselves in some capacity, we get high fives. It's a great job.

SPEAKER_00: 16:20

Yeah. Which is making me think, and perhaps it's a bit of a channel change, but making me think from a coaching end of things. I feel like there are times when like the workouts need to be, there are certain workouts that need to be done. And then you get to a certain point where it's like, if you miss that, okay, I don't care. You know, and maybe that's on our part, like providing more clarity to the athlete. Like, and I wish training peaks had this like like like a gray zone, you know, like if it's not done, don't show up red. Like this is like an optional workout that just maybe it just disappears. I don't know. Like or turns gray or turns some neutral, just stays white. I don't know. I bet I feel like people get so attached. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 17:04

Well, I I do I do exactly what you're talking about. I try to do that of I will write in the title of a workout, this is optional. And if if come Friday, because Friday is usually my day that I spend a good chunk in training plans, if I see that they're red, they're coming out. We're not if if they're an athlete that I know will see red and and have a hard time with that, I'm pulling them. We're not eating they're not there, they're they're gone. Look, poof, in everyone.

SPEAKER_00: 17:29

I love that. People are like, but training peak said, I'm like, there's a human behind that. You realize? Well, hopefully. I mean, AI, I don't know about, and on our end of things, there's not the like pre-made training plans, like, but I mean, I'm sure you could still delete things, but it is very refreshing to. I I feel like for me personally, if I do take a break or when I take a break, I just come back so much fresher. Yeah. And then I'll get into something and be like, oh, okay. I think it's just that mental, the mental break. Yeah. And the physical break.

SPEAKER_01: 18:04

I am also realizing that I feel like most of the times when I come on the podcast, I end up talking about like being okay with taking breaks. Taking breaks. I promise y'all, I push my athletes. Okay. Yeah. Oh, yes. So hard. Yes. But very much part of my job is helping them find grace. Again, this isn't across the board for every athlete I've worked with, but it's really common. You guys are higher performers. You want to do your best. You want to show up all the time. And I deeply find it part of my job to help you find the grace to be okay with the when we're in a season that we're not going to be peak, and that's okay, that's okay. We it'll we can peak another time. Yeah. Right now, life is also important. Life is always important. Life balance is really important. It's like the number one predictor of longevity in sport. But how can we support?

SPEAKER_00: 19:02

How about that? If you are out of balance, you probably ain't gonna keep doing it. And you probably ain't gonna keep doing a lot of other things, honestly. Like your marriage, you know, or relationships. If you are just wanting to train all the time, or maybe not, it's not even wanting, like you just are like, is there something else that maybe you are hiding from? That's Pandora's box.

SPEAKER_01: 19:30

But I mean, maybe I and uh to sort of bring in this other level of a lot of it also can come from comparison. You know, a lot a yeah, a lot of y'all might be shifting into uh uh more of an off-season, we'll say, even though we like to say there isn't an off-season. For some of y'all, there isn't. Some people uh Coach Peter, maybe all year long. We love hate you guys, okay? Yeah. I I love hate you. I'm so excited for the life that you get to live. This is not happening over here, okay? No. And it's real easy for us to like I know for me, and I've I don't know if I've shared this on the podcast before. I know I've shared it with some of my athletes. When I, especially if I've had like an Iron Man year, even if I've done like a couple of 70.3s in a season, I take December off my training plan and whatever platform I'm using, there's nothing in it. And that scares a lot of people to think about.

unknown: 20:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 20:44

Yeah. I know December for me is a reset month. I want to spend it with my family. I'm catching up on time that I haven't gotten to spend with them. I'm hosting Friends Miss, and all my friends are coming over. Like it is for the heart and soul. It's not for fitness. Okay. Will I somewhat pay for that come January? Yeah, of course. When I get back to it in January, I'm gonna be like, ooh, okay, yeah, haven't sat on the bike in a month. Here we go. But my heart and soul go into every January so full from filling all my other cups in December that I can now come back to my fitness cup and work on my fitness again. Now, I don't think that's great for everybody. I know some of y'all are like, if I ever tried to do that, I would go absolutely insane. I am very regimented. If I do not have something on my training plan for the morning, I will go crazy. It's not for everyone. My point is reflect and know when you need some period of time like that. I have figured out the come every December. I think I went through three seasons of trying to have like a very regimented December to set me up for a great start of the year. And I wasn't hitting it. I didn't want to go. I was skipping things, I was bailing on them, and I was like, what is going on? And I did exactly what I'm talking about in this podcast. I sat down and was like, what's happening? Why? Like, I love training. I love trathlon. It is clearly my life. Y'all know that at this point, right? Like for me to not want to be doing those things, something else is happening. Something's off balance. And when I sat down and looked at what's going on, I was like, of course. Look at all these other things that I'm like not quite making enough time for because I'm trying to fit in this training and it's just not, it's not working right now. Yeah. So that's what I do. And it works for me. It might not work for you. But find that version for you when you come into this season, this off season. But more so back to that comparison, right? You might look at Peter and be like, man, Peter's coming in at and I somewhat say this jokingly, I don't know what Peter's up to. Peter, I hope things are great. I'll see you someday.

SPEAKER_00: 23:03

But uh I don't know that he's heavily training right now. Um oh no, he's got Haines City, so he is training right now. Of course he is. But he uh to his point, you know, because he said this on the podcast, like he's rocked out some fitness this year, so he's kind of like he's kind of gliding. Okay, you know, like there's not any, yes. I mean, gliding for somebody who has a VO2 max in the 60s, like vomit. No, I'm just kidding.

SPEAKER_01: 23:30

Gliding for Peter is peak training for many of us, just for perspective here. But my point being, if you have someone in your circle that is like Peter that is still like just nailing their training, is is going for it, you're looking at them like, man, how do I do that? Like, why don't I feel like doing this right now? Why aren't I hitting my numbers like they are? Why aren't whatever you might be thinking, right? That's that person. I will never train like Peter. In my dreams, maybe I'll train like Peter, but in real life, my genetics will never train like Peter. Again, do what you need to be doing. Don't compare yourself to someone else and what they're doing. Because then you just feel crummy about it. And we're not all supposed to be hitting November and December like we have an Iron Man on January 1st.

SPEAKER_00: 24:24

Oh, yeah, good point. I I like the thought of uh training peaks looking a little different. And shoot, even when I'm in season, I typically will put three workouts on my calendar in terms of like these are the things that I need to hit. Yeah. And then the other days I wake up and I'm like, seems like a good day to go for a run. Mm-hmm. And then I go for a run. Like, but I know, okay, well, let's not push it too hard because I know that tomorrow I've got this more intense ride or yeah, whatever. So different degrees sounds like of what is expected of yourself and trying not to compare yourself to others, trying not to be too perfect.

SPEAKER_01: 25:07

Yeah. Well, and just know that especially here in the US, we have this hustle culture of any high performer, and when we say high performer, we're talking like career and business and what you're achieving outside of your career and you know, 16-hour days that you're putting in and trying to have a family on top of that, like it's bonkers, y'all. And if you're gonna allow yourself to listen to people or take advice about motivation or routines in a day, like we were talking about morning routines, things like that, is that person truly living a life that you want to be living? Is there, do you think they're having the balance that you want to have balance? Do they have little kids at home like you do? Do they have a spouse like you do? Do they, you know, I'm willing to bet they have a lot of other supports in in their life that are taking certain things off of their plate and giving them time to do whatever it is that you're sort of looking at, like, oh, I should find time to do that in my day. Do you have the time in your day? I I'm willing to bet you probably don't. Because the athletes that I know that come through our doors, they're busy, y'all. I mean, we gotta we got a couple of retirees that are, you know, living the good life. They're still busy. Oh, yeah. Yeah. You know. But uh they're just again, reflect on what's actually going on in your world and what you prioritize and what you want to be prioritizing before you go seeing what someone else is doing and think, oh, I should do that with my time too. Because we all got different things going on and we all have different support systems to help us get through our 24 hours.

SPEAKER_00: 27:01

So yeah. So it sounds like reflect on potential gaps in motivation. Maybe what emotions could that be instead of a lack of motivation? And is there any unnecessary perfectionism showing up or comparison? I would also like to add that people you're freaking amazing. Yeah. Like if nobody's told you today, Carly and I will tell you today, right in this moment, or day you are freaking amazing and you are loved and you are perfect just the way you are.

SPEAKER_01: 27:40

Anything you want to add? Uh I mean, I feel like I've talked this whole time, so I don't know that I have rambled on at this point. Hopefully, you guys have enjoyed it. But yeah, y'all just quit being so hard on yourself. Yeah. Give yourself a little grace. You're doing amazing. It's okay if you don't wake up excited. I would also question if maybe and I'll say this because frequently when we had an off-season, we sort of pick something that we're gonna focus on on the off-season that we didn't really have time to when our volume was higher. And is there some resistance for whatever you have selected that you are trying to focus on right now? Because that might be more of an indicator of what's going on. Maybe you're not super busy in the holiday season and and everything is super balanced, and you're like, Carly, that was a crocobalone. And I'd be like, all right, well, then what are you so scared of about getting faster in the pool? Because if you're if you're saying that's what you need to be doing, what's the resistance there?

SPEAKER_00: 28:44

Yeah. I for me personally, in this season having finished worlds, and now I'm like, oh, but I I need to pick a goal. I'm like, uh, maybe I just shouldn't yet. I don't I'm trying to let it be very organic. And as I'm maybe searching for things or people are, you know, the team are talking about various things, I'm like, oh, is that exciting? And they're like, not really. I don't know. You know, it's gotta be something that really lights me up, but I've I I feel like there is some level of expectation, oh, I need to perform in the next year or the next like what are you doing next? And uh I would have to say that I don't know. And it's a little bit freeing at the moment. It's uncomfortable. I'm not gonna lie. Yeah. But it's also like I'm kind of I'm kinda dead because I don't wanna I don't want to commit to something, then I'm just like, oh, because then training piece is gonna be solid red. And that does not excite me at all to be like, oh, I just don't want to do this. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 29:50

I was recently having a conversation about athletic identity, which again, I'll podcast for another day. I haven't raced since well, I raced a little bit after I started school, but I haven't raced in just over two years now in Trathlon. And even you have been like, You coming back? Like you're gonna race.

SPEAKER_00: 30:08

I'm like, hello, we miss you. Hello.

SPEAKER_01: 30:10

Uh but I was talking about this whole concept, and I was like, look, I I've been a Trathlete for over 10 years, and I haven't raced in two. I will still call myself a Trathlete. And I'm sure some of you might be rolling your eyes and disagreeing with me, and that's okay, because we're all different. I doubt it. Um I doubt it. I won, and I'm not gonna get into a big story about why I haven't been racing, but just a lot to go back to school with a little kid and a job. Uh, and to support all the people that I need to and want to be supporting, I needed to take a step back from racing and having regimented training. Because even taking a non perfectionistic approach to training, you still have to hit a Enough of it to be in race shape. And I would not be able to be consistent enough to get there with how my life has been. That doesn't change that I live in this world of trathlon. I talk about it every day. It is literally most of my day is spent doing something related to trathlon, which is kind of weird to think about and say out loud, but it's true. But it's taught me a lot going through a couple years of not racing and being so heavily involved in the sport. I've had a lot of self-development and kind of like what you're saying, like, well, I feel like I should be racing. And I am a coach, so I feel like I'm supposed to be training. And I feel like there's an expectation of others that I should be doing something. And then you kind of come out of the other side and you're like, okay, that's it's not a fit for me right now. I'm almost done. Then I'll be back tracing. It'll be really exciting. And I'm excited to get back to it. I'm excited to pick a race that like lights me on fire and gives me like all this intrinsic motivation to get going again. And I'm trusting that it will come when I'm ready for it. But it's okay to take a break too. And look, I'm still here, you guys, and I still love triathlon. Like the world didn't end. If anything, I'm probably more involved with triathlon now than I was then.

SPEAKER_00: 32:22

Isn't that interesting? Yeah. I mean, I had a very similar experience, like you were describing with like being in school and having young kids. And there were several years where I did not race at all. And honestly, reflecting back on that, I had no space in my emotional or mental capacity to do so. And I think had I tried to do that, I would have physically and mentally been wrecked. Yeah. And then, you know, you still have this, these little bieber boppers who are like, so Winstoner, and are you gonna buy me new clothes? And then I would just be lying in bed in the fetal position, probably bawling my eyes out. And uh, you know, that's no good for anybody. Had I been trying to push myself to train and race at that time. So I like you have been a travelate since 2003 when I did my first race, even though there were multiple gaps in there, and I am not ashamed to say that that's part of it. Like, yeah. So hopefully, hopefully folks are able to reflect on their own needs. Like, what is your soul calling you to do right now, and honoring that and respecting it, and knowing that hopefully you'll feel fresher physically, mentally, emotionally on the other end. Cheers. That was some good coffee, slash water, slash whatever's in your cup.

SPEAKER_01: 33:49

Next time we'll do it in the morning and I'll have my coffee. My coffee is empty, but that's okay. It's more of a high tea time right now.

SPEAKER_00: 33:55

Yes, yes, for sure. All right, y'all. Thanks for listening to the Find Your Edge podcast. If you found this valuable, if you want more, like if you have follow up questions, you can always comment. You can always send us a DM on Instagram because Carly's on the other end. I try to be, I try to be friends. So, huzzah. All right, y'all. We'll catch you next time. Thanks, Carly. Bye.