Christmas time and the New Year holiday period are for most people a bit of a break from work. A time when people tend to eat and drink more than they should. But have a small consideration for the athlete who can’t help but be distracted by all the food and fun goings on.
There is a common idea that only the truly dedicated athlete will train on Christmas day, the truth is, that if you plan properly you can have Christmas day as a rest day. However, wherever possible I try to keep the training routine as normal as possible, not wanting to miss a technical or physical session.
For myself as a coach it’s more a period of inconvenience and a break in the training routine with facilities closing as they do on Bank Holidays.
The Christmas period is an important time in a training plan that sees the end of a large block of the winter training and marks the start of the Indoor season. The transition from heavy winter work into sharper competition mode. Not a time to be distracted, but rather a time to refocus.
Once the New Year is underway then that will make the coming season seem all to close, the feeling that you are running out of training days. So it’s important not to lose a step in training, but allow a small rest to get ready for what’s to come.
Or maybe I’m just getting soft in my old age!
Merry Christmas,
Toni
You can follow Coach Toni Minichiello on Twitter at Coach_Toni
