Jen Rulon

It is time. It is Race Week. You are at the venue and ready to “ROCK THE SHIT” out of your race. Let me break down your week for you.

You are TWO days from your Ironman Triathlon! 

You are excited, hanging at the Expo and grabbing your Ironman Branded Gear. You start hearing what people say about their training and how many miles they have taken. You head back to the hotel. You get your T1 and T2 gear ready. The bike is prepared. You sit with more athletes at dinner. They talk about the “war” stories of how much training they did. They pull out their phone to look at their data. You observe.

You are ONE day from your Ironman Triathlon! 

You eat a LARGE breakfast and must start tapering your food today. You head down to the bike drop-off with your bike and TI/T2 bag. You begin hearing MORE people discuss their training. You head back to the hotel. You jump on your social media. You see, EVERYONE is talking about Ironman this and Ironman that. People keep talking about the weather. Is it wetsuit legal? What do you do?

STOP EVERYONE…I am FREAKING OUT OVER HERE! 

Sidenote: I wrote this article over five years ago, and I wanted to reshare it because we, as athletes, triathletes, runners, cyclists, powerlifters, etc., forget about rest and its importance is. I talk about how I used The Whoop to track my sleep and sickness. My athlete Jeff does the same and had some excellent learnings recently.  Today, I am here to remind you of some tips. I will always put in a rest day for my athletes and rest weeks. Need any help with coaching for the rest of the year? I have spots available! Apply TODAY! 

Rulon Rules to Rest & Recovery

As triathletes, we know the importance of rest and recovery. You have all heard the numerous discussions about sleep and what we are learning about LACK of sleep. Heck, I wrote a blog about Why It is Time to Prioritize Your Sleep, Triathletes.”

Unfortunately, as triathletes, we tend to be VERY hard on ourselves. For example, maybe you feel like a nap, but in your mind, you think LAZY. Or you see ALL your friends riding 5 hours when you are ONLY supposed to be riding 2 hours. Unfortunately, the big thing that gets in our way is OUR EGO! (Yes, I said it!) As a triathlon coach, I have seen this happen with athletes constantly. Not so much for the people I coach, but the people I see on social media!