Hey ,
This past week, I got to experience Spring Break as an adult. I had been looking forward to 10 days of relaxing, traveling, setting up my office, and catching up with friends.
Well, in true Takia fashion, my body had other plans…
On Saturday, early symptoms of a cold set in. I was stuffy, had an uncontrollable cough, and felt very blah. I spent the next few days in bed and finally gathered enough energy to grab dinner with Kiera on Tuesday. I went for a hike on Thursday but that was pretty much it, my break had come and gone and I barely left my neighborhood.
Too Much, Too Fast: Despite my best intentions to take it easy, the last three months have been a whirlwind. I started a new job and an accelerated graduate school program at the same time. The free time I was looking forward to with my new schedule is now dedicated to writing papers and doing homework.
While my break wasn’t what I wanted, it was exactly what my body needed to avoid burnout.
As a coach, I always stress the importance of rest to my clients. Whether it’s a day off from running or actually resting in between sets during strength training, rest is intentionally built in their schedules to help avoid over-use injuries and burnout. Rest improves performance.
It's time to implement this strategy [again] into my daily life. This week, I'm going to experiment with incorporating the following in my schedule:
- Rest between "sets" - Instead of diving into back-to-back tasks, I'm scheduling breaks in between to allow myself time to recover.
- Rest Day - I will dedicate at least one day every week to rest and relaxation.
- Fuel and hydrate - Since it's rough to squeeze in bathroom breaks at work, I find myself avoiding water throughout the day. Not ideal. I'll be more intentional about drinking water and consuming enough food.
, has your body ever told you that you need to slow down? If so, what did you do to avoid it from happening again? I'd love to hear from you.
Takia McClendon
Co-Founder of Strides
