Preparing for a Big Event Without it Taking Over Your Life

When you are training for an event, perhaps a race or a triathlon, it can be hard not to get carried away. You want to push yourself, hit your targets, beat your personal bests and make sure the experience is worth it. But, push too hard, and there’s a risk of injury. There’s also, a chance that your training will take over your life. You can easily find yourself focusing less on your job, not giving your relationships enough attention or not making time to do things that make you happy.

If you’ve got an event planned in 2018, whether it’s a personal challenge or taking part in charity fundraising events, here are some tips to help you get the most out of your training, without it taking over your life.

Give Yourself Time

One of the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to preparing for a big event is leaving it too late. They book or sign up months in advance, thinking they’ve got plenty of time to train and prepare, then leave it until the last minute before spending a month panicking and working out every minute they can or going on an unhealthy crash diet.

Ideally, you want to give yourself at least 12 weeks, to prepare both emotionally and

psychically. But, if you’ve got something booked for this summer, or even later, there’s nothing to stop you starting to build up your fitness levels now.

If your event is a run or something else including distance, you need to build up very slowly to give your body time to adjust. Try to run three times a week, adding 10% of your last distance every week.

Diet

Your diet is important when it comes to training. If you are overweight, you might want to lose some weight and try to get your BMI into the healthy range so that your body copes better with an intensive training program. But, you shouldn’t lose too much. Stick to a healthy and balanced diet to help you build strength and stamina. Complex carbs like brown pasta can be ideal before training as they keep you going for longer.

If your event is going to take several days or longer and you plan on eating or drinking protein bars and supplements, it’s a good idea to start now, to help your body to adjust. You don’t want to find yourself with stomach pains at the worst possible time.

Mental Preparation

Training for an event isn’t just about preparing your body. You also need to prepare your mind. Do some research, so you know exactly what to expect and think about downloading some podcasts or music to help keep your focus.

Stick to a Schedule

The key to not letting training take over your life is sticking to a schedule. If you’ve got plenty of time, you don’t need to go crazy. Train three days a week, adding cross-training occasionally to keep things fresh. Try to workout early in the morning to keep the rest of your day free and make sure you take time off to do other things.