As a self-proclaimed athlete (okay… that might be a stretch…) it’s easy to fall into the trap of the never-ending Facebook feeds and Pinterest posts that tell you the “should’s” of training, eating, sleeping, etc. — essentially the bible for your life as an actively-driven human.

You should run at least 4 times a week when training for a race [of any distance].

You should not drink while you are training, nor should you eat sweets, or snack on anything but the optimal fuel [really, don’t enjoy anything you consume for the next 6 weeks].

You should take active recovery days.

You should train for every type of weather that might occur [so mid-summer I should set up a ice and sleet machine? Just in case I run into it during my race?]

You should get 8 hours of uninterrupted every night [HOW?]

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While I make fun of these, and while I could go on with so many more should’s that I myself get sucked into every day, the real one, the truest one, is simple: you should go with what your body feels.

If your body feels like ditching a hefty gym day you planned for every day for a full week — skip it. If your mind feels like you want that second margarita — have it. If you are semi-looking forward to a running hiatus once you get this next race in the books — that’s okay.

Life is short, and we are all self-proclaimed somethings. So if for 3 months you are rocking it, killing it, and the epitome of what you’ve always wanted to be, then suddenly hit a wall and want to switch gears, go for it and try that old-lady dance-swimming class (#sorrynotsorry), or the Zumba class where you’ll look like a fool but totally love it, or the couch potato you’ve secretly wanted to be for a full week, go for it! Let yourself BE THE SOMETHING YOU WANT TO BE and be okay with the feeling that it gives you.

FEEL happy.

About Melaina Johnson

Kitchen lover and fitness addict, marketing nut & puppy parent, keeping calm & collected for a happy life.

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