How annoying isn’t to get advice you don’t want. Some people feel the urge to drown you with good sayings and advice you are forced to listen to. Everything from parenting, food and driving. I know, I do it too. I think I know so much better than some people, sometimes. And usually you give advice just because you mean well. When you watch a game you always know so much better than the coach and you always have some good advice for him. When you meet new parents… you really have to restrain yourself to be quiet. And all the advice you give your kids… it is really difficult to keep quiet and let them do the mistakes themselves.

Don’t listen to any advice I give, I am clearly not qualified to give advice, especially when it comes to training. But, as usual I’ve been thinking a lot. I somehow got a very stiff hip/back and that makes me go back in my training log and evaluate my behavior the last couple of weeks. When your body aches it is probably because you’ve done too much or not enough. (And I am not talking about the good ache, nice soreness.) I believe sitting causes just as much problems as overuse. So, what is my problem this time? Easy! I just got back into my old habits and plans and didn’t realize that I’ve been off for almost 6 weeks. I broke my tailbone and had a cold for a few weeks, my training decreased drastically. And when I got back to regular classes and runs I just jumped right into it. From 8 miles running one week to 35 the next. Nr 1 basic mistake. And my hip screams. I clearly didn’t listen to any advice I got.

Quality vs quantity, from high to low and back to high. Build up with quality before quantity. When think of it I guess intensity is what matters in all kinds of training. If you want to improve you need to train and you need to put a lot of power and high intensity into your training. But, if you go from 0 – 100 in a few weeks your body doesn’t adapt to the intensity, you don’t give it a chance to handle time and volume. Once you have a solid base than it is time for quality and once you have quality it is time for volume. It is like gambling, you take risks if you add on lots of time. You can win big but you can also loose it all. Make good choices every day.

But, enough random thoughts and ideas. Let me give you some real advice.

If you don’t enjoy what you are doing, don’t do it. Get another job, find a new hobby or start collecting stamps. Heard on the news this morning that most people don’t enjoy what they are doing. And of course I know that a lot of people are trapped and can’t change that because they need their paycheck every month. But, change one thing at the time, do more fun things. 

If you are scared or nervous turn the feeling around and act like you’re the boss. You are in control, act confident, like a pirate. Arrrrrrgg

Grow up, be a man/woman. Suck it up. We all have bad days. Move on. 

Slow down and dance a little. Enjoy life, don’t take everything so serious. Take a break.

Believe in yourself. If you have done the work, enjoy it. If you know you are well prepared, don’t sweat it. You know you can do it.

Therapy is expensive, bubble wrap is cheap.

“Telling a teenager the facts of life is like giving a fish a bath” Arnold H. Glasow. Choose your battles.

Go and find your smile. I think my smile is probably about 10 miles away, east of here. I plan to go and get it later today.