If you’ve been reading this blog, then you are probably my mother. Hi mom! If you have been reading this blog and aren’t my mother, I’m happy that you are still reading this blog. You have probably noticed that my two workouts this week were rougher than expected. I struggled in my easy swim on Tuesday and yesterday’s biking session, while eventful, was also a struggle. Well, I finally have answers! I’m sick!

Typically when you have a cold, you aren’t so excited about it, but I was thrilled to finally know why my body wasn’t cooperating. I was noticing a few allergy symptoms this week, but should have taken the physical struggle as a sign from my body. It was trying to get me to slow down! So today, I rest. And I mean really rest. Like, I’m-still-in-my-pajamas-at-2:00 kind of rest.

The problem with resting for me is that I have a pretty active lifestyle. If I had to name my current occupation, I would call myself a gradstudent-waitress-performer-teacher because I spend most of my time doing one of those things. I love all of my jobs and they definitely keep me busy, but it’s the second on the occupation list that takes the most physical toll. I work at an amazing restaurant that I love so, so, much. It’s like my second family, but being on your feet for 8-10 hours without sitting down and or stopping to rest, doesn’t go along with triathlon training. Especially when you spend your training rest day working at said restaurant. This is what I did this week. BIG MISTAKE! So, when I was supposed to be resting from training, I was working on my feet for 8 hours. THIS WAS NOT SMART.

So, I learned my lesson. Rest is essential to successful training. And real rest, not just “I won’t go to the gym today rest.” So, my body has taught me this the hard way and I am now giving it what it wants. Real rest.