Sometimes as athletes we have to let go of the things that aren’t working for us. This may be certain types of training, nutrition, goals, relationships, gear or a variety of other aspects that simply don’t serve us. What’s the best way to accomplish this?? Check out a few tips below.

A lot of us hold onto things way longer than we should. Not just the random garage stuff, trinkets or project leftovers that we “might” need someday – but out daily practices and habits. These can plague us along our athletic journey and really hold you back from achieving higher goals and targets that you might have for yourself. Let’s peek at three things that commonly hold athletes back and what you can to do knock those out of your life…gently.

RELATIONSHIPS – This one affects all of us not only as athletes but in nearly every aspect of our life. Speaking from the athlete perspective, it’s never a bad thing to evaluate the relationships in your life. Are they supportive and strengthening or do they cut you down and feel like a drain? If you’ve got that “one friend” that’s always taking mini ‘jabs’ at you or questioning why you’re training for a ‘crazy triathlon’… it might be time to revaluate what they bring to your life. If they are positive about most everything else you two connect on, maybe have a talk with them about what training and racing means to you. If they’re not receptive and continue to put you down it could be a good idea to put some distance there. Our minds are always going 24-7-365 no matter what. Our subconscious plays and replays things over and over and this stuff (whether negative or positive) bubbles back up. Why not strive to make it mostly if not all positive stuff?

GEAR – Seriously…as athletes we hold onto gear sometimes WAY longer than we should. This happens for a variety of reasons but very often we see it being sentimental. That favorite pair of running shoes that has 400 miles on it, you only run in once every six months and then regret it because your feet or legs are killing you. We get the sentimental value, we really do. This leaves TWO options – one, keep them but make them more of a ‘trophy’ – STOP RUNNING IN THEM — OR — two, snap some fancy photos of them an then donate them. Now this is talking about sneakers here but you get the idea – apply it to all your gear and see what is serving you or isn’t and consider removing it from training as it may be holding you back.

NUTRITION – This one’s tough as food is very subjective and personal to you as an individual. We have found that over the years athletes with the most respect for what they put into their body (clean, healthy and plant based foods with a locally known origin) often have the least issues during training and racing. Being able to evaluate your food and drink intake subjectively can be really tough. Hire a proper nutrition coach to jumpstart this process and perhaps get you on track to training, racing and feeling your best as often as possible.

What are your go to tips for trimming things out of your life that don’t work?