It’s supposed to be the easy day.

No alarm. No watch beeping at you. No pain cave, no elevation gain. Just... rest. But instead of feeling relief, your brain is loud. Restless. Crawling with what-ifs and should-haves.

If that sounds familiar, you’re not broken. You’re just an athlete with a very human brain, one that’s learned to equate movement with worth, control, and stability.

The challenge is in responding in a way that is congruent with your values, goals, and aspirations. Responding in a way that includes a growth mindset - the idea that our abilities and intelligence can be developed and improved over time, as opposed to the idea that our abilities are fixed traits and can’t be changed.

Responding in a way that we see the punch as a challenge, not a threat.

You can have a huge VO2max, great running economy, process lactate like no one’s business, consume a gazillion calories without an ounce of GI issues, not have a single ache, perfect weather, have a solid taper, and still have a shitty performance in an ultramarathon, not because of anything other than where your mental energy is and has been.