Has anyone ever thought that all this training is meant to make you feel better?

Yes, me too.

Tiredness is an unfortunate side effect of training hard.

The problem is that it makes us grouchy to be around – I’m terrible for this.

I find myself snapping at my wife, or not tolerating my kids tantrums as well – Then I feel a bit guilty.

When I’m well recovered and fresher, it seems that I can take everything in my stride much better.

The truth is though that to feel fresher you need to prioritise certain behaviours and habits.

We all know that the stress of training is needed to make us faster as is the recovery but can you feel better on a day to day basis?

I think so and here are some ways:

• Improve sleep.  I’d recommend wearing some sort of activity tracker/sleep monitor so you can keep tabs on sleep quality, it is enlightening.  To improve sleep, be consistent in bed times and switch your phone off 90 mins before you want to go to sleep – I have an alarm set on my phone to remind me to switch it off daily
• Eat enough.  This is especially true of the time before and after your training, if you are trying to get volume of training, you MUST fuel yourself appropriately before and after to help recover appropriately.
• Active rest.  Sit in a quiet place and close your eyes – now focus simply on counting your breaths, I get around 50 in 10 minutes.  You will feel refreshed.

Like anything it is the consistency of these actions that lead to improvement.

There is no point in doing it for 1 day or even 3, you need to get those habits dialled in and that takes time.

My book – The triathlon Nutrition Code covers all these topics.

http://www.nutri-tri.com/e-books/

It talks you through how to set up the perfect sleep routine and which supplements can help.

It tells you which carbs you should be eating when and how much.

It’s full of recipes which are tasty and easy to prepare.

And most importantly of all it is written for endurance athletes.

Not for gym goers who train once a week or do a bit of HIIT in their living room once a month.

It’s designed for people who train properly, who have true ambition and who need to lose a few pounds of fat to make them that little bit quicker for NO more training and No more tiredness.

It’s a bit like medicine – Go and get it:

http://www.nutri-tri.com/e-books/

Jamie “fresh as a daisy” Leighton.