There’s something about September.
One minute, you’re riding your bike at 7:30 on a beautiful summer evening, convinced you have all the time in the world. The next minute…The alarm is going off earlier. The calendar is filling up. School is back. Work gets busier. The days start getting shorter. Suddenly that perfectly organized summer training schedule looks a lot less… realistic.
Welcome to the September Reset.
And before you start feeling guilty about the workouts that don’t fit anymore, let’s talk. Your training didn’t fail. Your schedule changed. You didn’t suddenly become unmotivated. You didn’t “fall off the wagon.” You didn’t lose all your fitness because you couldn’t get that Tuesday evening run in. Your life changed. When the mornings start getting shorter, we have to adjust.
Summer often gives us a little extra breathing room. Longer daylight, vacations, flexible schedules, kids being out of school, fewer commitments… and maybe the occasional “I’m just going to ride for three hours because it’s beautiful outside.” September arrives and reality comes knocking. As athletes, we have to learn how to adapt our training to our lives, rather than constantly trying to force our lives around our training. It’s similar to racing we have to be prepared to adapt.
A Few Tips…..
1. Stop trying to train like it’s July
Your fall training schedule probably shouldn’t look exactly like your summer schedule. Maybe your three-hour Tuesday ride becomes a 60-minute structured workout. Maybe your lunchtime run becomes a 30-minute early-morning run. Your Saturday long workout becomes the anchor of your entire training week.
The goal is to preserve your consistency.
Because consistency beats perfection every single time.
2. Figure out what REALLY matters
When life gets busy, you can’t always do everything. So don’t try. Instead, ask yourself or your coach:
What are the workouts that give me the most return for my time?
Depending on your goals, that might mean: A quality swim Your key bike workout Your long or quality run A strength session Or simply getting your body moving when you’ve had a crazy week. Your coach can help you determine which sessions are your “must-dos” and which ones can be moved, shortened, or occasionally skipped. Skipping one workout isn’t going to ruin your season. Trying to cram five missed workouts into three days might. It can be a recipe for unnessecary fatigue, sickness or burnout.
3. Put your workouts on the calendar
Don’t wait for your week to magically have free time. Put your workouts on the calendar before everything else fills the space.Treat them like appointments. If Tuesday morning is your run, put it on the calendar. If Thursday is your swim, schedule it. If Saturday morning is your long ride, protect that time. And when something inevitably comes up? Don’t automatically throw the whole week away.
4. Embrace the short workout
This one is especially important. I hear athletes say: “I only have 30 minutes, so there’s really no point.” We dont always need to go long. Thirty minutes of purposeful training is infinitely more useful than 60 minutes of thinking about how you don’t have enough time to train. A short run, focused bike workout, quick strength session., swim with a specific purpose. These workouts add up. Sometimes the most successful athletes aren’t the ones with the most time. They’re the ones who know how to use the time they have.
5. Don’t “make up” missed workouts
This is your official permission slip. You do not have to make up every workout you miss. Life happens. Kids get sick. Meetings run late. Cars need repairs. Dogs need walks. Dinner needs to happens and sometimes you just need to sit on the couch. That’s life. If you miss a workout, look at the bigger picture. Don’t punish yourself by turning one missed workout into a training week from hell.
This is a great time to hit reset.
Here’s the part I love about September. It feels like a fresh start. You don’t need January 1st to set new goals. September works just fine. Maybe you’re coming off a big race. Maybe your season didn’t go exactly how you planned. Are you’re already thinking about next year?
Ask yourself these questions?
What do I want the next few months to look like?
What do I want to improve?
What do I enjoy?
What do I want to do differently?
What races are calling my name?
And perhaps most importantly…
What can I realistically commit to with the life I have right now?
That’s a much better question than:
“How much training can I possibly squeeze into my schedule?”
Your training should add something to your life — not make you feel like you’re constantly failing at it.
The September Reset Challenge
Grab your calendar and take a look at the next month. Forget what your summer training looked like.
Look at the life you actually have.
Then choose:
1. One big goal. What are you working toward?
2. Three training priorities. What workouts matter most?
3. One thing you can let go of. What expectation isn’t serving you anymore?
Because you deserve to make space for something that’s important to you. Need some help? Let schedule a call and we can work together to figure it out.
