I always say ”I learn from my mistakes”. And I do, after I’ve made the same mistake about three times. Because that’s where I am right now.

First there was the hike to Skarsfjället last summer which got me feeling dizzy on the days that followed (caused by the lack of drinking and eating during the trip). In January, a long skiing trip where I pushed myself hard all the way and I was weak as a kitten for a week after that (probably caused by a long term energy deficiency because I didn’t start eating more since I started training more, thus my energy levels had been slowly declining and then completely depleted during that trip). And then last week… not enough rest between hard workouts and I was forced to admit defeat on Sunday, I turned back early because I felt like I was running on fumes. A 5-year old would have skied past me.

But maybe now I have finally learned. Previously I thought about my training in one-week periods – five days of training, two days of rest. Until last week when it was six days of training, one day of rest, because in my mind it was ok because I had rested the previous weekend thanks to lousy weather. How on earth did I think that one weekend’s rest would still keep me going strong the next weekend? Since I’m apparently not capable of doing the math, I have to start thinking in 3-day periods instead. During any 3-day period there’s 2 days of training and 1 day of rest. It means that I will have more rest days as a whole, but resting doesn’t harm me nearly as much as overdoing does. It takes me a week to recover after I’ve run myself into the ground, while an extra day of rest gives me the strength to train regularly. Let’s face it, I’m not 20 any more!

So, today is a resting day, even though it’s Saturday and I could be up on a mountain on skis. All I did was to strap on the snowshoes and check out Tevån, a nice outing to enjoy the beautiful winter scenery we have here now. And tomorrow I’ll be back on skis, and I will not turn back home early!