Finding Your Footing When things Get Loud
Let’s be real for a second.
We’re right in the thick of it. The holiday season is here, and while it’s supposed to be "joyful," it usually feels a lot like the last mile of a 5K where you went out too fast.
Full schedules. Extra noise. Routines that get tossed out the window because of travel, work, or family obligations. And that never ending list running in the background that somehow gets louder the moment your head hits the pillow.
And if you’re anything like most of us in the endurance world, there’s this funny tension that shows up. You’re already thinking about next season. You’re sketching plans in your head. You’re imagining the climbs, the long training blocks, the big project that scares you enough to matter. But at the same time, you feel your calendar getting heavier and your nervous system buzzing like an Aid Station generator.
I felt that buzz the other day while staring at my own schedule. That tight humming in the chest that says hurry even when nothing needs rushing.
It’s easy to ignore it. Or to go the other direction and add more training, more structure, more to-do items, because pushing hard is the one thing we know how to do.
But that feeling is your nervous system talking. It’s the engine light flicking on. It’s saying take a breath, you’re safe, settle in.
And here’s the part that matters for any athlete entering a new build phase. You don’t need to overhaul your whole life. You just need a couple of steady habits that remind your body that recovery is still part of the work.
I used to think calm only came from big solutions. Week long retreats or perfect routines. That doesn’t fit real life in December.
True calm comes from small signals. The ones that tell your body you can quiet the urgency. The ones that help you create the base you’ll actually train from in January.
Here are a few simple ways that fit into the rhythm of getting ready to step back into real mileage and real purpose.
Breathe with intention
We spend entire seasons chasing better oxygen use during workouts but forget how much breath controls our state the rest of the day.
Stress hits in holiday traffic or while answering emails. Cortisol shoots up. Muscles get tense. Heart rate creeps into zones it doesn’t need to be in.
Take a minute. Slow, deep breaths. It signals your recovery system to kick in. It settles your body so you aren’t carrying tension into every training session. Even one minute can calm cravings, sharpen your focus, and soften that anxious hum.
It’s one of the easiest ways to prepare your body to absorb the real work that’s coming.
Move gently
When things get chaotic, many endurance athletes double down on intensity. We want to sweat it out. We want to feel productive.
But the early season isn’t about hitting peak sessions. It’s about rebuilding a foundation that will hold you for months.
Gentle movement is magic this time of year. A short walk. A shakeout jog with no agenda. Light stretching on the living room floor. These small motions bleed off stress, stabilize blood sugar, and keep your body primed without stacking more load on top of a busy month.
Think of it as tending the engine instead of flooring the gas.
Lean on tiny routines
Ultras are built on rhythm. Long steady weeks. Repeated patterns. Predictable structure. When life gets busy and inconsistent, stress picks up fast because your brain is searching for order it can’t find.
Tiny routines bring that order back.
A glass of water first thing in the morning. A simple mobility ritual before bed. One balanced meal a day. A few pages in a book to wind down instead of scrolling.
You’re teaching your nervous system that life still has shape. That predictability gives you a calmer starting point for your bigger training goals.
Here’s the reminder I keep coming back to as someone who’s lived through a lot of build seasons.
You don’t need to be perfect right now.
You don’t need to ramp too fast or act like you’re already in peak training.
You just need to support your system so it can support you once the real work starts.
Small habits. Small moments. Small choices.
This is how you build the quiet base that carries you into a strong season next year. Not by grinding through December but by grounding yourself enough to hold everything that’s coming.
Stay steady out there and find your footing. The season ahead will thank you for it.
