David Taylor Gonzales

What now?

It’s a question I’ve been asking myself quite a bit lately now that I’m in between training cycles. With the marathon behind me and looking forward to some faster races in the spring/summer, I’m having some trouble coming up with an answer. I shared already how bulking provided a new training stimulus and I enjoyed the change of pace of it all, but now that I’m staring down the barrel of a new racing season and cutting some weight back down, I’ve found the off-season to feel a little awkward to navigate. I am not throwing down any 40 mile weeks right now and I don’t plan to do so until I get closer to my 30th birthday 50K (more on that in the future).

There is much value in being a well-rounded person. Not just in fitness, but in life. I don’t want to just be an encouraging manager, a fast runner, a loving father. I also want to be a servant-hearted husband, a dependable friend, a strong athlete. When I trained for my marathon, it forced me to focus almost solely on running. I did little else in terms of fitness. If I had time to train, I spent that time running. I had to neglect other areas of my life: I sacrificed Saturday mornings with my family for my long runs, I sacrificed strength in the gym for threshold workouts, I sacrificed quiet reading time in bed for extra hours of sleep to optimize my recovery. While this off-season has left me feeling a bit lost at times, it taught me the importance of looking at my life holistically. I am able to return, not just to strength training, but other things that bring fullness to my life: family breakfast on Saturday mornings (I’m always in charge of eggs and bacon), spending time studying God’s Word, weekend walks with friends and family, sleeping in on occasion, and reading fiction books.

Jocko Willink says that discipline gives us freedom. He’s right, to a point, but we can become enslaved to many things, even good things, if we idolize them. This includes running, lifting and nutrition. Freedom comes from Jesus alone. Discipline and obedience give us freedom only when they are yoked in service to the ultimate goal: obedience to Jesus Christ.

I realize I haven’t answered the question I posed at the top of this blog. What now? Plainly stated, this off-season is a realignment of my training goals in service of my primary goal: to live in obedience of Christ, to serve and love my family well, to be a better man each day.

Keep Going!