Year in Motion: Celebrating Wins and Setting Intentions

 

As we approach the end of the year, it’s a natural time to pause, reflect, and celebrate the journey we’ve been on—both in fitness and in life. For many of us, 2025 was a year of movement, growth, and learning how to listen to our bodies in new ways. Whether it was tackling a new training goal, improving mobility, or simply showing up consistently despite the ups and downs, there’s a lot to be proud of.

This year, my blogs have explored a wide range of topics—from navigating diet culture, to overcoming open water fears, to breaking through age-related limitations, and focusing on mobility and recovery. Each month, my goal was to provide insight, guidance, and practical tools to help women over 40 train smarter, stay resilient, and honor their bodies.

As we close out the year, here are a few takeaways to carry with you:

1. Consistency Beats Perfection – Progress is made one step at a time, whether in training, mobility, or mindset. Small wins accumulate into lasting change.

2. Listen to Your Body – Soreness, fatigue, or discomfort is information, not a setback. Honor it, adjust, and use it to grow stronger.

3. Celebrate Non-Scale Victories – It’s not always about PRs or race results. Completing a swim you once feared, mastering a mobility sequence, or simply showing up consistently are wins worth celebrating.

4. Rest is Productive – Incorporating pauses, recovery days, and mobility work isn’t slacking—it’s essential for long-term performance and health.

As we look ahead to 2026, I’m excited to dive deeper into strength, endurance, and recovery strategies tailored for women navigating peri- and post-menopause. We’ll explore how to train smarter, move more freely, and push limits safely—all while honoring the rhythms of our bodies.

Take these final weeks of the year to reflect, move mindfully, and set intentions for the year ahead. Celebrate what you’ve accomplished, and get ready to step into the new year stronger, wiser, and more empowered than ever.

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End-of-Year Checklist for Your Body and Mind

1. Reflect on Wins – Write down at least 3 training or mobility victories from the year, big or small.

2. Prioritize Mobility – Spend 10–15 minutes each day on stretches or exercises you may have skipped during busy months.

3. Plan Rest Days – Schedule intentional recovery days during the holidays to recharge without guilt.

4. Set Intentions, Not Just Goals – Focus on how you want to feel in the new year, not just what you want to achieve.

5. Move for Joy – Include at least one activity this month that makes you feel good—swim, bike, walk, or stretch—without focusing on performance.

Enjoy your holidays! Take this time to relax, reflect, and connect with your family and friends. I’d love to hear about your goals and intentions for the new year—share them with me, and most importantly, go out and enjoy life!

Thank you for being part of this journey with me. If you found this blog or any of my content helpful, please feel free to share it with your friends or anyone you think may benefit. Let’s continue to move, grow, and thrive together into the new year!

Why the 10% Rule Doesn’t Work — And How I Keep My Athletes Injury Free

A new client recently asked me how I’d build them up for their marathon in January 2026. Specifically, they brought up the “10% Rule.”

If you’re not familiar, the 10% Rule is the idea that you should never increase your weekly mileage by more than 10% to avoid injury. On the surface, it sounds reasonable — even smart. But if you’ve ever trained with me or heard me talk about coaching, you know where this is going:

We are all different, and we need different inputs to reach our individual goals.
So my take? The 10% Rule completely misses the mark.

In fact, a recent study** of over 5,200 runners — with 22% female participants and an average age of 45.8 years — showed that even small mileage spikes can significantly increase injury risk. A 10–30% jump led to a 64% increase in injuries, while spikes of 30–100% led to a 52% increase (yes, slightly lower — welcome to the messiness of human data). And jumps of more than 100% in a single session? That was linked to a 128% increase in injury risk.

It’s clear: arbitrary mileage bumps, even small ones, can be risky if they don’t match your current training load, history, and recovery capacity.


One Size Never Fits All

Let me give you an example. I worked with an athlete last year who’d been running marathons for years using a free online plan. The plan followed a simple progressive mileage model — likely influenced by the 10% Rule. But despite being consistent, they were constantly dealing with overuse injuries.

When they came to me, our priority was to train smarter — not just harder. We built their plan around them — their history, strengths, schedule, and feedback. Fast forward: they not only stayed healthy, but they ran a PR at the California International Marathon and qualified for Boston.

So, why doesn’t the 10% Rule work?


It Ignores Individual Variability

No two athletes are the same. Some adapt quickly to higher mileage, while others need more time. Sticking to a strict 10% increase could either:

Hold someone back unnecessarily, or push someone into injury territory. Your training should reflect your unique physiology, history, and recovery ability — not a cookie-cutter formula.


It Doesn’t Account for Life

Mileage isn’t the only stress your body is handling. What about: Sleep (or lack of it)? Work deadlines? Family stuff? Weather? Terrain?

If you increase your mileage by 10% and add an extra speed session and only sleep 4 hours a night… that 10% just became a lot more than your body can realistically absorb. Context matters. Always.


It Discourages Intuitive Training

Blindly following a plan can train you to ignore your body’s signals.

Another athlete came to me training for their first 50K. They were terrified they wouldn’t finish, so they stuck religiously to an online plan based on — you guessed it — the 10% Rule. When their body started sending warning signs (fatigue, soreness, nagging pain), they kept pushing through.

The result? Injuries and water jogging as their only cardio for the last month.

Soreness, pain, fatigue — that’s feedback. You need to pay attention to it, not override it.


Progress Isn’t Linear

Your fitness doesn’t go up in a straight line. It’s more like a squiggly one: progress, plateaus, setbacks, breakthroughs. Some weeks you’ll feel unstoppable. Others, you’ll feel like a slug. That’s normal.

If you expect to increase every single week, you’re setting yourself up for frustration — or worse, burnout.


Long-Term, It’s Just Not Sustainable

Even over a 12-week training cycle, a consistent 10% increase (with deloads) leads to a 135% jump in mileage. That’s a lot.

Unless you’re starting at very low mileage, most runners simply can’t — and shouldn’t — handle that kind of build. Eventually, the math just doesn’t add up to sustainable, injury-free training.


So What Does Work?

My approach with athletes is based on adaptation, not arbitrary rules. Here’s the framework:

Keep mileage steady for three weeks.
Deload for one week.
If those three weeks felt strong and manageable: bump up mileage — a good starting point is 10%, and sometimes by a bit more than 10%.
If they felt anything other than great for those three weeks: a smaller increase (5%) — or maybe none.
If signs of fatigue or overuse show up: we don’t increase, and we might even back things down.

This model respects the body’s natural rhythms and allows time for adaptation. It’s sustainable, personalized, and — most importantly — it works.


Run Your Race

If there’s one thing I hope you take away from this, it’s this: training isn’t about following rigid rules — it’s about learning to listen to your body. The 10% Rule is a fine starting point for beginners, but it falls apart quickly for real-world athletes with real-world lives.

So ditch the rigidity. Tune into your body. Trust the process. And train like the unique human you are.

If you’re getting ready for an endurance event — don’t wait until the last month to reach out. The earlier we start, the better we can understand how your body responds and get you to the start line strong, healthy, and ready to crush it.

Let’s build you up — the right way.

**https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2025/07/07/bjsports-2024-109380

How much running is too much? Identifying high-risk running sessions in a 5200-person cohort study

 

New Adventure: 50K Trail Race

 Uhm yeah I said it, 50K trail race! To be honest when my coach even suggested I do one I laughed inside. To date I've only done one Marathon and it was part of an Ironman distance triathlon. I've also done several half Marathon races. The half marathon is my favorite distance running race by far with 10K coming in a close second. So to even consider a 50K I must be crazy. 

I've always loved to try new things. Ever since I was a kid I loved experiencing new things, and that is still part of who I am today. However today there is a little bit of fear mixed in, you know that age thing reminds you you aren't invincible anymore, yeah that's me now. Good news though, this won't kill me but it surely will challenge me.  

So how far is 50K? It's approximately 31.1 miles. Yep that is LONGER than a marathon. I know you're thinking I'm crazy. I thought that too until I looked into this thing that's called Ultra racing. 50K is actually the shortest distance race, and I just found one that is a 240 mile race in Moab, Utah. YIKES!

After looking through the Ultra races my coach suggested, and chatting with some people who have done Ultra races, the thought of this new challenge started to create a feeling of excitement within me. This excitement started to create thoughts of how will I make this race happen. What is it like to do this distance? Is there anything I need equipment wise? What will my training be? Hey wait, I'll be able to go and train in new places, not to mention being able to race in a new place. My smile kept getting bigger and bigger, until finally I said yes! 

Next it came down to actually choosing a race. I went with the Capstone 50K in St. George, Utah because their events are still being held, and I can drive there from where I live. 

Now how do you train for this event? Lots of time spend on my feet, but also just as much time off my feet recovering. Not to mention better attention to my nutrition throughout the day and during my runs now. I'm going to have to learn to eat while running, whereas before my races were short enough that I could eat 3 hours before my race, then a snack 15 minutes before and I was set to go except for some water along the way. Now I will be on my feet racing for potentially up to 7 hours, and my body WILL need nutrition throughout.

The race in Utah is set up to be 5 laps of a 10K loop, with each lap having about 800 to 900 feet of vertical elevation. This also means I won't have to pack everything I need for the entire 50K in my pack, and they have a smorgosbord at the lap counter place. For now it's off the the planning table and off for my first couple weeks of training.   

USA Triathlon Coaching Certification

WOW, two in one week! I'm actually just making up for missing the last two months. As many of you know I took a few seminars in January. One of which was the FRC seminar that I just wrote about, but if you missed it you can read about it here. The other course I took was the USA Triathlon Level 1 Coaching Certification.

Okay okay I know many of you might not be into triathlons. That's okay. I'm not either. I prefer Duathlons (Run-Bike-Run). Unless it doesn't involve a swim with sharks, murky cold waters or rippling currents. Right that is possible just not that often here in California. I digress.

How did I get into triathlons you're probably wondering. It all started in 2011. My dad passed away suddenly. I then stopped racing bicycles and I was starting to lose my love of endurance sports. At that time I was coaching cycling both individuals and at Santa Clara University. I had a client who wanted to do a triathlon, and she asked me if I would do it with her. I thought this sounded like a great way for me to get back into something more regular, so I agreed. Little did I know she signed me up for an Ironman distance event. WHAT???? I had never even done a triathlon let alone have to do one that will require me to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and then run a full marathon, all in one day. Oh right and I also didn't know how to swim at that time.

To not let me client down I learned how to swim (actually taught myself), I started riding LONG distances, and got back into running. Before I got to doing the Ironman event, I thought it would be fun to participate in one of each of the other distances that are offered in triathlons. That year, 2012, I participated in my first triathlon or each distance, and even won one of them.  The big event was in July and my Aunt from New York came out to support me. My client started the event but wasn't able to finish. I was able to not only finish the race but do it standing up but also in day light. Through all the training and racing I did that year, I met lots of amazing people. I met people who inspired me by their athleticism, dedication, and some who were 80+ years old and still competing.

Since that time I have loved being part of the triathlon/duathlon community for all the amazing people I have met, and for all the fun places it has allowed me to go. Through my adventures I have awakened my travel bug and now been to a few new places here in the US, and I even competed in the World Championships in Odense, Denmark in 2018 representing Team USA.

What I love on a more personal side is the time I get to spend trying to get faster as and "older" athlete. I love challenging myself to see how much I can still improve and compete against the younger crowd. In getting myself to those levels I really enjoy the time to myself when I am out there doing my long rides and runs. It becomes MY time. My time to be alone, escape from my pets, and also disconnect from all electronic devices and reconnect with myself. Through this time of reconnecting I have not only become more healthy due to my time spent training, but also grown in so many more ways. 

Because of my immense love of triathlon and the world of multisport, I really wanted to do something to give back to the community that helped me become who I am today. Coaching is something I have enjoyed in the past and look forward to enjoying it once again. 

In addition to now being a certified USA Triathlon coach, I can now not only prepare you for your next endurance event, but I can also help you do it and stay injury free with the added new mobility knowledge through my recent FRC training.

So to get the ball rolling I am offering a special 4 month training program FREE. This program will be specific to whatever sporting event you want to train for. It includes the specific training toward your sport with programs delivered through Training Peaks, and is valued at $600-800.

This program is for anyone from the serious multi-sport racer to the person who just wants to finish their first 5k or marathon without getting injured. To enter the drawing, all I need is a summary of the event you want to train for, and why you should be picked to receive the free program. Please keep it to 1000 words or less. 

If this sounds like something you or a friend might be interested in please send me your application summary no later than March 20th to velofit@gmail.com. Thank you for reading, and don't forget to send me your summary.