I’ve been quiet. Not because I didn’t have anything to say, but because life got… loud.

My son was sick for nine weeks. Nine. We navigated illness, school, travel, and his competitions, including USASA Nationals, just trying to keep our heads above water. Just when it felt like we might be settling back into some kind of rhythm…

He got hit again. Then I did. A full week of being completely knocked out, puking, not eating, losing seven pounds, canceling work, delaying plans. Spring break, gone. Recovery, slower than expected. And now here we are. That strange in-between.

Snowboarding season winding down. Baseball ramping up. Winter clients fading out. Summer people not here yet. The studio shifting. The weather… undecided. And me? Trying to figure out what I want for this business, for my coaching, for this next season.

There’s this pattern I see every year, people wait. They wait for snow. They wait for motivation. They wait for the “right time” to train. Then suddenly it’s spring, and the requests come in.

“Am I too late?” Kind of.

And also, not really. Because the truth is, most people are always just one season behind. And the ones who feel the best? Perform the best? Handle stress the best They didn’t get ready, they stayed ready.

I’ve stayed ready in a lot of ways. But I’ll be honest, nothing really prepares you for the kind of stress that life can stack up. Illness. Parenting. Business uncertainty. Physical depletion. There’s no perfect program for that.

And yet… here’s what keeps coming up for me:

Presence.

Not the aesthetic version. Not the “slow down and light a candle” version. The real version. Just being where you are, even when it’s inconvenient, even when it’s uncomfortable. Even when you’d rather be in the next season already, because right now? This is the season.

The messy transition. The false starts. The “almost better.” The shifting priorities. The questions without clear answers. This is spring.

Not just the highlight reel version of rebirth, but the muddy, unpredictable, in-between version. I’ve started calling it the Groundhog Day effect.

When life feels like it’s repeating. When you’re busy, but not moving forward in a way you can measure, when weeks blur together. And the only thing that seems to change that?

Is noticing. Interrupting the autopilot, being in the day instead of trying to get through it. I don’t have a perfect system for that.

But I’m practicing a few things:

• Actually acknowledging what season I’m in (instead of fighting it)
• Letting “good enough” be enough, especially with my health
• Taking moments of presence where I can find them, not waiting for ideal conditions
• Remembering that momentum isn’t always loud or visible

Summer is coming. It always does, and I know it will be full; weekends, events, travel, all of it. It will go fast, as it always does.

So maybe this is the reminder, for you and for me:

You don’t need to rush into the next season. You don’t need to have everything figured out. You don’t need to wait until life is calm to take care of yourself. You just need to be where you are, and do what you can from there.
​
If you’re feeling behind… you’re not. You’re just starting from where you are. And if you’re feeling stretched thin, overwhelmed, or unsure what your next step even should be. You don’t have to figure it out alone.

If you want support, a reset, or just a conversation about what makes sense for you right now, I’ve opened up a few complimentary consult spots:

​https://coachchristine.net/book-an-appointment/​

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Training PEAKS: Why “Getting Ready for Summer” Doesn’t Work

Every year, like clockwork: “Okay, I need to get in shape for summer.” And I get it. The urgency feels real.

But here’s what most people don’t realize:

Your body doesn’t respond to urgency. It responds to repeated exposure over time.

Training works through a principle called progressive overload. You apply a stress (a workout), and your body responds by trying to become more capable of handling that stress in the future. But that response isn’t instant. It follows a cycle:

Stress → Recovery → Adaptation

And that adaptation, whether it’s building muscle, improving endurance, or increasing strength, requires consistent cycles, not one-off efforts.

Let’s break it down simply:

• Neurological adaptations (getting better at the movement itself) can happen in a few weeks
• Muscle growth (hypertrophy) typically takes 4–6+ weeks to even begin showing
• Cardiovascular improvements build gradually over 6–12 weeks
• Connective tissue (tendons, ligaments) adapts even slower, which is why rushing often leads to injury

So when someone says: “I’ll just get in shape for summer.” What they’re really trying to do is compress a multi-month biological process into a few weeks, and the body just… doesn’t work like that.

This is also why extreme, last-minute pushes often backfire. When you increase intensity too quickly:

• Fatigue outpaces recovery
• Stress hormones stay elevated
• Performance drops
• Injury risk goes up
• Motivation tanks

From a physiology standpoint, you’re no longer building capacity, you’re just accumulating stress.

Meanwhile, the people who feel strong and capable year-round? They’re not doing anything magical. They’re just respecting the timeline of adaptation.

They’re stacking:

• Moderate, repeatable effort
• Adequate recovery
• Enough consistency to let the body actually change

So if you’re starting now…. You’re not too late. But the goal shouldn’t be:

“Get ready for summer.”

It should be:

“Start the adaptation process, and stay in it.”

Because here’s the shift:

When you stop chasing short-term results, and start supporting long-term adaptation, you stop living one season behind. And that’s really what commitment is. Not intensity. Not perfection. Just staying in the cycle long enough for your body to respond.

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