Episode 119: Winter Olympics Takeaways, Building Systems for Flexibility, and Leading with Intentionality
In this week’s episode, we reflect on Olympic moments, flexibility in training, and navigating new seasons with intention. We start with thoughts on the Olympics—from the power of confidence and sportsmanship to the external validation trap and what high-level achievement really represents. Elena shares her “3 Gs” framework for flexibility (grounding, goals, gauge), how she’s embracing cross-country skiing this winter, and why focusing on process over outcome is essential. We then dive into systems for modifying workouts, including practical red/yellow/green light frameworks to reduce decision fatigue and adapt to life stress. Katie expands on intentionality in training—especially postpartum—where the purpose of workouts has shifted toward mental health, recovery, and sustainability rather than performance. We close with honest reflections on early postpartum realities as an athlete, fueling demands, sleep deprivation, and building support systems to navigate this phase. Check it out!
Elena:
Some thoughts on flexibility rules!
I’m coining the 3 Gs: 1) grounding, 2) goals, 3) gauge
First off, it will all be ok.
Second, what’s the goal of the workout? Speed? Time on feet? Mental strength? Practice the muscle of knowing the why then find the option that sounds best.
If time on feet, what sounds fun?
If speed, what kind of speed?
If mental strength, make that the focus– just do it and don’t worry about the pace.
Third, how’s my life stress currently? If feeling good, go for it! If feeling overwhelmed, try and adapt if necessary.
“Show up but don’t judge it”
On a macro level:
How often am I feeling like I’m not doing enough?
What’s my overall mental and physical health score?
Re-evaluate and reset goals if needed
Process over outcome
Really embracing xc skiing as a modality!
Olympics thoughts – a reminder that it’s what we pay the most attention to, but athletes are competing at this level all the time and there’s a lot of politics involved in who and how people get there
Really really easy to get caught up in the external validation game, the label of an olympian, etc.
It is awesome!! And the coolest achievement, but it’s also not everything and it can be stressful to be so close to it and see how much space it takes up in the collective consciousness
Worth asking, what is the olympics really about? Participation? Representation? Achievement? “The best of the best”?
Katie:
Cool Olympics moments:
Jessie Diggins 10km skate ski bronze: Right before she went off the cameras panned her face and she had this huge smile, and Kikkan Randall (commentator and 2018 gold medalist in a xc skiing relay with Jessie) said: “When she smiles, that means she’s dangerous…this is confidence mode”
Reminder that smiling and showing up happy is performance enhancing! And if you don’t feel happy/excited, fake it till you make it!
Also reminds me of the Mark Cavendish strategy -- cues to help you feel/be happy mid race if your mood starts to dip can blunt pain signals
Link to Jessie’s 2018 gold medal win (aka one of the coolest Olympics moments ever)
Lindsey Vonn heartbreaking crash 13 seconds into her race
Ended up getting a lot of blowback for racing on a torn ACL
Turned out that the crash had nothing to do with the ACL
Her performance bubble of a TON of experts had said that racing was ok -- reminder to draw on experts to help guide the info you have and trust your gut/intuition. There will be lots of chatter from various other people about what you should and shouldn’t be doing, and you should let that roll off. Found it very inspiring that Lindsey had no regrets
Could read some excerpts from her post
“While yesterday did not end the way I had hoped, and despite the intense physical pain it caused, I have no regrets. Standing in the starting gate yesterday was an incredible feeling that I will never forget. Knowing I stood there having a chance to win was a victory in and of itself. I also knew that racing was a risk. It always was and always will be an incredibly dangerous sport. And similar to ski racing, we take risks in life. We dream. We love. We jump. And sometimes we fall. Sometimes our hearts are broken. Sometimes we don’t achieve the dreams we know we could have. But that is the also the beauty of life; we can try. I tried. I dreamt. I jumped. I hope if you take away anything from my journey it’s that you all have the courage to dare greatly. Life is too short not to take chances on yourself. Because the only failure in life is not trying. I believe in you, just as you believed in me.”
General thoughts on sportsmanship
Really cool to see so many Olympians congratulating each other at the finish line or on podium (even in 4th place) when it would be really easy to be resentful or feel big emotions about not winning. While those emotions are certainly there, it does seem like sportsmanship is on full display for the vast majority of these athletes (suggesting they are really good humans too)
As hard as it is, think about how tough days in races can also be an opportunity for sportsmanship. It sometimes can make you feel better to lift others up (words of encouragement for competitors on a course, connecting with other racers at finish line, etc.)
On systems for modifying workouts:
Red/yellow/green light system has been helpful for me amidst little sleep -- a system!
<5 hours total sleep in a 24-hour period: red light for training. Keep it ultra easy, walk and mobility if feeling up to it but no hard stimuli.
<6.5 hours total sleep in a 24-hour period: yellow light, go by feel.
>6.5 hours sleep in a 24-hour period: green light assuming no other issues/symptoms.
**Sidebar: these sleep numbers are pretty abysmal and include wakeups every 1-3 hours. I truly would not be able to function on this little sleep for any other reason than keeping my little human alive, so if that isn’t what’s messing with your sleep consider changing the numbers!
A related light system: Do I feel the same or better 24 hours later (in my case in terms of pelvic floor and overall healing)?
Yes: green light
Neutral but tired: ok, stay steadyWorse (more symptomatic, less stable): scale back
Systems like this can help make decisions for us so we don’t have to allocate time/mental energy to making those decisions when we might already be in a compromised mental/emotional state if we are in yellow/red territory. Figure out what systems work for you to build in flexibility!
On intentionality:
Bringing back an old insight that has become a crucial part of postpartum recovery: intentionality
Important to ask yourself at the beginning of a new season, month, week, or even day of training: what is the intention of this workout?
Something new I’m navigating is that the intention of the workouts that I am doing is very different from performance oriented intentions that have guided training for most other eras in life
Currently intentions are:
Doing something for me while putting baby’s needs first
Related: enhancing mental health
Enhancing (and not compromising) physical recovery
Maintaining consistency
Starting with intentionality and purpose has helped structure training in terms of what workouts I do, when I do them, how I ask for support in being able to do them, etc.
Encourage everyone to ask themselves “what is the intention of the workout?” when you get going (and come back to overall guiding purpose in that process) to help you stick to plan, stick to goals, etc.
General postpartum thoughts/challenges:
Postpartum feels significantly harder on my body than pregnancy because I can’t do many of the things that I would want to do if I were going to optimize recovery and performance, like sleep
Pregnancy was a time when I was largely able to treat my body like a temple; that just isn’t really an option right now
Related, I can viscerally feel that my body is diverting 90% of its energy to my baby and the remaining 10% to quasi-keeping me alive on minimal sleep. Hard to identify where the performance piece fits in all of that, at least right now.
A few things I can control amidst the chaos:
Asking for support/help (both with my “people” and my performance bubble of experts)
Having snacks and hydration around me at literally all times as fueling needs are so incredibly high
One of the first calls I made was to set up an appt with a sports dietician who works with PP athletes to figure out how to best set myself up for success
Challenge of the week
Elena: Watch a sport you know nothing about in the olympics!
Katie: Get some sun! Even 10-15 mins in the middle of a work day goes a long way!
Gear pick of the week
Elena: kind of a joke one – the Fi collar
Katie: Working on the home gym setup -- Yes4All kettlebells and Bintiva dumbbells