October 20, 2009 (Duntroon, Ontario) – In this training tip Jen Scholte, head coach of the Highlands Trailblazers Nordic Ski Club out of Duntroon, ON talks about leaving your life in your locker while training light – pack a suit case or a backpack.
Booked a ticket for Italy leaving the next day. Only one choice to make. Do I pack a suitcase or a backpack?

The suitcase could be on wheels to make it a bit lighter. I could bring everything I could dream of along for the trip, and I would perhaps think I’d be more prepared, since I could store it somewhere if it became heavy or if I have to stand in line with a crowd of heavy packers to check my luggage. Is this the best choice?

Or I could choose a backpack. A backpack is a much lighter load to travel with; if I choose a small one I could get away with not checking baggage at all, and I will only be carrying what I need. I will have to focus on what’s important o bring along for the trip.

A backpack is small enough that I only need to worry about my stuff. Actually, I won’t have room to carry anyone else’s stuff, or any stuff that I might find along the way. In seconds, though, I was able to make the decision to travel light!

What if we left our life in our lockers before we started training? We could carry the weight of the day on our shoulders, and we could think of all the things that need to be done that we can’t actually do anyway for the next two hours. We could carry issues with us that feel like volcanoes ready to erupt.

We could think about what we said or didn’t say earlier in the day—comments that maybe were or weren’t quite right to make. Oh, and don’t forget we could make room in our heads, like an extra pocket, for everyone else’s stuff too. How does this sound? We could make a conscious choice to leave our life in our lockers and focus on where we are now, what our real destination is, carrying only the thoughts of lighter foot steps, gliding and moving quickly. We could carry our own goals, carry our own dreams and carry power words in our brains like authentic, curious, dynamic, inspired, enthusiastic, or phenomenal!

When you pick up your water bottle and your ski poles, you should think…”I’m leaving my life in my locker”. When you put your skis on, think “I’m training lighter today”. Your success as an athlete will partly depend on your championship attitude and your mental toughness! Sure this sounds easy, but like everything it takes perfect practice! Be respectful of yourself, your words and your thoughts. Your fellow athletes can be supportive and social but no one really needs to carry your stuff.

Travel light and Train Light! If we each choose to leave life in the locker then we can “train light” together.