What’s up, fellow Obsessives?

So I went into Wednesday’s 1,000 meter benchmark thinking my previous PR was 3:21 or 3:22 and so I set my sights on going at any time sub 3:20.

And man, did I feel great when I grunted my way into the station at 3:15.94, confident that I’d put another PR into my 2025 ledger!

Except that my name wasn’t called by my coach among the PR-setters for the day.

Which led me to think that something was screwed up along the way.

Of course, it was me, because my previous PR was actually 3:14.40 and I’d been pacing myself for the wrong target all along.

I assume a face-palm emoji 🤦‍♂️ appeared over my head in a cartoon bubble after I reached my car and looked at my app for the correct time — something I should have done an hour earlier before heading into the studio.

The obvious lesson? If you’re looking to set a PR, make sure you double-check the time you’re actually gunning for.

I’ll get ‘em next time.

After that PR fumble on Wednesday, I started to feel a little more sore than usual. My left hip barked at me, my lower back felt tweaked and even my tailbone decided to hate me.

“Give us a break, stupid!” they all seemed to be saying at me.

I wasn’t that surprised because I’ve been going pretty hard for most of 2025. I completed a half-marathon in late September and tried to jump back into my 4x a week OTF habit without more than a day break after so many miles of training.

My body soon told me that was a mistake and so I took the rest of the week off.

Now, it was a little easier to do mentally because my wife was headed out of town and it would’ve been hard from a family and work standpoint to get the classes in. From that standpoint, the break made even more sense.

But even if conditions had been optimal, a break was still in order and I like to think that I would’ve recognized it.

That said, here are three times a break for you may be in order.

Bottom line: Our obsession with OTF can make it seem like extra rest is a reward we should automatically be rejecting. In actuality, it’s a strategy for getting the most out of the OTF long game. Taking an extra day — or days — allows us to come back fresher and stronger for whatever goals we’re chasing.

Any ideas as to what we’re in for on these days? “Chains of The Coven” seems like a lock for a day full of TRX straps and/or resistance bands while you better be ready for some planks during “The Witches’ Hold.”

Apart from that, I’ve got nothing. What are your guesses?

🏃‍♂️ Catch Me If You Can (Tuesday) and ⛳️ Capture The Flag (Friday) Two tough but fun workouts before the Hell Week challenge starts a week from Friday!

• Shoutout to Melissa for hitting class 500 last week and writing to tell me that she loves the Hell Week shirt as a lover of Halloween.

• And a big shoutout to Beth, who was charging toward class 500 before her 74th birthday in August. Unfortunately, she injured her knee during class 488, which required arthroscopic surgery. Now she’s working to get back while battling “major FOMO.” Everyone send Beth a good thought this morning! Get better and get back soon!

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