Life after college soccer...

Here's an update on life in response to the question posed: "After all those years of organized soccer what is it like to be out of college and what are you doing now?"

Well I'd love to say that I'm out of college, but I'm actually just wrapping up my first year of law school. Unfortunately, due to my schedule I didn't get the opportunity to join a soccer league during the year, but I hope to get on a team this summer and dust off my skills! I am definitely getting the itch to play soccer again -- I recently pulled out my old college workout book and did some ball workouts to change up my exercise routine.

Going from playing three sports in grade school and high school to playing just one sport in college was a transition. Going from being an "athlete" to just a student is something else altogether. I definitely took for granted being a part of team sports. Working out and practicing were scheduled into my days, but now I have to make sure I carve out time to be active. I was also used to having 20 people I could call to play pick-up games or go to the rec center with. I especially realized what competition and having coaches and players pushing you can do for your workouts -- it's a lot harder to make yourself go out and run sprints or push your limits all by yourself!

However, I still enjoy working out, being healthy, and staying active. As soon as soccer season finished up I looked for something to transition to, and that's when I turned to distance running. I did my first marathon last spring and will be training for my second one -- the Marine Corps Marathon in DC this fall.

As for Anna, she's managed to stay with the sport a little more than I have this past year. She plays on Sunday nights. She's also gotten into distance running and we go running with her dog, Ryley, regularly.

If I had to give some tips for ex-college athletes, here is what I've learned:

• Make a commitment to scheduling time to work out -- I don't follow the same routine every day, but I make the commitment to fit in a workout or some activity almost every day.
• Find training partners -- For athletes that are used to having practices and training scheduled, having a training partner can help motivate you when you aren't obligated to work out (since my schedule makes it difficult to have consistent partners I've followed a training program with my sister even though we're a couple hours apart).
• Find activities you enjoy -- It's so much easier to be active when you enjoy what you do, so if you hate slaving away at a gym, go for a bike ride or something else you enjoy.
• Break bad habits and make some good ones -- When you're playing multiple sports or participating in college athletics it's easy to get away with bad eating habits because you're burning through calories, but life can be much less intense after organized sports so take the opportunity to clean up your diet.

Thanks for the question and remember we'd be happy to answer any general or specific questions you have!
-- Posted by Lisa