Training Malaise

Happy Monday,

I seem to continually revisit motivation on Mondays. . . As you know I use Mondays to re-focus my efforts but after some much needed feedback from my last post, I get the sense some of you are sagging in your excitement to "get after it".

It is perfectly normal for your energy and motivation level to surge and wane.  How can we maintain our interest and intensity especially when we have big 2012 goals? (Ironman maybe, a marathon, a dress?)  Sometimes, I resort to downright silly tricks to keep myself engaged.  These include:

Break it up!  Take your big goal and divide into smaller more manageable parts.  Perhaps something monthly, weekly, daily.  If you are training for a fall marathon, have you planned some 10 km races along the way so you can monitor your progress?

Get Social!  Find a sister and ask her to join you in mutual suffering.  I have done lots of training with someone else even when I was not registered in my buddies' race.  I derived great satisfaction from supporting a fellow tri-gal but here is the secret. . . ."you gotta ask!"  Perhaps the race you have signed up for has a social media component so you can chat online with other participants.  If you are in a smaller centre, get online and research the participant lists.

Do the Warm-Up!  When I (or my kids) start refusing to go to the pool, the track or the spin class, I make a deal with them (or myself).  DO THE WARM UP!  I show up and do the warm up and allow myself the option to leave after the warm up.  I can honestly say that over the almost two decades of racing and training, I can count on one hand (yes, less than 5) the number of times I have left.

Get on the Couch!  Yes, ON the couch. . .Find some inspirational movies to watch.  Make a Diva evening out of it.  Some of my favourites include:  Rudy, Any Given Sunday ("the inches speech"), Invictus, Moneyball ("I hate losing more than I love winning"), new to my list A Big Year, and finally an amazing podcast (I mean, amazing) from the CBC show DNTO What Drives you to Compete This is an interview with the olympian Clara Hughes.  AMAZING!!!

I think the point here is be nice to yourself.  If you had a Diva friend who needed some motivation, what would you say?   Would you be uber-hard on her?  Would you be compassionate, listen and gently guide her back to what she really wants?  If you do have a big goal this year, have you taken the time to write why you are in the hunt?  This reflection could come in handy when you need a push.

Keep on Tri-ing :)