These past several weeks post IM Chattanooga have been an interesting experience.
Before September 29th, my triathlon training was the cornerstone of each day. I set my schedule with intention and followed through as if my dreams depended on it. I was in a structured, motivated, committed groove. It wasn’t easy, but that didn't matter. I loved all of it.
And my result was a mighty fine race and a Kona qualification.
Post race, Haley and I decided a break from structured training would be good for the mind, body, and soul. A break would allow full recovery, an over emphasis on sleep, a hormone readjustment, the opportunity to move my body for the fun of it, and maybe even miss structured training.
To be honest, the idea of it terrified me. I had just come off of such an intense ride: full-on, high volume training cycles, race mode, goal chase, KQ, race celebration and all that came along with that. Part of me believed that if I just stopped, I might not get back there. I thought long and hard and knew that because the Ironman race cycle is pretty taxing, a break would be good. So unstructured training began on October 7th.
I exercised in any way that sounded appealing which was mostly Orangetheory Fitness (the most fun with friends, of course). I moved my body because I wanted to, but inside I was still holding on to needing to do something every single day. My training (orrr exercise) hours were about 7 hours/week for the first 3 weeks comprised of swim, bike, hike, OTF. I didn’t take a full day off until 9 days in. And when I did, I thought I was breaking a rule when in fact I was just following the unstructured plan. I feared that with less training and more days off, I would get too comfortable with my schedule not centered on training and lose motivation to train at all.
This is where I went wrong. I could have continued to see the break in structured training as an opportunity to reset with zero expectations or assumptions, while still making it a priority to move regularly. Instead, at some point along the way, I started to fill all my extra time with business needs and shifted my focus entirely. I stopped thinking about moving my body or training as a valuable use of my time. I feared a loss in motivation then created that loss in motivation.
For the last 2 weeks, I’ve been all kinds of unmotivated. I’ve taken more days off in the last 2 weeks than I have in the last 2 years. Part of me wants so bad to be back in the swing of things and the other part of me just wants to sit on the couch all winter.
And then I realized, what a perfect opportunity to (yet again!) be my own first client. I desperately needed a check up from the neck up. Here’s what I remembered:
Motivation doesn’t come from our schedules or the season of the year. And it most definitely doesn’t just show up. Motivation comes from us and can be created whenever we want. When we resort to blaming the world for a lack of motivation, we’ve got it all wrong.
There’s nothing wrong with feeling unmotivated, we just have to take responsibility for it. If we want to change it, we must take responsibility for that part too.
If you’re needing a little kick start in motivation, check out this little video I made:
