Short term motivation

Duncanandthemachine

I'm sure I'm not alone here...

How do you folks get around short term drops in motivation?

I have a training plan, objectives, evidence from previous years that I'm training in a reasonable efficient manner...but some days/weeks I really struggle. These periods often coincide with elevated stress level at work.

Any suggestions? (Aside from read rule 5 )

Trev The Rev

Duncanandthemachine wrote:

I'm sure I'm not alone here...

How do you folks get around short term drops in motivation?

I have a training plan, objectives, evidence from previous years that I'm training in a reasonable efficient manner...but some days/weeks I really struggle. These periods often coincide with elevated stress level at work.

Any suggestions? (Aside from read rule 5 )

Stress often causes a loss of motivation and hence may make you under perform even though your fitness levels are high.

If you have high stress levels I would avoid adding to your stress load by doing tests or trying to set PBs. Carry on training but accept that when under pressure in other areas of your life you will not be able to motivate yourself to perform as well as you would like.

Alex_Simmons/RST

Do something on the bike that you enjoy the most.

Ride with others for a break in routine.

For me it used to be going to the track on Sunday morning for some sprint work with my mates, instead of my regular training ride. It was more the fact that the trash talk with my mates was a lot of fun, but it was still a high quality training session. Always left the track with a smile.

As Trev said, rest of life can cause problems, so sometimes you just need to deal with that so it's not bugging the crap out of you for too long.

Everyone is different in what gives them a spark.

kamil1891

I don't really have problems with motivation but I also bought a mountain bike to mix things up (I already do quite a lot of track riding), so when the weather is so bad that I cannot/don't want to go on a road bike or I just don't feel like I want to do road riding then I go on my mountain bike despite the weather (lots of mud involved too ) and you would not believe how I crave for road bike for my next rides However, it's not because the mtb is cr@p because it's usually more fun than road riding but it's a real burst in terms of motivation for me. And yeah, you have to work out what that is for yourself

neeb

Sometimes I find it difficult to separate physical and psychological factors when I'm lacking motivation. Not eating enough, not getting enough sleep, fairly moderate amounts of alcohol etc. can all reduce basic energy levels, and that can sometimes express itself as a lack of psychological motivation. Similarly, just feeling psychologically slightly down can sometimes the root cause, in which case the best thing is just to force yourself to go out and do it in the knowledge that it'll be much better once you do. Sometimes I find watching cycle sport helps - after seeing the pros ripping up the road I'm usually itching to get out myself.

dw300

Just remind yourself how lucky you are to have been born able-bodied, in a country with paved roads, a temperate climate, and that's rich enough that buying a bike is within most peoples means.

There's an alternative if that doesn't work, but its a bit 'dark'.

Herbsman

dw300 wrote:

Just remind yourself how lucky you are to have been born able-bodied, in a country with paved roads, a temperate climate, and that's rich enough that buying a bike is within most peoples means.

If there was a 'like' button on this post I would click it... this is exactly what I think whenever I get any negative thoughts about cycling...

Duncanandthemachine

Agreed! But we allget caught upon our own woes sometimes.

FYI - motivation back, 3 50km + rides in 4 days