Staying motivated over the long haul.

I have been in endurance sports for almost 40 years, so perhaps can give my $0.02.

First, I think it's okay to pursue the sport (or sports, if you do single-sport events, too) at different levels of seriousness for different amounts of time. It's okay just to train for fitness for a while--whether that's a few days, weeks, months, years, or decades, if that's what you feel like. I would NOT do full-on iron distance training year-round. Body and mind just need a break. Mix it up.

As for actual day to day out the door motivation:

1. I think about all the people who are not able to do this because of physical limitations or life circumstances, and the times in my life when I haven't been able to train due to the same, and that usually gets me out the door.

2. That 5-6:30 AM block is the only part of my day that reliably belongs to me. Except for a race and the occasional early flight, hardly anyone has ever asked for my time then. Plus the weather is usually good here at that hour and roads relatively free of traffic/pollution. I don't want to waste it lying in bed.

3. I have cats, not dogs--it's different. 4:30-5 AM is the most awesome time of the day for them, and they can't wait for "Mom" to get up and feed them. Try explaining to a cat, or, worse yet, more than one cat, about rest/recovery/lazy days or illness--it won't happen. You're still going to have to get up and feed them, or lie there getting meowed at for three hours and having your face and bladder stepped on. It doesn't matter how much food is/isn't in their bowls, you still have to get up and go through the feeding ritual or they will not be placated.

Once you're up and moving, you might as well hit the pool/road/gym/trainer....after dispensing the kitty food, of course.

Friel - Triathlon Training Bible.

Good reading. Kind of like Schwartzenegger's Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding in weight lifting, it focuses on triathlon training holistically without all the forum opinions.

Edited by FranzZemen 2017-09-25 7:03 AM

Mine just sit on the floor next to the bed staring at me. Just staring. Not even meowing. When I get up to go to the bathroom, I can hear them outside the door fighting with each other. The only time they pay attention to me is in the morning when I go to feed them, or when I come home at night...they run to the door...because my family lets me feed them. They're sisters. One only has eyes for my wife. The other is fine being around us, but won't come sit with you.

They were street rescues. You know how it goes...you can the girl outta the streets....

At the risk of turning this into a thread about cats. Mine have learnt there is absolutely no point in trying to get me up before the alarm goes. At best, nothing happens, at worse, they get a sock (or underwear something light and soft) thrown at them.... in my defense We got them before I was serious about tri training. Maybe I should train them to get me up at 5... or not

But anyway, about how to stay motivated, I don't know, it's my first fall/winter since I got serious so I am not sure yet how my training is going to survive the dark and cold months, swimming in the pool and cycling on the trainer... I guess variation is the key. I am hoping for a cold snowy winter so I can ice skate and cc ski.

 

I did the 16' Ironman St. George 70.3.  It was really pretty.  I am not sure where the Utah 70.3 IM is.  It that is Provo?  Other?  Staying motivated is something that lots of people deal with.  You say you are at week 11?  How many weeks long is you plan?  16 weeks, 20 weeks, 26 weeks, etc?  

I find that anything over about 16 weeks is really hard for me to stay focused and that is even sometime too much as I get stir craze at about 12 weeks.  I did my first traithlon in 2015 and started training for it 8 months earlier in 2014.  I didn't have an 32 week training plan though.  It had been a year since I did any work outs at all so I started with an 8 week 5K plan to get some fitness back.  I didn't worry about anything past 8 weeks.  My goal was to build volume, to regain some speed, to regain some focus, and to have the best 5K race I could have on 8 weeks of training.  The 5K was not my best race by any means but I met all my goals.  After that I set an 8 week plan to run a half marathon.  Again I didn't worry about anything past those 8 weeks.  My focus was to again build volume, to build endurance, to work on consistency, and to have a great half marathon.  My half Marathon actually went pretty go.  A lot better than the 5K anyways.  The 1/2 Marathon gave some much needed confidence because my next test was to spend 8 weeks learning how to freestyle swim and to start cycling.  Two sports I had never raced in or trained for.  That 8 week focus was pretty fun.  I was not worried about training my guts out.  I was just worried about form and technique and at the end of the day if I spent 20 minutes doing breathing drills on the wall of the pool instead of doing swim intervals I was right on track because form came before volume and if I went slow on the bike instead of hammering it it was okay because I was just spending time in the saddle focusing on the SPM's that I was most efficient at, pedal efficiency. getting comfort at cornering, etc. The 8 weeks before my race I finally did a legitimate triathlon training plan when I got race specific and trained to race.  I was ready for the race and it didn't feel like I had been training for 8 months because I kept changing the focus to where things never got stale.   

 

So...for me motivation works best if

1) I have a goal.  This means that I have chosen a specific race and signed up for it.  With out a ticking time clock it is 10 times harder for me to get focused because I don't know what I need to be doing each day to be ready for the race because I don't know when the next race is going to be.  

2) I break up training into mezocycle with milestones along the way.  If I am 30 weeks out and can PR in a 5K race it is a huge boost to my motivation.  If I am 30 weeks out and don't have anything to look forward to for 7 months then I am not going to be motivated to push myself for another 5 months.

Rest days are good too.  My pets never tells me that I need to sleep in on Sunday because my pets are chickens that crow at 5:00 AM and because I take every Sunday off from training as my rest day.  Every 7th week I take double rest days.  :-)

 

Good luck with IM 70.3 Utah.

Edited by BlueBoy26 2017-09-25 3:44 PM

Thank you for the responses.

As for the IM I intended to take on, it is the St. George one. I've been through the area several times on motorcycle trips and know how beautiful the area is, but I hear the course is pretty brutal due to climbs one will have to endure.

I have not formally started any training program as of yet. I just have been doing maintenance runs/rides and swims. I just signed up for a couple of Fall and Winter sprints to get my back into the swing of things. I think I will formally begin a training program right around Christmas. Until then, I plan on keeping active with maintenance stuff with a couple sprints thrown in.

Like you BlueBoy, I think I'll be giving a half-marathon a go in February to gauge myself a bit.

Thanks again everyone.

For me, being able to train is just a blessing given the ailments/issues/concerns that's out there. It's truly a "first world" problem.

Here's my list:

a) I ditto the person above stating that there are individuals who try their hardest to overcome their limitations so who am I to complain about getting up early and running for an hour?

b) I try to set an example for my niece and nephew. In today's world it feels like most youths are tied to TV/Tablet/Phone and not enough activity. Whether that activity be riding their bike around the neighborhood, mowing the lawn, or horsing around with friends.......just get out there!

c) I read a quote that said "One day I won't be able to (insert race, mileage, etc), but TODAY is not that day"

Enjoy the moments.....they go buy fast.