kenj's group - closed with a great bunch of triathletes in training!!! (Page 19)

Motivation is a real bich for me. I work the late 2nd shift job so getting off work at 3am then trying to hit the trainer just isn't that appealing (but I do it from time to time). With an hour drive home then trying to get to bed by 4:30 just to get up by 10:00 to do some workouts, leaves me feeling real drained. However, I dredge myself through this routine, because I have a goal in mind and that goal is to cross the finish line at Branson this Sept.

Motivation,,,, I have none, but am driven by a goal.

Welcome to everyone.  I'm glad for all your input. 

Motivation, great topic.   This time in 2005, I weighed nearly 400 pounds, is my best guess.  50 inch waist.  Lost it riding a bike, then added swimming and running to compete in tris starting last year after beating cancer in 2006.  Going longer to a half IM this year.  Hope to make a full IM next year.  I'll be racing at age 60. 

Why is always a great question.  I hear it often;

- I needed a lifestyle change and the bike and later the triathlons provided it.  I'm not afraid of the weight coming back as long as I realize this is a new athletic lifestyle, not just a diet with exercise.  This is me now. 
- I was told being in good condition can help keep cancer away, either a recurrence or a new form.  Once you've had it, you want to do everything you can to avoid having it again.
- Losing the weight, beating cancer, and recovering from alcoholism (21 years now), I can show others they can do this too.  The challenges become worth it when I realize I'm not just in it for me. 
- I hired a coach.  Not every one needs this...there are lots of low cost resources, books and web sites including this one that can help...but I started late in life.  I have no time to BS.  As a result, paying out the cash makes one more reason to get up and go do my workout no matter what.  My coach says I am the only one he has that does ever one.  I've had flats on the road, broken a chain, broken spokes, you name it, but I've come into town, gotten it fixed and finished.
- I need to honor the support I get at home by doing my best.   My wife is a life saver.  She'll drive out no questions asked, retrieve my sorry butt and get me to where I need to be to get the bike working and back on track. She makes sure my gear and clothes are ready.  She waits for me to eat in the evening. A dream.  My manager. 
- Goals are key. The goals keep me moving to get out of bed at 4 to go to a cold pool twice a week, to push higher and higher wattages on the bike, to try to run faster.  I sign up for races early.  I have three now, a sprint in June, Oly in July and the half IM in September.  Paid my money.  Those dates will be here whether I am ready or not.  I need to be ready.
- I picture success.  I meditate on crossing the finish line.  I see myself doing my best in the water, on the bike and running.  I imagine tough times and see myself getting through them.   Visualizing is really a good tool. 

Those are just thoughts off the top of my head.  As the discussion evolves, I'm sure I'll remember some others. 



 

I think for me, motivation comes from several places.  For one, the bathroom scale.  I'm not obsessed with it, but I try make it a point to weigh myself once a week every Monday morning.  Watching the lbs slowly melt away is a great motivator.  Also my daughter.  She's only 7, but most definitely old enough to understand.  I try to be an example to her that you only get out of life what you put into it.  Through hard work and dedication comes the reward and satisfaction of accomplishing your goals.  And like others have said, having family and friends at the finish line when you cross is one of the most amazing feelings.  Knowing the support system I have with family and friends is a huge motivator for me as well.

Welcome to the group OHIO.

Motivation......

I struggle every single day to work out and then get the major guilties when I don't get out and walk/run, ride or swim. But when I do get out there I feel great! I love to feel great! This is the motivator for me. And Sunday is treat day...I eat what ever I want if I've worked out at least 5 times that week.

I want to be fit! I want to be that healthy robust woman, sweating and panting, crossing over the finish line this summer. I want to be proud of myself. I want to complete this goal.

I've given up on the shark fin drill....can't seem to keep afloat from the waist down. Going to try the glide drill instead.

I'm having a problem with my right heel, I've had Plantar fasciitis in the past and wear orthotics. I'm guessing it's just my feet getting used to all the extra movement.

Goal for this week...Get the bike out of storage and hit the pavement....Hello spring!

Just one comment about this.  Please, please, please, don't feel guilty.  This is all about fun, not creating another weapon to make ourselves feel guilty, less-than or whatever other reasons we might have to over eat or worse, give up.  Habits are hard to break.  I have to replace old habits with new ones ...and a habit has to be practiced over and over to reach that point.  No bad feelings, it's all good.   Just a thought from one who's been there.

Hey, Heather - I'm just like you on what motivates me most. I feel great when I do it and I want to keep feeling great since my days on this earth are numbered. The competition motivates me some but it isn't the driving force. Being a good example to my kids is in the mix, too. I've only "bonked" once so far at roughly mile 4.5 in the last leg of the 6.2 run in my second OLY. I hadn't experienced my body wanting to shut down before, so I was taken off guard. I walked a while but then I got the mental image of the finish line in my head and that's what motivated me to start running again. My family wasn't at the finish line, nor a single person I knew. It was the picture of the finish line itself that did it.

As you dust off your bikes to take a ride outside, just be careful out there. I was so thankful my local bike shop recommend me riding with "Halt" which is like pepper spray. I had to use it for the first time ever last week when 2 dogs became very agressive and scared the begeebers out of me. So just a reminder to ride carefully and be safe!

I thought I would put some motivation here down from a book I am reading.  "It's said that every baseball team could use someone who knows how to play every position, never strikes out, and never makes an error.  The only problem is that it's hard to make him lay down his hot dog and come out of the stands!"   

If you guys are looking for some motivation, I recommend reading 'Born to Run' by Christopher McDougall. It was an amazing book, read it in 2 days, and it was really an awesome book. Made me go out and run a few miles at 3am just for the fun of it.   

Here is the summary:

Full of incredible characters, amazing athletic achievements, cutting-edge science, and, most of all, pure inspiration, Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world's greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and in the process shows us that everything we thought we knew about running is wrong. Isolated by the most savage terrain in North America, the reclusive Tarahumara Indians of Mexico's deadly Copper Canyons are custodians of a lost art. For centuries they have practiced techniques that allow them to run hundreds of miles without rest and chase down anything from a deer to an Olympic marathoner while enjoying every mile of it. Their superhuman talent is matched by uncanny health and serenity, leaving the Tarahumara immune to the diseases and strife that plague modern existence. With the help of Caballo Blanco, a mysterious loner who lives among the tribe, the author was able not only to uncover the secrets of the Tarahumara but also to find his own inner ultra-athlete, as he trained for the challenge of a lifetime: a fifty-mile race through the heart of Tarahumara country pitting the tribe against an odd band of Americans, including a star ultramarathoner, a beautiful young surfer, and a barefoot wonder. With a sharp wit and wild exuberance, McDougall takes us from the high-tech science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultrarunners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to the climactic race in the Copper Canyons. Born to Run is that rare book that will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that the secret to happiness is right at your feet, and that you, indeed all of us, were born to run. 

 

Just put a hold request at my library on line for the book because it's currently checked. Sounds like a good one, Ryan. Thanks for passing on the recommendation.

I just read something about Born to Run in the latest Triathlon mag.  I'll get one.  I have a nutrition for athletes book on the way now.  But I need something inspirational too.

Who would have thought that 15 months ago I would ever be interested in a book called Born to Run.? :/   Not I.  Unless it was Born to Run from the Cops.   Just kidding.  Never arrested here. 



   

You make me laugh, Scott. It's always good to know we can learn and change ourselves even in old age.

Wait!  Old!  Me!  Oh my god!

 

Throw this out there,,,
Warmer weather is upon (most) of us and with the higher number of people using their cell phones while driving, I urge that you take extreme caution while out on the roads running or biking. 
I run against traffic so I can see the cars and their movements rather easy. Biking with the traffic is a different type of animal. I use (religiously) my sunglasses mirror attachment, similar to the helmet mount mirror. I can at least get a glimpse of a driver that may be veering towards the right coming at me.
Even while driving my car, I have seen many a folks using their phones and veering to the right of the road then jerking the car back to the left.
Basicly, watch out for yourself and keep an eye on everything.

Great reminder, Doug. Thanks. I'm still trying to find a mirror that will work with my set up. From my LBS I tried a sunglasses one, a helmet one and a handlebar one and they don't attach properly with what I got. Thanks for the reminder to make it a priority to find something that will work while biking.

Gotta love the 60 degrees plus weather that we're having in Indiana today! It's calling my name.....

I quit using a mirror.  My coach advised it.  For one, they are dangerous when riding in groups.  When you are looking behind for something you can't do anything about anyway, you could cause an accident with the people around you. 

I quit using them when I'm alone too.  What's the point?  Really unlikely I can get out of the way of someone traveling fast. And if they go close but pass around, hey, they missed.  No point in getting upset then.  If I do happen to catch up to one, I alert them to Illinois' 3 foot rule.  Not many incidents since the law anyway.