Don't lose it in the first place.

Ask yourself why you train, then answer the question, and then train (or don't). If your training doesn't match up with your answer, then your answer was wrong.

---

----------------------------------
"Go yell at an M&M"

I eat potatoes ;-)



Seriously, it depends on what were your motivations in the past. Think hard about what drove you in your last seasons and see what is different for this season. Then you can see if you want to choose to use the same motivations as in the past, find new ones or perhaps... just take some time off and enjoy fitness-maintaining activities, more time with your family, etc... That is a possibility you know :-)

---

-
"Yeah, no one likes a smartass, but we all like stars" - Thom Yorke


smartasscoach.tri-oeiras.com

[reply]Don't lose it in the first place.

Ask yourself why you train, then answer the question, and then train (or don't). If your training doesn't match up with your answer, then your answer was wrong.[/reply]

LOLOLLOLOLOL, I love answers like this. This is the zen master stating, "do or do not, there is no try." Then you go out spend five years working on stuff and learn and then come back having grown a great deal and said zen master says, "I told you so."

LOLOLOLOL

Focus, goals, motivation, there all tied together. Do some concrete things. Start small. Find the joy in it. For example, just tell yourself you'll go for one run this week. 20 minutes. Go for the run, do you like it is it fun? If so, add a little more, maybe two next week. Still fun? Keep adding. If the first one isn't fun, ask yourself why? Painful? Cold? (some might call these excuses but rather than dwell in the negative try to dig the positive out of it.) Whatever it may be or even if you don't know the reason, pick something else to do. Go iceskating. Go play basketball. Repeat until something starts to click, it will click, but sometimes you have to work a little harder at it than other times. Then as it clicks, if you've found that curling is what you're jazzed about right now, slowly start to bring back in the things you've been wanting to do.

I firmaly have come to believe that every person on the planet would stay fit IF (and only IF) you find the exercise that they like - and, yes, I do think there is an exercise for everyone, you just have to sometimes look deeper. But somewhere, everyeone will gel with something. Find the fun, find the enjoyment. Don't try to force your motivation or you'll just end up hating what your doing.

As Gordo says, "Don't take life so serious, none of us will make it out alive."

I backed off quite a bit also, was getting 2 days of swimming, 3 days of running and 1-2 days of biking(indoors). I made plans to really start increasing in Dec. However, got sidelined by a breast cancer scare. My annual mamogram showed something that needed a biopsy to determine what it was. So for 30 days of terror and stress before the procedure was done, I could not sleep and ate horribly! I was a mess and must have gain 5 lbs. I got the word on Tuesday, all is well and to come back in 6 months for another mamogram just to follow up. I was so relieved and feel very lucky. I get so caught up in my training and motivation to train that I forget how quickly your life can change at any given time. So come Jan I will start my training plan and my motivation will be getting to the start line of my first ever half ironman. I will be very thankful that I can train and race and I will NOT feel guilty if I do miss any of my training days. So I guess like everyone else is saying, pick your motivation and keep that in your mind to get you going again.

I have trouble getting to the pool. I hate getting cold, it makes my neck muscles spasm, then my neck/upper back have kinks in them for days until I get them all worked out. Plus, no matter how much I practice, it doesn't make a great deal of difference in a race. I'm better than MOP without a wetsuit, and FOP with a wetsuit (in my AG, not overall). I could work a lot at something I don't really like and improve incrementally, OR, I can go ride or run with a buddy and have fun. I usually choose not to go to the pool when I have such choices. I meant to go today...but, I rode 50 miles in shorts instead. Ahhh...nice choice.

---

Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)

Hmmm,

For me, I gotta let the whole thing go for a while- maybe for to six weeks. Just do other things- work, read, watch movies. I have to hit the reset button.

All day long in the shop on three video screens there is some kind of racing being shown: Tour de France, Ironman, something. It runs all day and usually after closing too- like now.

I know I am ready to get back out the door when I start watching that again instead of working. The other day I was in the middle of finishing an order with a vendor and there was this shot of Thomas Hellriegal running in the lava field at Ironman. I just thought, "Man, that looks pretty darn good right now..."

When I start thinking like that, the reset button is complete and I am ready for action again. But the body and the brain need a little rest. 6 weeks out of 52 is certainly reasonable.

The trick for me is, when you rest, rest completely. Don't do it half assed.

---

Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Done very little in the past three weeks. Lots of good food and drink and gained five lbs. Judgement Day will be on Jan 2nd with the 10 kms "resolution run" that I've entered. My time will suck so bad that I'll be shamed into starting to train again.

I use the "race when out of shape to piss me off to train harder" technique quite regularly. I was going to do the Resolution Run 5k in Mississauga on New Year's Eve but I figure that I'm below the fitness level needed to use a race as a motivator so I'm just skipping straight to some solid training :) Today I did 1:15 on the trainer and a 1 hour run and yesterday it was a 1 hr swim, 1 hr run and 1 hr spin class so I'm starting to feel motivated to take off a few of the large number of pounds (I'm reluctant to step on the scale to see exactly how many) that I've put on since racing Kona and taking some easy time training and then topping it off with the holiday season food-fest.

I put a picture of myself crossing the finish at my best event last season on the fridge..dead smack in the middle..where I can see it all the time.
It reminds me of how great it feels to be in top form.
I try take 3 weeks off to recharge and clear out last seasons imprint,EAT like a human,some cake,pie,donuts.. and recover from injuries,but, I still run,swim and bike a few days a week.
All AeT work,nice and light for base.
Motivation comes from fine tuning ones mental attitude.
As Mark Allen states, its as important as physical conditioning.
Stay Away from SUGAR!!!
It can really take you down.
Hey if you're employed..have a roof over your head,food on the table,family,friends,your health!!
Consider yourself blessed!
Thats more fuel for motivation than one can hope for ...right?
So load up your IPod..and throw down some sweat...cause the season is around the corner...and if you're not game,and I'm in your race..you can count on me "Turning and Burning" on you!
1.Getting Ass off Couch--$ 0.00
2. New IPod $ 250.00
3. Bottle of Water-$ 1.00
4. Keeping SwordFish behind you at the race....PRICELESS!!

Out!

---

_______________________________________________________

Seeing him in deep torment, I said. " You can have my last GU , but its been down my pants for most of the run". - John Hirsch

Take care of your body, its by far the coolest thing you're going to ever own.- Can't remember who told me this, but I love it.

Two simple steps towards wintertime motivation:

1: Before December, pay $450 or so for entering a triathlon.

2: Tell all your friends what you did, and when the race is.

That oughta focus your midwinter training!

Help.

I took a month off (no running, biking or swimming) before starting IMAZ training next week...although I have playing indoor lacrosse/basketball etc. I "heard" it was a good idea.

Yesterday was nice, so I decided to start early...coupled with the fact that I'm going out for Brazilian rodizio tonight. (GF is from Brasil...perhaps she can post to you in Portuguese). I went for a run.

My usually run route is 6.2 miles, which takes a casual 44-46 minutes. Never any pain or LT.

Last night, it was 52 minutes and I literally was sore at mile 3.

So...how stupid was it to take the month off? Is that standard for taking 4 weeks off? Should I cut back the runs to 3 mile each....2x per day until I'm not "sore"?

Smitty8

With such a short time off I think that you'll find that you can stick with your 10k runs. The first few might cause some grief like you experienced with the first one, but if you were cruising 44 minutes before, I suspect that you'll be back in the groove pretty quickly. It would be different if you had taken 5 or 6 months off but after a relatively short break such as yours your fitness level will come back pretty quickly.