Motivation is fleeting...!! You have to establish a goal that YOU want. Write that goal down, invest in a social contract with friends and pursue that goal with an in wavering determination and passion. It’s the process that is the reward.

PG

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Pat Green
Green Multisport Training

reason #43,277 to train with a group, at least sometimes. Yeah, you might not get the exact workout to completely optimize your training load and post impressive numbers on TrainingPeaks, but that is far less important (IMO) than simply being engaged and consistent. Humans are social animals, most of us need strong connections and interaction with other people. The training group encourages consistency. Who cares if it isn't "optimal", you can generally make it work.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

The fear of getting fat should be motivation enough.

I got no motivation
Where is my motivation
No time for motivation
Smoking my inspiration

Green Day - "Longview"

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Coming from someone who has gained 8 lbs and stopped going to the gym, my first question would be, is this a season ending loss of motivation?.
Because I would guess just about everyone on here has one of those months (or two).

My season ended Nov 3rd with an attempt (don't ask) to run a standalone marathon after a not so impressive run at my last Tri effort. I can count on one middle finger the number of times I have done a hard workout since and on one hand the number of actual workouts.

All inclusive Cruises are starting to look good.

Good luck with that.

I'm unfortunately losing the motivation to run, yet running is still my first love. I've dealt with back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back injuries (all but one directly running related) which have all caused me to stop running for long periods (6 weeks or more) and as this summer wound down and fall kicked up I was able to start running again, intentionally easy, slow pace, low weekly miles (>20 at the peak) and WHAM! plantar fasciitis hit. 50% of me wants to give up running altogether, yet 50% of me thinks I can still run injury free.

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The secret of a long life is you try not to shorten it.
-Nobody

Also, just a thought here, I think that "motivation" is overrated. If you depend on being motivated then that's gonna ebb and flow, it's really hard to be motivated at the end of the season when your next race is months and months away. I just try to make it a routine, or a habit. Quite often I don't feel especially motivated, but it's part of my routine to go to the pool on certain nights, so that's what I do. And I always feel better after having done it.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

to echo others, losing motivation is fairly common and establishing goals is helpful. That goal could be a race in a few months that you want to do well at, a weight you want to hit, a milestone on a specific date (example, sub 20 minute 5k before March 31, or 300 watt 20min interval by x date), or really any other goal.

If not of that works, then it’s time to do a self audit and figure out what’s next, since multisport might not be what you should be investing resources into. There are plenty of activities you can do to keep you healthy, and maybe you need to try something different for a while. You can try rock climbing, tennis, in-line skating, snowboarding, backpacking, etc. Eventually the multisport bug may bite you again and you can go back.

Don’t sell all your current gear. You want to still own it in case the fire is back in a few months.

Yes, that's a part of it. But I think a useful skill for the lifelong endurance athlete is adapting our habits to the changing seasons of our lives (turn turn turn). Find a balance between group and individual. Outdoor/indoor. If something's not working, change it. In winter/off-season do something completely different. New people, new skills.

Sometimes we have to suck it up and force ourselves through a workout. But anyone doing that more than like once every couple of weeks is doing something wrong. This should be an escape from the mundanity of modern life, not another avenue for grim drudgery. Pros maybe need to spend more time in dark places

Action = motivation

Don't try to motivate yourself to do something. Just do it. Sounds like a cliche but it works for me.

I tell myself just get on the trainer or treadmill and go as long as you want. I establish a workout but just tell myself I can quit at any time.

99% of the time I finish the workout. I feel motivated once the blood is pumping. I have this quote in my pain cave:

"Luck is the last dying wish of those who wanna believe that winning can happen by accident. Sweat on the other hand is for the ones who know its a choice. So decide now, because destiny waits for no man. So when the time comes and a thousand different voices are trying to tell you: you are not ready for it, listen instead to that lone voice of discent, one that says you are ready, you are prepared, its all up to you know, so rise and shine."

It's from the Grind. One of the few motivational things that turn me in Rocky Balboa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxOFvpplvAM

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The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.

For me that’s like saying I lost motivation to brush my teeth. Or lost motivation to take a shower

Step one put toothpaste on tooth brush. Ok well guess I have to brush my teeth now

I make it so there is no choice. 1st goal. Walk to my room, put on chammy cream and bike shorts

Ok well I feel/look stupid sitting around like that. Guess I have to get on the trainer and start turning the pedals. Turn the TV on. Check my phone for that days workout. Complete the workout.

I think you should actually make it a point to do several workouts during the week with other people, even if it has to be a recovery-type effort for you, given that you work alone at home and training solo will only add to that social imbalance.

I run into this problem myself at work when I go through blocks of time where I barely have time to talk to anyone at work for more than a few words - if I don't do some sort of group workout soon, the motivation will tank and the love for the sport drops a lot, which is not good.

My schedule is really tough to make ANY sort of legit group workout, so I do the next best thing, which is do my swim workouts at a pool with other swimmers. Sometimes they'll get in the way as it's so crowded, but I suck it up and realize that having the company NOW will enable me to drill it on hard solo workouts later. And it def works out that way.

I find you have to respect the social balance to keep motivation up.

That's definitely not a foolproof method.

On more than one occasion I have put chamois cream and a bib on to sit on my bike in the basement for 10 minutes with my head on my handle bars without ever turning the pedals.

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

So then you changed out of your shorts before riding?

no. I would sit on the trainer with my bib... but taking off a bib with fresh chamois cream without doing a workout to sit down and eat cinnamon toast crunch instead is a weird feeling.

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

It's perfectly fine. You have a full control of your life. If you don't feel like it, don't train, period. Rest, read, watch videos, recharge, talk to other people and see what happens. Training is tough, but I'm always happy after I finish it. Obviously, you don't feel that way. If you are not happy or find joy and there's no reason to do what you don't want to. You will be motivated again or maybe not, but nothing's wrong with that. Just enjoy having a full control of your life and see what happens. Good luck!!

I went through a phase where I absolutely hated the idea of getting on my bike. Living on a small island with about 10 miles of total tarmac (most of it potholed and crappy) meant I was riding indoors pretty much all year long. Dumb trainer, watching TV. I was ok with that as long as i was racing a few times a year - then had some family health issues, donated my liver to my mom, screwed up my back doing something else, etc. etc. Stopped racing but force of habit kept me training for another couple of years, and i got to the stage where I would dread the bike workout. Then i stopped riding entirely.

Got back into the groove earlier this year, by getting back into triathlons. That has helped a lot. Having moved to a place where i can ride with others, gaining my bike fitness back to the point where i can still turn on the screws in a group ride also helps. I've been training 10-12 hour a week now and enjoying it.

So yeah, motivation comes and goes. If your mojo is down, take a short break and recharge your batteries, or you might end up needing a much longer layoff. Training with others is a great way to push yourself more and makes training more fun too.

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Those who are slower than me suck.
Those who are faster than me dope

Wow, that's very nice of you. Actually, that's one of the reasons I want to stay healthy and keep my body clean, so I can donate my kidney or liver to my family just in case. I'm blood type O, so I'm a universal donor. Anyway, were do you live if you don't mind me asking. I love tropical places and ocean, so I don't mind living in an island like that.

Just curious: are you OK with this loss of motivation and happy with the opportunity to switch gears, or are you asking for advice about how to deal with it and get back to the motivation you had for racing?

In your post you wonder if any of us have lost motivation. I'm going on to year 17 of triathlon and never have, but unlike you I work in an office, usually surrounded by idiots, and training alone is the only way I've managed not to turn homicidal. Yet.

Careful. Some 'twitcher is going to ID your island, do a sneak visit and spend a day stealing all your Strava KOMs. Just because.

On the plus side, that might be motivating.

Ah, a small island in Asia... lovely location, as in, it was about a 40 second walk from my bed to the sea (something my 3 retrievers took great advantage of). But poor internet, poor roads, limited eating choices, etc. So definitely a tradeoff.


Funny you say that - i had a roadie friend visit me a few months after my surgery, when I was just getting back into riding. Dropped me like a bad habit on a climb and later gave me the whole "I was just about to come back and see if you were ok" salt on the wound. :)

In any case, i have moved to civilization now and rediscovered my enthusiasm for training. And along with that, embarassment at how much cycling fitness i have lost...

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Those who are slower than me suck.
Those who are faster than me dope

I agree on this point and it took me a long time to really get it. I used to say that the first law of Triathlon was “The Conservation of Motivation”. I applied it by every time I was feeling unmotivated, I’d skip or modify the workout. I’m not saying this can’t work (it did for me for years) but it always created a cognitive/emotional dissidence for me. I felt like I was falling short in some way.

Now, like Jason, I rely on discipline (can call it routine or habit) vs motivation. I structure my whole year training around a set of goals (last year was climbing some mountains in Bolivia and KQ at IMAZ.) I review my plan each week (and modify as needed) as the season unfolds and I just do the plan everyday. I make the decision “once” and it just becomes part of my to dos for each day.

I apply this approach to my diet as well. OK, I need to drop 5 pounds so I’m going to be careful what I eat, not drink alcohol, and restrict my calories until I’m there....

A good resource on this is David Goggins and while I’m not in his league or nearly as disciplined as him, I have successfully borrowed some of this discipline “tactics”...

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Randy Christofferson(http://www.rcmioga.blogspot.com

Insert Doubt. Erase Hope. Crush Dreams.

Everyone has their own secret sauce. For myself, its not something that can be forced, at least not long term. Setting a goal race works but if I over-force it, it seems to backfire I really hate training and also start this downward sprial, internal dialog self-criticism.

I'd consider picking up some other active activity that you have always wanted to try. If it is something that contributes to core strength or even better something that could maintain your aerobic base, all the better.

Before Tri I was real into rock climbing. I went to tri after I lost mojo for that after a pretty long fall. Off season tri is pretty much prime bouldering season, so now I go back and forth to some degree.

This guy has some sage advice

https://coloradosun.com/...hCm09OUP4qqqQlKEDUxY