Finding motivation after some years off?

Triathlon Forum
2

This isn’t going to help you find motivation for an IM but I had similar experiences. After a few years of starting/stopping and inconsistency, I thought maybe I had to find something else. I started off road biking and hiking and eventually turned to bike touring. I did a solo bike trip around the world and hiked to Everest Base Camp and can honestly say have never missed doing an IM. I was injured on my tour and can never run again but if I could I might do a few shorter triathlons but the days of long 4-5 hour rides out and back to the same place are long gone.

Maybe the lack of motivation is a sign to try something different.

3

Same. Kona x 2 and all. Almost chucked it in last year. I realised however that I actually enjoy swimming, biking and running and the company of like minded people. It was just the pressure of training, planning and aiming to do well at races that was killing it for me. No more. Ditched religiously slaving to the powermeter and HR monitor. With your experience you probably don’t need them either. I’m going old school. It was too expensive anyway. Not planning any races months and months in advance. That means family is no longer second! Thing is I’m probably training just as much now but without the urgency and definitely enjoying it more. Also content to take things a bit easier and now that 80/20 is all the rage I’m working heavily on the 80 side of things :). I’ll do the 20 if I feel like racing again. Cheers, M.

4

Thanks Sanuk - I think thats a super input and good advice :slight_smile:

I have always been doing loads of other sports, even while competing in Ironman; hiking, mountaineering, rock climbing and mountainbiking. Still doing it all - but still the same, no consistency month after month.
I still love to cycle, even on the TT bike and many hours in the saddle doesnt bother me at all

5

10 years of racing at a fairly competetive/serious level; KQed and finished Kona, round 9h Ironman, won AGs races, but its been since 2015 that I finished my last Ironman. Family, work, 45 years of age, gained 10 kg, too much good food and red wine.
Base shape is still fairly good, I can still hold past race-paces over 4h on the bike or over a 20k run, so not completely gone couch-potato.

I still wanna train and race, have always been super self-motivated, but where before, I would almost suffer, if I missed even one day of training, I can now go a week, or even two weeks of just “couldnt really care less”

I know I will never get close to 9h again, not enough time, and the dedication is just not there. But I would still love to just race and enjoy, feel in good shape.

In the past, my motivation dropped if I did not have a goal, like 1-3 Ironman races during a season. I signed up, alas, for both half and full distance races, but never got any reasonable consistency in training, something aways gets/got in the way.

If anybody can share experiences on the same, I am super willing to listen. What did you do to get back? How did you find motivation?

Cheers T

I think motivation is a false God.

You can watch some stuff on YouTube, read something on here or whatever and find motivation to do the next workout, but eventually that goes away. You said that you lose motivation easily even when you have a goal race(s) in mind, why do you think that is?

For me, my drive to race isn’t to win or anything like that. It’s because I’m scared to be average in a world of average people. I’m scared to be just like everyone else in the world I see outside of triathlon; extremely unhealthy and angry at the world because of it. Every morning when I get up to train I remind myself of what the alternative is if I wasn’t doing this.

Long story short I’m driven by fear

6

I was going to post something similar. I haven’t really trained and raced hard since 2014. I did two half-assed 70.3 races in 2016 but otherwise my last five years have been filled with recovery from four surgeries, numerous other minor health ailments, two years of nearly non-stop training for work, and a recent move from TX to FL. All of that really sapped my will and motivation to train. I’m now recovered from my last surgery in November and more or less settled in from our move last month. So I’m trying to get back in the swing of things. Gained 20 pounds and can barely run two miles right now.

7

Might I suggest a different approach?

I think it’s not about motivation or discipline. All those books, seminars and videos about motivation are for people who are doing 5 times less than you are. You have work, family and able to hold race pace for multiple hours. You have more than enough motivation and discipline. Trying to improve on those for you is like starting a C25K program.

Your question might be more complicated, unfortunately. A question of meaning. Why?

Note that 2500 years of western and eastern philosophy were not able to give a definite answer. They have a bunch of different one and a kind of framework that allow you to fit the most compatible to you.

8

No experience here, but just an idea/suggestion.

If it were me, I would consider it the start of a brand new triathlon/multisport career - not resuming the old one. My main motivation day in day out is to be the best I can be (i.e., I go race not to best or beat others, but to get the best out of my own self). Therefore, by wiping the slate clean of PRs or any other fitness benchmarks, you have a clean slate of accomplishments to achieve and improve upon. Even if you’re far slower than what you were before, it doesn’t matter. You’re training and living under different circumstances than before, and that’s going to impact the type of fitness and results you can achieve, and that’s fine. That doesn’t mean you’re worse at the sport, from my point of view.

I think if you let go of what you were before and start fresh (not necessarily forget, because you obv achieved a LOT and you should be proud of that), it will free your mind to potentially find motivation as you embark on new challenges.