Why do it if you dread it. Find something more fun like Kite Sailing or something else.
Me, I look forward to every workout. If I don’t look forward to it, I just don’t do it. Its that simple. I am not going to do a workout just because it is on some kind of a schedule. This approach has kept me fresh and relatively uninjured through 2 decades of doing this sport. Aside from a few core 4 month tri season, I have no clue what my workout will be the next morning. Usually I decide when I get up, look at the weather and guage my body. Right now, my only goal is to do 2 hour per day every day of the week, aerobic. What sport I do is totally irrelevant. The engine does not know.
I don’t need a schedule to stay motivated. Just being able to train each day is a gift. Most people in this world are struggling daily to feed themselves. We have the opposite problem in that we have too much food and we’re finding excuses to burn it off.
Bought “Thinking Body, Dancing Mind” and hope that helps in the mental strength department. I’m going to love racing, I’m going to love racing, I’m going to love racing. How many times do I have to say that to make it true?
I’m like a CRACK ADDICT when getting ready for a race. I get focused and get out there, I LOVE IT. Being drivin and doing the hard things makes me feel good.
I get worn out by all the stuff that I have to do to get there.
Someday I will win the lottery and then I can have my own support crew, and a pool in my backyard, and a place in the country where i can hop on my bike (tires pumped, chain lubed by the support crew), and ride 100 miles from my front door.
As for me, I can’t describe how excited I am with 2006 season. I hope to have a thrilling year and that keeps me totally focused and locked in this off season period.
And I am very excited for you and your 2006 season! You are going to rock.
As for training…mostly love it, sometimes dread it when everything else gets in the way.
I am obsessed with it…I love training…everything about it. I love to be able to work so hard and feel so good afterwards…
I am in the process of trying to fix my knee…that does have me very frustrated so I have had to adjust my training…but i try to keep the same number of overal training hours…even if the exercises are a bit different…
I like being in shape, I like not sucking TOO much wind at races, and I like not gaining weight (well, okay, not gaining as much weight as I would if I do nothing). But yeah, sometimes I feel suffocated.
When I was running full time, I liked running. And now, when all I’m doing is “something when I feel like it”, I STILL like running. I’m a good biker; I don’t necessarily LIKE riding my bike. And I HATE the feeling of having to go to the pool.
I like racing, I like being active. I don’t particularly like the feeling of HAVING TO do something.
Love it love it love it. And need it. I’d be sunk without structure. I plan to the nth degree, and I think that’s part of the fun, doing my own planning and then going out and training the way I’ve planned.
i’m with “last tri in 83”, lifestyle i’ve been allowed to live. All good and better except for “pool days”; sometimes get in a funk about everything till i get the pool work done.
I generally love the training and hate the races…something always goes terribly wrong in the race. The only times I don’t like the training is when it is cold out (which for a Florida guy means less than 60F). HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHA. Sorry for all of you in the Frozen Tundra.
Love it. It’s a lifestyle for me and there is no off-season.
i relate to this. it’s just what i do, for decades now. i don’t understand the people who do nothing at all–no physical activity. they must feel like mush buckets.
I agree, it’s just what I do. I don’t race much but really enjoy the training. It’s a chance for me to run/ride alone and think about stuff or ride with my friends and enjoy a beer afterwards. It’s just who I am and what I do.
I love it, but I don’t love what I’m able to do. It’s too cold out and gets too dark to go on nice long rides or open water swims. I hate swimming in pools, and I hate spin classes (I don’t have a trainer). Oh, and I hate running, period
Although this off season (my first), I’m doing interval/endurance run classes at the gym, minimal spinning, real bike rides on the weekends, swim classes in heated pools and rock climbing. I like having the time to rock climb again.
I like most of the training. Even though I suck at running, I spend most of my training time running. I also really like bike training. Both the run and bike training allow me to get away from all the noise and are peaceful. I don’t mind the actual swim training when I’m doing it, but I don’t like not being able to swim whenever I want like I can do with running/biking. Available times are not convenient at the closest pool and other pools require a fairly long drive. An Endless Pool would be a good solution, but the cost is way out of line with the benefit. As a result I only swim just enough to maintain my current level.
