Where has the motivation gone?

subscriber

I had a fantastic season last year, no podium finishes, but bucket loads of personal goals and PB's won! Did several sprint and a few Olympic distance triathlons, as well as Dublin city marathon as my end of season icing on the cake!!

Never had so much fun as competing and training in all these events as last year, but due to starting a new job I had to cut back on everything over the winter and gradually found myself having very little time at all for training. Now I am in a position to start things up again as things have quietened down at work. I can restart a training regime and set a few more goals.

Here's the catch. I can barely pull myself out of the house any more to go for a run, let alone go out for an hour or two. I've been out on a few short runs lately and have struggled immensely with motivation. Today I barely completed 5 mile at a leisurely pace as 'the head' just was not in it. I've noticed this a good few times over the last few weeks, the body is capable but the brain is not.

Im totally sickened at this, coming from everything I did last season, I was an athlete, committed, trained every day, watched my diet, and was dedicated to the sport I love, now i feel like a recreational runner that goes out for a measly half an hour once a month and It doesn't feel the same. I can't understand how this total lack of motivation has come about in comparison to what my performance and commitment was just 6 months ago.

It's killing me that i want desperately want to get back into a fitness regime but cannot seem to get the motivation..

Has anyone ever gone through such a dry spell of motivation like this as well??

What have you done to kick start yourself again??

Help please folks??

menoscemo

In fairness only you can answer that. I have no experience of that feeling and if I did it would be personal to me. Do you want us to show you some motivational videos with coldplay music in the background or something?

couerdelion

subscriber wrote: »

I had a fantastic season last year, no podium finishes, but bucket loads of personal goals and PB's won! Did several sprint and a few Olympic distance triathlons, as well as Dublin city marathon as my end of season icing on the cake!!

Never had so much fun as competing and training in all these events as last year, but due to starting a new job I had to cut back on everything over the winter and gradually found myself having very little time at all for training. Now I am in a position to start things up again as things have quietened down at work. I can restart a training regime and set a few more goals.

Here's the catch. I can barely pull myself out of the house any more to go for a run, let alone go out for an hour or two. I've been out on a few short runs lately and have struggled immensely with motivation. Today I barely completed 5 mile at a leisurely pace as 'the head' just was not in it. I've noticed this a good few times over the last few weeks, the body is capable but the brain is not.

Im totally sickened at this, coming from everything I did last season, I was an athlete, committed, trained every day, watched my diet, and was dedicated to the sport I love, now i feel like a recreational runner that goes out for a measly half an hour once a month and It doesn't feel the same. I can't understand how this total lack of motivation has come about in comparison to what my performance and commitment was just 6 months ago.

It's killing me that i want desperately want to get back into a fitness regime but cannot seem to get the motivation..

Has anyone ever gone through such a dry spell of motivation like this as well??

What have you done to kick start yourself again??

Help please folks??

What goals do yo have for this year? If you've no targets to aim for sometimes it's difficult to motivate yourself. Or maybe in your heart you've reached your targets and it's time to move on to other pursuits?

thirstywork2

menoscemo wrote: »

In fairness only you can answer that. I have no experience of that feeling and if I did it would be personal to me. Do you want us to show you some motivational videos with coldplay music in the background or something?

Give the guy some slack here,

I think meno is right that only you can answer this so maybe the folowing might help.

1.Lets figure out why the motivation is low
Anything in your personal life?Have you been injured?Who are you training with and have you anyone to train with ?

2.set yourself some short term goals.they might be as simple as running 3 times this week.

3.Give yourself a long term goal that inspires you to train even if you feel very unfit now.

4.Make small and realistic changes

5.Smile and if you aren't enjoying it then take a 2-3 months off with no training.

And Meno Coldplay suck

Peterx

My usual option after a winter of sloth:

Do a race, get an idea of where you are(ideally getting your arse handed to you), decide you are not happy with where you are, hey presto - motivation to train.

another race themed option;

Pick a very hard race months away, hopefully the fear of failure will motivate you to train.

An oldie but a goldie;

Train yourself to use exercise as an angst killer.

And finally the dark side of the force;

Make training the number one priority. If this means getting up at 5.30am for training so be it. If it means cutting out a social life well them's the breaks. In this mindset a new job is merely something getting in the way of training. I don't really recommend this one during a recession:)

subscriber

Well I already have my end of season race planned. Im signed up for 70.3 Galway. I suppose there is a possibility I haven't enjoyed the last few runs as I have been out alone. It's been 6 months since ive trained with a partner or been in a race... So maybe Iv'e forgotten what the excitement and adrenaline is like.

I used to get all excited and full anticipation every time I looked at my runners, never mind put them on and go out for a run... Now I dread to look at them. (the guilt of it all)

Maybe It is time to either go back to a club or do a race sooner rather than later.

Has anyone else ever gone through a period like this and did ye manage to pull yourself out of the hole??

menoscemo

thirstywork2 wrote: »

And Meno Coldplay suck

I know, but they are good for motivatioal videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SbXgQqbOoU

Amz

subscriber wrote: »

Well I already have my end of season race planned. Im signed up for 70.3 Galway. I suppose there is a possibility I haven't enjoyed the last few runs as I have been out alone. It's been 6 months since ive trained with a partner or been in a race... So maybe Iv'e forgotten what the excitement and adrenaline is like.

I used to get all excited and full anticipation every time I looked at my runners, never mind put them on and go out for a run... Now I dread to look at them. (the guilt of it all)

Maybe It is time to either go back to a club or do a race sooner rather than later.

Has anyone else ever gone through a period like this and did ye manage to pull yourself out of the hole??

Is there another sport you could do for a while, maybe a team sport of some kind, which will get you back into enjoying training again? Not as a complete replacement, but it could be good to get a social aspect going for you, plus there's the pressure to train so as not to let team mates down etc.

Also, is it mainly the running that you're finding you're not motivated to do? Could you focus on the bike/swim for a while? I often find that getting new gear, or a new gadget helps me, might be a silly/superficial thing, but if it's an option it might help.

Personally speaking, I played rugby for years, it was the be all and end all for me for a long while, but in recent years I found I just didn't enjoy it any more, I hated the thoughts of going training and felt that I wasn't achieving anything by continuing to do so, I was getting increasingly frustrated with coaches and team mates and how they were affecting my results/performance. A lot of my confidence and self esteem comes from my fitness level and I just wasn't as fit as I knew I could be. I was completely miserable.

That's why I've decided to take up tri I miss the social aspect of training and it does make it easier to skip a training session when you've nobody relying on you, or nobody to text/call asking why you weren't there, but on the other side if you're having a bad day you're not feeling guilty for letting people down, or taking a break.

roseybear

subscriber wrote: »

Well I already have my end of season race planned. Im signed up for 70.3 Galway. I suppose there is a possibility I haven't enjoyed the last few runs as I have been out alone. It's been 6 months since ive trained with a partner or been in a race... So maybe Iv'e forgotten what the excitement and adrenaline is like.

I used to get all excited and full anticipation every time I looked at my runners, never mind put them on and go out for a run... Now I dread to look at them. (the guilt of it all)

Maybe It is time to either go back to a club or do a race sooner rather than later.

Has anyone else ever gone through a period like this and did ye manage to pull yourself out of the hole??

Yeh I've been in that hole and I would say join a club ASAP or gt a training partner - starts u bck ticking away, where u can suffer together until u feel better to do it alone when needed. I've dne it alone and I've dne it in a club, but whenever the motivation drops I really need a partner in crime for that kick up the back side

sconhome

subscriber wrote: »

Well I already have my end of season race planned. Im signed up for 70.3 Galway. I suppose there is a possibility I haven't enjoyed the last few runs as I have been out alone. It's been 6 months since ive trained with a partner or been in a race... So maybe Iv'e forgotten what the excitement and adrenaline is like.

I used to get all excited and full anticipation every time I looked at my runners, never mind put them on and go out for a run... Now I dread to look at them. (the guilt of it all)

Maybe It is time to either go back to a club or do a race sooner rather than later.

Has anyone else ever gone through a period like this and did ye manage to pull yourself out of the hole??

How about changing things a bit? Forget about targets, regimes, goals. Take the pressure off for a while until you get the gra back.

Go for a run in the forest, hit a few easy trails, use a mountain bike for a while. You will find that a change of scenery but still doing the activity will bring fitness back in a different way and running in the woods early in the morning (or late at night) is magical.

Having a look at things from a familiar (you will be running) but different perspective will make all the difference to you. In no time you will feel better about the sport and yourself and you will be ready to race when you are ready.

sconhome

menoscemo wrote: »

I know, but they are good for motivatioal videos

That's because listening to them will drive you outside to run as far away as possible.

couerdelion

Does this help?

pc11

Some suggestions. Make sure there's nothing wrong first. How is your energy level generally, stress, sleep, appetite? Ask your doctor to do a quick check and some bloods. Rule all that out.

Check your life, what's getting in the way, are you worried, upset, whatever. Recognise that you have been through changes and stress and give yourself a break. We often don't recognise the stress of changing jobs, a hard training year, etc.

Then, join a club or get a partner. Or maybe a coach. Make an external commitment.

For many people, setting goals would help. But, sometimes goals can be counter-productive. Maybe for you a few weeks of just getting out with others without a goal would help. You'll have to figure out which will work for you. Maybe you have too many goals and plans or maybe you need more structure. Your call.

Try training differently for a while. Change to mornings or evenings or do only one sport or a different sport. Something different anyway. Keep training short and relaxed for now. Hard stuff can wait.

If all this doesn't help, then you may need to ask yourself some hard questions about what's really stopping you.