Going Through The Motions
For those looking for their daily dose of inspiration and motivation, this isn’t the post for you. If you want to continue, be my guest but don’t say I didn’t warn you…
Try as I might to find the joy that I had in previous years doing tris and to light a fire under my butt and get going, I’ve been having trouble lately finding the desire to get up and out and get things done. These days, I feel like I’m largely just going through the motions and not really enjoying it all that much. I’m sure that it’s partially due to the crummy weather we’ve gotten the past couple of weeks, partially because I’m out of shape, and still likely due to the fact that I hate dieting although it’s a necessary evil. But even as the days grow warmer, the workouts get easier, and the pounds come off, I’m still not finding that love and joy for the sport return.
With Ironman and a few 1/2s on the horizon (the first 1/2 is just seven weeks away!), this is a cause of great concern. I’d say I’m still very much in the “prep” part of my season and it’s still been a struggle getting out there for 8-9 hours a week. How will it be then, in a month or two when I’m supposed to be out there for twice as long as that and if the love still isn’t there? These days, I can sort of suck it up and force myself to be outside for an hour or two every day? But what happens when the six mile runs turn in to sixteen mile runs? Or when those 1/1.5 hour rides turn into 5+ hour rides? It frightens me that if the love isn’t back by then, that this will be a very dreary, very loooong season.
I don’t know why things are the way they are this year? I’ve never had this problem in the previous three years. But maybe three years of long course tris are finally taking its toll and have worn me thin? I don’t know what it is, but more often than not with each day that passes I wish that I wouldn’t have signed up for Ironman last fall and that I could just take this year off. I guess I’ll keep trudging through it and doing what I do. But at this point, I’m not certain that there is anything that I can do to bring that spark and that love back. I think whatever I seem to have lost needs to come find me! Bleh.