What's your motivation for training?
I have realized in my long layoff, and my completely unmotivated return to training that I'm a person that trains for a race because the fear of failure is apparently my motivator. I have a few Sprint or Oly races I'm registered for but they don't strike fear in me. I need at least a HIM to get my juices flowing. I am already registered for the Arizona 70.3 in mid-October but I look at the calendar and say, "I have plenty of time for that." I want to get serious but I'm really having trouble with it because I'm not "afraid" of my current schedule... which includes two sprint races in July, an Oly in September and another in October. I need to sign up for an earlier HIM as well but I can't do so until September due to family, vacation, and work commitments. Thinking about adding the Santa Cruz 70.3 (formerly Big Kahuna) to the mix in Sept and possibly a later HIM like Austin 70.3 or Oilman, both in early-Nov... although I really dislike the Austin race.
It's funny I never realized in 6-7 years of doing this that fear of failure was what made me do what I do.
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Great topic.
I think there is exercising and there is training.
Exercise is what I do when not training for a race and includes:
Training is what I do when I have a race on the calendar and, yeah, it's gotta be something big to get me motivated. It especially needs to have a legit run if it's not an Ironman. The last two Thursdays my long runs have been at .89 IF with >1.2k of gain specifically because the IMSG run course has skeered the bejeezus out of me
. And of course swimming only happens under this training vs exercising scenario.
Basically, as long as I have a dog and friends to ride with (and tasty waves and a cool buzz) I'm good
I've got a Fear Factor myself going on now with the Tour of California, so I'm out on the roads just biking away to a degree I haven't for the past five years. I'm not afraid of being slow in the group, but I am afraid of not being able to handle the day after day-ness of a multi-day tour. So I've got to simply get some miles under my butt or I'll be so anxious I'll want to bail before I start.
@ Bob - Fear of failure is when fear creates paralysis towards our forward progress/goal; I don't see fear of failure as a motivator rather something that some must be overcome before achieving a goal.
Maybe Sprint/Oly races are not worth the return on investment for you. As a result you do not place too much importance on them.
Not happening for a long time.
You're right. It's not really a fear of failure and I even said that to myself when I typed that but I didn't know of another way of articulating it. Fear of not doing well? But everyone has that fear. Maybe fear isn't the right word. Maybe it's more motivated by challenge than fear of failure. You're right, I place almost zero emphasis on sprint and oly races. I have literally woken up the morning of sprint or oly races and decided I'd rather sleep in and bailed on the race. I would NEVER do that for a 70.3 or 140.6.
I train to keep thin and I like being on the pointy end when I ride with my club or with my friends. I like being in the "A Group", even if I am at the back of that pack. I like to see who is strong on a given day. Little sprints, running up hill, whatever. For me the races are sort of PITA, planning, logistics and the early morning. I often call it the "fear and loathing". Afraid that I will blow it. Be slow, make a bad choice, whatever. Loathing the thought of all the admin surrounding a race of any distance.
It's weird when you think about it.....
And best of all, the wife likes the shaved muscular legs.
A big part of my motivation is that my wife and I both enjoy training and racing and during the weekends this makes up a good amount of time we spend together. It keeps me focused and committed to something outside of work or other things we do in our 'spare' time. We have been doing triathlons for the past 5 years now, year 2 with EN, and I am motivated to continue working and pushing hard because I am finally seeing things come together. in 2015, I have entered 4 races ( 2 half marathons, 1 olympic tri, 1 70.3), PR'ed at every event and been on the podium twice. I have worked hard in the past 5 years, but never as focused and disciplined as with EN, and would not want to lose what I have built up. I think that is part fear as well, where I think I will lose fitness and will need months again to get it back if I took some time off.
Another part of my motivation is that I am sports certified physical therapist, working with many runners. I find that it helps me connect to patients when I train and think the way they do. Partly due to fear again, but I would not want to lose that connection with patients if training were to end.
Having an event on a calender is the motivation to keep me going. When I don't have something planned, I get lazy and my day-to-day life starts to become a mental/emotional burden that drains me and depletes me. I need to be active.... doing stuff.... or I fall back into that dark recesses of profound sadness and depression that ruled my life for too many years. I never want to go back there again.......
For much of my life, beginning as a tween, I have had substance abuse issues. It nearly killed me as a teen several times. Eventually I sobered up for the last time in '92 and have been clean since. Extreme sports helped a lot over the years especially since going clean. When I was younger I enjoyed the adrenaline rush of climbing, cliff diving, etc but as I aged, I found myself less inclined to seek the high adventure. That is one of the reasons I backed off whitewater kayaking - it was just too scary to be thrashing down/thru class IV+ frothing mayhem...... That is when I found a new drug called marathons, and another called Ironman. There are lots of other places to get this kind of high like canoeing 100 miles or back country ski touring 40 to 60 miles, or even just day hikes and long bike rides.
I realize that these are a drug and I am a addicted. I crave it, want it, need it.... Carole shares my passion for the more modest and pedestrian activities but not the more extreme stuff. She will train and walk a marathon (7:24 PR), paddle an open canoe in 3 foot whitecaps for hours, etc.
For me it is less about the podium or ranking - although I do always try to push for better results. For me it is about mental health and sanity. Plus having the fitness to go do cool shit anytime the opportunity arises.
What has changed over time are the races I want to do. I achieved sufficient success during a long running career that I have no significant desire to focus on short course. I enjoy racing the sprint triathlons but I don't get remotely the same satisfaction as with long course. And as I approach 60, I feel the clock ticking on my ability to complete IMs without injury. Starting in 2017 I will be entering the Swissman lottery for several years hoping to get in and complete it before I hit 65.
I would say my remaining big challenges are to make it to Kona whether by KQ or LQ, then complete Challenge Roth, and fit Swissman in there if I get a spot. After that, I might drop back to just Half IMs, and hit as many European venues as I can until I hang it up.
I train to race.
The weird thing is, I don't really love racing. It's a pain in the rear end to travel and get
up early and wait for the start. I can't
have my headphones and I don't like the stress during the race of not doing well. As a MOP'er , I don't do it for the
glory. But if I don't have races on the
schedule, then I get bored with training and it's just exercise. I can't do
that anymore. AND if I don't move every day, then I get crabby. I have fat genes and I love to eat, so I
have to move (a lot!) so I don't get big. So I
guess my main motivation for training is to beat the blurch. (The Oatmeal).
Someone told me once that in order be an endurance
athlete, you have to have the capacity to suffer. I have the capacity, I just don't
want to. I do this for fun. I go hard,
but not HARD. And I'm never injured to
the point I can't play my sport. I want
to be racing/training for a long time and maybe will outlive my AG'ers and finally podium when I'm 80.
Today is my birthday. I'm 51. I love to race and compete, but I was an athlete in high school bb, sb, track, and college sb and everything was pretty easy. It's much harder now. I am injury prone, who knew? I think I've worked through them all now starting 4 years ago when I started running....foot issues, then cycling, foot and hip issues, added swimming...you know the drill.
I love being on a team and I am a crazy spectator supporter. Love sports. The race atmosphere is so great! I'm delighted that at my age and my physical condition, which is improving, I still get to do this. We are all SO lucky. I don't wear headphones or listen to music so the race is perfect. Nobody is allowed to not pay attention, and we don't have to worry about traffic. As slow as I am, I still love the feeling of crossing that finish line. The triathlon community is fantastic. Seems like the best of the single sport types rise to the top and become triathletes. Or maybe we're all just too tired to be jerks!
NET NET, what motivates me is the camaraderie, racing, and always having something to strive for and improve. If I could just lay off the beer. ::sigh::