I think the biggest downfall to anybody's progress in a workout program is when they lose motivation. It's a killer and it requires a lot of mental strength to overcome. There are days when I suffer from lack of motivation as much, if not more, than many. However, I've decided that what I love to do is race my bike. Cyclocross comes first, but I also love racing road, and I'm even going to give mountain bike racing a shot this year which I know I will love, maybe even more than the others. In order to be competitive at the things I love to do I have to work my ass off. There are virtually no days off. Since January 1 I have over 1500 miles in the saddle, almost all of them have been in cold, wind, snow, rain. I'm on the trainer when it becomes dangerous to be outside, like when the roads are icy, but I can honestly say I've only been on the trainer about a dozen times out of all my rides. Since early February I've been averaging between 150 and 200 miles a week. Threshold intervals, sprint workouts, tempo intervals, endurance rides, all in generally miserable weather in which I would come across ZERO other cyclists on the road. My recovery rides I would do on the rollers because it's too hilly where I live to get in an actual recovery effort. Ironically, most of my recovery rides have come on the few nice weather days when it would have been great to be out on the bike. I could have put most of my miles in on my trainer like many, but it's not the same. Nothing prepares you for riding on the road like riding on the road. Of the 1500+ miles I've put in, 47 of them have been in nice, wind free (when I say wind free I mean sub 15mph sustained winds), rain free, cloud free, snow free, cold free, weather. Those were this past Saturday. It's easy to get motivated to go out and ride your bike 50 miles when it's 60+ degrees without a cloud in the sky and negligible headwinds. In addition to all this, I have done all my rides in the last 3 months by myself, except for 3. So there is nobody to commiserate with, nobody to share the misery of riding 2 and a half hours in the rain when it's 38 degrees. You want to talk about having a tough time getting motivated sometimes? Trust me, I know what it's like.
Today was no different, except that in addition to sucky weather it was also Monday which inherently blows. I couldn't ride in the morning because I had sessions to run at the gym. By the time I got everything done that I needed to get done it was after 2:00, the temps had dropped into the low 40's and it had started raining.. The last thing I wanted to do was go for a bike ride. There was nobody telling me I had to go. I wasn't meeting anybody to train with so I had nobody to answer to. Of course I have my coach who gives me my training plan, but he was 200 miles away in Maine, I can answer to him later can't I? Why not just skip this one, maybe jump some rope and do some kettlebell work? Maybe I could ride on the trainer for an hour instead of the 90+ minutes I was supposed to do. Or take a nap? Hell, I've only had 3 total days off from training in the past 3 months. Does any of this sound familiar to anybody? You see how the lack of motivation spawns a number of more attractive alternatives and excuses? So what do you think I did? I did what I do every single time I'm confronted with the same choice. I told myself to HTFU and get on the bike. I donned the rain gear, the helmet wrapped in Saran wrap (not kidding), the iPod loaded with 3 Social Distortion cd's that would get me through 2 hours, a couple energy gels and I headed out. The first 20 minutes of the ride I felt like shit. I ate wrong yesterday and today and was paying for it already. My heart rate was spiking where it shouldn't, the legs felt heavy, and so did all the extra layers I had to put on. I was convinced that this would be the worst ride of the season, but then things changed. The legs loosened up, the heart started responding properly to the short efforts up hills, my body somehow started converting the espresso and the crap sandwich I had for lunch into something that could be used for fuel, and I started to think about cyclocross 6 months away. The rain kept coming and it was pretty raw and cold, but it was no match. An hour forty-five later I'm pulling back into the driveway with a solid effort behind me and a much brighter mental state than just 2 short hours ago when I was dreading another ride in miserable weather. Road racing season is just beginning and I am arguably in as good if not better shape than I've ever been. My threshold power is already higher now than it was at the end of last season and I have 6 months to go till cross season starts... Fuckin giddy up!
I'm writing this because I think it's important to understand that everybody has to overcome the same barriers to attaining goals and staying on track. Yes, I understand what it's like to struggle with a lack of motivation to train. I overcome it on a regular basis, I have to. Nobody is going to train for me, and the Lactate Threshold Fairies aren't swinging by my house any time soon to magically enhance my legs with the extra 30 watts of power that I need to be really competitive come cyclocross season. So I drop an HTFU on myself and get to it. It works for me. I haven't missed a scheduled workout unless I've been injured or sick in years. But everybody has different goals and everybody is motivated in different ways. At Dynamic Strength and Conditioning I try to make it easy on you. All you have to do is show up and I'll take care of the rest. I give you the program, and it's a killer program :). There's people there to commiserate with and share the pain with. They are also there to cheer you on and share in the "high" you get from getting yourself in better shape than you ever have before. It is almost a 100% guarantee that your mental state is better upon leaving than when you got there. And when you commit to the program and make it in for your 3 sessions a week you are guaranteed to get results. Don't let a lack of motivation be your excuse to missing your workouts with us. Tell you what, if you're ever about to skip one of my workouts I want you to ask yourself, "what would Kevin say if I told him I was going to miss today's workout because _________". If the answer comes back, "rest", then you should rest. If the answer comes back "Harden up!", then you need to get your ass down to 100 Factory! The new sessions start Monday April 5th. I'm looking for people who are going to commit 100% attendance at their workouts, if you are unable to be at the workout then I want you to tell me that you got your workout in that day somewhere else. Hell, if you know you're not going to be able to make it then let me know ahead of time and I'll give you a workout to do. Obviously if you're sick or injured, then rest. Other than that? No excuses! Who's in?
