Sunday, January 16, 2011

I want to get fast, but I want to NOOOWWW

Greetings friends and endurance athletes! I've been thinking recently about my current goals for this upcoming race season. Since I'm taking a break from Ironmans this year, I want to get fast! The problem I am running into is staying motivated. I think we all suffer with motivation issues throughout our training lives. This is no different. My lack of motivation is more in the realm of not getting fast RIGHT NOW. Wouldn't it be great if there was just one workout that after you did it you automatically decrease your split times by 30 seconds per mile....

Alas, there is no such workout (that I know of, and if you know of one please pass on this golden nugget of information). In the meantime I need to stick to my guns, do my workouts with diligence and, most importantly, consistency. There is another struggle I deal with. Its so easy to fall out of that consistency, especially when there is so much you could be doing with friends. With my responsibilities as a coach and "club leader," I have specific workouts I need to attend in the evening. In order to fit my own personal training in, I am required to get creative and most unfortunately to get up early in the morning (really early in some cases...).

What can we all learn from lessons such as these? I think the most important is that to train at a certain level, you must make sacrifices. For those that have family, friends and work commitments, the sacrifices that must be made are usually your early morning and lunch hours. We should not get discouraged though. If you can find someone to workout with you in the early morning you not only are combining training with friends, but you are also creating accountability for yourself and your friends. When you tell someone you will show up at 6am (or 5am for some of us...) you better show up. I certainly don't want to be that friend that bails on the group without telling them. So, if you are a morning maniac (sure, I'll coin that term), or if you are just trying to make yourself into a morning maniac, find someone to "suffer" along with you. It'll make it more enjoyable, and you will probably keep your training consistent.

So, get up tomorrow and attack the day!

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