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lost enthusiasm

Hi all,

I seem to have lost my tri enthusiasm

I've got a lot going on at the moment in terms of work/home stuff and although its not changing the amount of time I have for training does seem to be reducing the amount of energy I've got to spare. I've got a walking half marathon (with my mother) this weekend and then a sprint tri on the 2nd August and then nothing until the Great North Swim.

Do I carry on trying to fit training in, which at the moment looks like:

Monday; Fast 5 km walk, Bike commute 5 mile in and longer ride (30 - 40 km HR 70%) on the way home
Tuesday: Bike commute 10 mile round trip, Body balance class, spinning class
Wednesday: Fast 5 km walk (40 mins), OW swim
Thursday either Bike commute 5 miles in, intervals on the way home, Body Balance class or hour bike with hills at lunch time, OW swim, Body balance class
Friday: Pool swim, intervals or technique or golf, or rest day
Saturday: Session on cross trainer, club swim session
Sunday: Session on cross trainer, Body balance class, 10 mile bike, horse riding lesson

And feel guilty if I don't manage it and just want to pull the bed clothes over my head and eat lots of chocolate or should I be nicer to myself and try to find some joy in it all again rather than it just being a slog?

At the moment I don't really want to do the sprint and it's only my second tri, I don't feel ready although I know I'm fitter and slightly more knowledgeable than when I did the first one although I've not managed to lose any weight and now definitely can't run during training although I'm hoping to get away with it on the day......

Sometimes I just feel like I shouldn't be even attempting it at all

I think I just need you guys to tell me to shut up and get on with it, I hope you'll oblige

VAM

Comments

  • FlavadaveFlavadave Posts: 749
    durhamvam wrote:
    I think I just need you guys to tell me to shut up and get on with it, I hope you'll oblige
    Not at all. Maybe you just need a break. What about take a week off from training? Or just do a couple of sessions (the ones you like the most).

    Unless you're training for a top 3 finish in your events, a week off ain't gonna make a huge difference to your level of fitness but mentally might give you a big boost.
  • shut up and get on with it ..

    no really, sometimes you just need to get yourself to the start line and through the race to experience that finish line thrill again...
  • YeppahYeppah Posts: 15
    Take a few days off (and eat choclate) - then get on with it
    but make sure to get at least one rest day every week!

    Don´t be too hard on yourself if you miss out on one or two sessions.
    Remember: it´s supposed to be fun - not another job!

    Take it easy and don´t burn yourself out!
  • PC_67PC_67 Posts: 196
    Looks to me like you're packing an awful lot in - so many sessions to mix with a busy personal and work life. No wonder you've lost enthusiasm.

    One thing that jumps out at me is - are the gym classes really necessary? I know core strength is important but you can do that in winter when you're outdoors less. You do gym sessions back-to-back too. Body balance followed by spinning - and spinning a day after your 40km bike?

    Things like spinning and commuting by bike on the same day look counter-intuitive.

    Also, no running at all?

    I don't know much about walking half-marathons but I'd guess that a sensible tri training regime for a sprint race would make a 13 mile walk, well, a walk. I'm not sure it's really worth thinking of this as an event - though I could be missing the point totally.

    For a race with a 20k bike leg, I'd say at this stage (I'm guessing that you've been in training a while) your weekly 40k bike is sufficient cycling for the week. The commuting by bike is probably neither here nor there - might be useful as a recovery ride and it beats public transport anyway.
  • durhamvamdurhamvam Posts: 246
    No running at all sadly

    It's very depressing. Running was a bad idea 10 years ago it's still a bad idea now. Tried it in the couple of weeks run up to my first fun distance tri and put my back out after about three sessions of 3 km each. Costs quite a lot to fix as well as being a fair amount of pain and meaning I can't do the other things (particularly the horse riding) that I want to. Got to avoid the temptation to run since I really like it and if I'm not careful it makes me very miserable that I can't do it.

    The body balance thing is for the core stability and flexibility, mainly for back maintenance and to try to replace the pilates studio sessions I was doing before returning to the UK

    Perhaps you're right and I ought to do less. The swimming is my strongest thing (I do need to practise the OW before the Great North Swim) and I don't really "count" the bike commute because it is so short.

    The walking thing is really for my mum who has a chronic illness and wanted to rebuild her confidence for getting out and about and doing stuff - we're hoping for a three hour half time, so the walking is raising the heart rate and I have to go out every day with the dog so might as well get some benefit from it.

    I've basically got no idea of how much I should be doing - just an awareness of how much I need to work on Any input on training concentration/volume gladly received!

    Thanks for getting this far!

    VAM
  • I know exactly how you feel. There are times when I can't be bothered doing anything, I'll myself that it's ok to miss this session, that session etc.
    And before you know it the rot is setting in....but...... there is a way out, a way to get your TRI mojo back. Get yourself on YouTube!!!! Type in Ironman, Chrissie Wellington etc and spend 20 mins watching the videos of people really 'sticking it out' and having a go, digging deep, believing in themselves, basically doing what other people (non tri people!!)would consider insane.

    Before you know it you'll be itching to get your trainers on or have a spin on the bike. Try it, it works for me........and remember this saying "if it was easy everyone would be doing it"

    Good luck
  • Ron99Ron99 Posts: 237
    I definitely have times when I can't be bothered, everybody must have, but will knocking your training on the head actually help? Before you know it you'll end up in a rut of lying in front of the tv and feeling evern more miserable. Plenty of good advice above - have a break, change your routine and think about why you wanted to do this in the first place, and you'll have no bother pulling yourself out of this rut.
  • danny_sdanny_s Posts: 235
    I've got to disagree with the taking it easy... You're two weeks out from a race you know you can do well at. You're in better shape, have been training more and longer than your previous race and if it matters at all to you then "taking it easy" now is just disrespecting all the hard work you've put in.

    Switch your thinking off, and just get to work. You're not going to improve your chances of getting faster at this point but you can certainly screw it all up. If you've been training for a while, rest days are just the days when you do what you're already comfortable at. For you, swimming.

    Focus on nailing the swim and cycling parts of your race, don't look at the run as something to endure, just as a cooldown after you crush the dreams of others before T2.
  • jacjac Posts: 452
    Losing enthusiasm is a classic sign of overtraining.
    Your race is two-and-a-half weeks out so having a couple of days of rest will do you no harm whatsoever. Just eat sensibly, relax and get some sleep hours in the bank.
    In the week before your race lessen the hours but keep the intensity up.
    Also just looking at your week - core training is great and will help you keep you injury free but I think you could do with maybe axing a couple of the body balance classes to get some quality training in.
    Ditch the spin class. A quality bike session would be much better - maybe later in the week rather than following your 40k bike.
  • BritspinBritspin Posts: 1,655
    Your schedule seems to pack a lot in, but lacks a little specificity..the non running notwithstanding. Any activity is good for fitness especially when compared to sofa sitting, but if you want to optimise your time & results then specific sessions to achieve specific results are best use of your time. I would suggest that many of us on here & I do include myself, do the junk miles thing & just go run, swim or bike because they can or want to with no plan as to why or what for. Nothing wrong with that, but if time is limited & improvements wanted then its not helpful. So take a long look at what you do & tidy it up. On the running front would it be worth getting some coaching to see if technique can be altered to avoid injury rather than paying to have it put right?
  • durhamvamdurhamvam Posts: 246
    Thanks all, Am feeling a bit better for a couple of days rest and some decent food - would you believe that it isn't possible to survive and feel good on a diet of toast with chocolate spread, muffins and icecream........

    @Britspin - you're right, the more I learn the more I feel I've got to work on and the more confused about how to go about it I get so I have a tendency to just go out there and do stuff.

    Help!

    I need to work on general bike fitness so I thought intervals and some distance, I was recommended spinning to help with raising the cadence

    Swimming - work on OW (that one's easy to know what to do), improve stroke speed and fitness - intervals and golf

    Running - can we just not go there using the cross trainer is supposed to help right?

    Is that too much too work on all at the same time???? Arrrggghhh I've got so much work to do
  • ZacniciZacnici Posts: 1,385
    EAT CHOCOLATE! Endorphins - scientific fact.

    Have you thought about treadmill running, I have back problems (and dodgy knees) and do most of my running on a treadmill and manage to knock out 45min 10K's and generally in top quarter/third in the run leg which aint bad for a slightly overweight 52yo with dodgy knees and back.

    Keep the classes as the group interaction is good , you obviously enjoy it and it does have a benefit without it being that 'tri stuff', I enjoy my Pilates which has nothing do with both female instructors being very attractive - I mean where else can a toned attractive woman ask you to look at her bottom or chest and see what she does with it - err sorry, need cold shower now :roll:

    Does your gym do spin classes, how about doing a spin class then hop off before the cool down and go straight to treadmill, that's what I do, you get funny looks at first but after a while people get used to it and the nudging and 'he does triathlons' 'oh that explains it - poor thing' stops after a while.

    And you absolutely must keep the walks with your Mum, good on you.

    Remember this is a friendly forum, any time you want support just post and we will be there.
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