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Cold winter blues :(

Hey guys, is it just me or does anyone else have a case of 'I can't be bothered itus??' I started the year fully fired up for IMUK, training was going well. And now I've hit a rut of epic
proportions. Hopefully it's the crap weather that we've been having it do I have to dig a bit deeper to find the cause....,.. I don't know!!!

Just lost all motivation and interest, HELP

Comments

  • ZacniciZacnici Posts: 1,385
    It's the time of year; crap weather , dark days , long nights , after Christmas burnout , start of the New Year and full of hope that this year will be better , slump down in front of your desk, worskpace etc and realise bugger , Groundhog Day, hope quickly evaporates .

    I was good post Christmas and on 26,27, 28 and 29 December ran 10K each day. Have run 10k thrice and 5K twice so far and I am struggling. Not helped by my cat of 11 years dying I am so upset by his loss and mega personal problems which should have reached the conclusion after 18months but still dragging on. I have changed gym for a variety of reasons, miss my old one and the people there. All in all I see where you are coming from.

    The only glimmer that I have is the start of the season in hopefully a few short months and my A race goal the Outlaw and of course chewing the fat with my forum buds And then all of sudden one day will be nice, things go well, a session goes mega, you exceed a goal and the tiny shoots of cheerfulness start to sprout. You look around and think well it could be worse, I have my health, I have shelter, food and clothes and my nice shiny bike - what more do you need?
  • risris Posts: 1,002
    i'm feeling a bit down about the year as well; i've got a foot knack that i have a horrible feeling could put the brakes on my plans for the year. i'm signed up for bath half mara at the start of march and right now i can't see me being up for the distance.

    i was hoping to take on a half iron this year but if i can't run the distance i'm just wasting my time. the weather isn't helping, i can't get out on the bike much either because of the snow. i feel like such a misery.

    i've got a physio appt on monday, hopefully it will coincide with warmer weather, healthy feet and a lottery win
  • Ahh so its not only me then - which in some bizare manner is encouraging. The only thing I am excelling in is eating at the moment

    I also had flu last week and just can't keep awake this week for long enough to have the energy to train. The problem is that I can sense this could easily form into a habit.

    So where is a motivational phrase/thought when you need one?
  • jacjac Posts: 452
    Just make sure you're sticking to the right zones and not overtraining. Lost enthusiasm can signal overtraining.
    Other than that take a few days off..to make you hungrier to start training.
  • lack of sunlight can casue winter blues

    WINTER BLUES

    It’s a natural thing to occur to slow us down and not be as active
    When we were hunter gatherers we need to save energy in the winter when food was scare
    Expect to experience sleep problems including over sleeping feeling tired when you wake up as though you have not slept very much.

    Natural light an hour before you wake is needed to slowly wake us up without it it’s a shock when the alarm clock goes off.

    We eat more as we confuse lack of energy with hunger, try and avoid this otherwise you will put on weight
    Lower resistance to infection.

    Other types include
    British Summer Time (BST) Blues jet lag symptoms.

    The clocks have gone forward an hour.

    Why should this make us feel tired? It can take finely tuned athletes a week to 10 days to adjust?
    Upon waking the brightness of the light is now as it was in mid February.

    Early morning light exposure reduces the symptoms of winter depression and its this that is often to blame when the clocks jump forward an hour.
    For thousands of years we have based our life around daylight not alarms going off to wake us up.
    We have a twenty Four hour rhythm called circadian (roughly 24 hours) while our biological rhythm is our core temperature.
    Myth
    The rule of thumb one hour change in time zone, takes a day to adjust to is a very basic guide.

    What actually happens is we now wake up an hour early but the real problem is we go to bed at our normal time, now an hour later for our internal clock than we have done for the last 5 months.
    Our internal body clock has got used to a rhythm and now we have adjust our internal body clocks not just our clocks and watches.
    The outside natural light is lower because we effectively are getting up earlier for our body clocks.
    Our brain starts to wake up before we do, based on any natural light.
    No wonder we find it hard when the alarm goes off!

    British Summer Time (BST) jet lag type symptoms include disturbed sleep problems, loss of energy and digestive problems including change of bowel movements all caused by the clocks moving forward an hour to British summer time.
    Some people even crave more carbohydrates.

    How to overcome this is to try and get to bed 30 minutes earlier than normal so you will not be too tired when you wake up the next morning. Going to sleep earlier rather than late helps you accustomed yourself to BST quicker.

    Stimulants like caffeine and looking at a PC screen, active television programmes that stimulate the mind or bright lights can delay melatonin. This is a hormone produced in the small gland under our brains that is released and prepares us for sleep.

    If you need a good reason to exercise then consider that a training session will help reduce these symptoms and speed up our body clocks to British Summer Time.

    See you at the races
  • Thanks for all your responces guys, like mjwainwright says it's good to know others are feeling the same
    way....not just me!! I think it could be a massive case of SAD. Little amounts to keep things ticking over until the mojo comes back is the way forward!!

    Keep your chins up guys.......we'll get through this together;)
  • sportevesporteve Posts: 141
    yep it seems to be quite a lot of these winter blues around...
    i am struggling to get the enthusiasm and motivation at a steady level, one day is good the next is pretty bad, the snow doesnt help either..just when you think things are getting back to normal more of the white stuff falls and makes things hard again..
    as for the food what can i say... i feel like i am on a self fattening mission only carbs and fattening food will do ...it has come to the point i prepare healthy lean protein, veg and fruit and they stay in the fridge till they go off because i have no desire to eat them..i am panicking because apart from my A race which is an HIM (my first) i have entered 2 more races before that and i really need to get my fitness back very very soon because the time is limited...but, as gaz says we'll get through this!
    knowing there is support from others who are in similar situation helps for sure..
  • Doc ScoDoc Sco Posts: 38
    Ive bought a couple SAD lights - and it really helps. I have one on my desk all day and one which wakes me up gradually like a bright summers day in the middle of July (ok poetic license I know). They emit light of a wavelength equivalent to bright daylight which stimulates the old pineal gland and makes me feel happy!! Still dont always want to train tho! think thats the Its-cold-and-i'd rather-stay-at-home-watching-coronation-street-gene kicking in !!!!!!
  • BritspinBritspin Posts: 1,655
    Getting outside in daylight & doing some training will help this problem in both ways..shake off the lethargy & get some dayloght in your eyes..bright sunlight would be nice, but any non artificial light will help, even on a grey day.
  • BritspinBritspin Posts: 1,655
    WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO, got out on my bike today..only the tootle to work, but wow it felt good, except the really slushy bits.
  • risris Posts: 1,002
    i've managed a commute today as well, which was quite enjoyable apart from the fog. it's not long until spring if you think about it, and then i can put my longs back in the drawer and leave the jacket at home again.
  • BritspinBritspin Posts: 1,655
    yeah looking at a foggy ride home..oh well.
  • ZacniciZacnici Posts: 1,385
    Left the office early today and instead of darkness there was this round thing in the sky that wasn't the moon - made me feel a bit better .
  • wyno70wyno70 Posts: 189
    I'm loving training in the ice and snow, not sure why but the worse the weather is the more I enjoy it!!!

    The good thing is that all this bad weather has got the usual 'January joggers' hibernated quick and I get the forest all to myself.

    Also the mountain bike gets an outing, which is more fun than the road bike in these conditions.

    Marvellous.
  • Hey, it's looking up. Did a 10k last night. No snow, no ice, just a fresh night!!!
    Hope this feeling lasts!!!!
  • GHarvGHarv Posts: 456
    Head down to the Travel agent.

    Just come back from a last minute deal week in Fuetevantura to get away from the cold and snow.

    25+ degrees, swimming pool downstairs - lovely 6 1/2 hours training on what should have been a holiday - motivation - no problem.

    Mmmmmm
  • Show off!!!!
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