Anyone else have problems with the winter doldrums? This time of year is often the toughest to navigate because most of us have already been training pretty consistently for 1-3 months yet the season still seems very long and far off. Especially as many of us transition from general base training to much more specific race prep the workouts because much harder and focused just as our focus is starting to wane. I've summarized a few tips that I use to stay motivated and focused this time of the year (and all year) and hope they can help you as well.
1. Review your plan for the season and count how many weeks until your next big race. Sometimes the race SEEMS really far off but when you start actually counting weeks you realize it's only 3-6 weeks away! Then you remember that Christmas was nearly 2 months ago and now you realize time is indeed, very short! Doing this always helps me remember the importance of each day and each week of training because April seems really far but when I break down each week of training and the key workouts I need to get there I realize I don't actually have that much time. Nothing like a little panic to help you stay motivated!!
2. Watch some super awesome, motivational sport videos to get you PUMPED. Maybe the classic Bevan Docherty outsprinting Kris Gemmell clip- (I apologize for the overused Eminem music clip)
Or check out Galen Rupp knocking out mile repeats after an 8:07 American record in the two mile-
Watch more videos on Flotrack
There are countless videos out there that can help inspire you to get out the door for another session and I'm not ashamed to admit that I've used them at times.
3. Think about your competition.
Visualization is a powerful tool and if I can picture my competition out training or racing it helps me stay focused during workouts and reminds me that others are out there working just as hard (or harder than I am).
4. Don't think about the entire big workout that is intimidating you or fret about the fast paces you're pretty sure you can't hit. Most of the time we bail on a workout because we didn't even get started. If I am tired and daunted by the magnitude of a set I'm supposed to hit, I'll tell myself that I can bail as long as I finish the warm up first. Once I'm warmed up I tell myself to just do one interval and if I still feel like crap I can stop. After one, then I tell myself I can at least do half the workout and that is better than nothing. Usually once I get to halfway then I'm feeling better and motivated to finish what I started.
5. Schedule your hard workouts to start with others. Again, since the hardest part is usually getting started I'll try to get some friends to meet me for the start if I have a hard run or bike planned. Maybe they are doing a different workout than me or have different paces they need to hit but at least we are helping each other get started. I find that, instead of dreading the upcoming session I'm just thinking that "I'm meeting up with so-and-so to run, this will be lots of fun and filled with joy." Then I get there and realize that there is lots of suffering in store for me and I hate my life.
6. Just do it. As cliche as the Nike saying is it really is true. Sometimes we need to stop whining, over-thinking or complaining about working hard and just get out the door and get the job done. It's a workout. It's not going to kill us and there are thousands of other people out there working hard just like you and me.
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