Motivate ME!

Happy Thursday Friends!

A couple of Friday's ago I had the pleasure of leading a 'lunch and learn' session, with the staff at Ecofish Research, as part of their Workplace Wellness program.  I spoke with them about 'Motivation' and shared my tools and tips for getting started and keeping going.   It was a short chat, but everyone can relate to the topic and I hope they all took home a few ideas to add to their own motivation 'toolbox'.

I LOVE the topic of motivation when it comes to fitness, sport and health:)  It is such a wild 'thing' - complex, dynamic, fluid and very very powerful.  Motivation has always intrigued me and I have a passion for helping others find ways to harness its awesome power.  Yes, I even wrote a book on the subject if you want to check it out;)


And so...

It was not without a very wicked cackle from old Mrs Irony the following day that I found myself  lying on the couch in my pajamas at 10:00am, in full on procrastination mode, and delaying the start of my long Saturday mountain bike ride.  Ha.  Ha.  Ha.  You see, I am in the final weeks (now days) of my big mileage training for the most amazing single track bike racing experience of my life...the BC Bike Race.  Last September I had the unbelievable luck to win a free entry to this 7-day epic mountain bike race courtesy of BC Bike race at the MOMAR Cumberland post race party.  Yup- I won it!  What an amazing gift:)

(Hey- that little reminder I just gave myself while writing this (the gift of this opportunity)  is enough to motivate me to keep on keepin' on over the next few days of big rides actually-so thanks!)

If you have ever trained for a long distance event you know exactly what I am going through this week.  The training sessions are all getting longer and the big days more frequent...and the training buddies more sparse....and the music is getting old.  These are the days where you need to dig around a little deeper in the motivation toolbox to find something good to chew on.

Now there never was any doubt that I would be going for a bike ride that day...simply due to the fact that I had just done my 'motivation chat' the day before, I knew I would get out the door.  When one is a motivational speaker by identity, it makes it much easier to get off the couch:)  But needless to say, the weight of inertia was absolutely crushing me down and I was taking my sweet time getting going that morning. 

We all experience periods of low motivation.  It is just part of the deal.  We all have felt and we all will feel that heavy weight of low motivation pressing down on us again in the future.  It is important to realize that this is normal.  Even the highest level athletes experience low motivation.  Sure some people just seem to have more of it than others.  But we all go through the highs and lows.  The secret, is having a plan in place when you feel the couch sucking you in and motivation dropping rapidly.  

Motivation is very personal and changes throughout the months, years and stages of our lives.  There are a million different motivators - but we just need to work out which one is going to get us off the couch today.  So, take the time to figure out what motivates you.  And don't judge it once you find it!  Go with it!  The key is finding out what works for you so that you can continue moving forwards towards your personal fitness goals and dreams.

So...what is getting me out the door these days?  Here are a few tools I have dug out of the toolbox lately...

• Friends.  When there is a 5 hour ride on the calendar I do my best to meet up with a group ride for as much of the ride time as possible.  It is amazing how much faster it flies by when you are chatting with a friend:) 
• Race.  Add a long warm up and a long cool down to a race and you have your long ride done.  Racing is also a great way to improve speed endurance, power and a sense of pace.  Not to mention gaining experience with fueling and riding fast with others on your butt.  Racing also means you get to check out new trails, road trip and hang with friends too!
• Music.  I downloaded some new play lists and tunes to keep me distracted and energized.  Listening to Kelso, Mikey da Roza, Metric and Phoenix a lot lately... any other suggestions?
• Why.  Reminding myself of WHY I am committing to getting out the door.  'Pay now or pay later' is a favourite mantra of mine at the moment.  Knowing these long rides are going to allow me to enjoy the race experience that much more is an awesome motivator when the going gets tuff and the rides get loooong.

Those are my main tools at this moment on my journey... but I would love to hear what tools you are using!  Please share!

More posts to come on the BC Bike Race...pretty much turning all of my focus that way now...just over two weeks to go!  I am finally starting to get REALLY excited because it is close enough to touch!  

Cheers,
Sarah.