Mid-summer motivation
How is your summer motivation doing? A couple of tips to help you keep going.
We’re into the hot days of summer and at this time of the year many a rider’s motivation wilts under the heat of the sun. How is your motivation doing? Did you train diligently all winter on the turbo, dreaming of riding in shorts with the wind on your face? And now that it is nice outdoors are you still motivated and keen to get out there?
Over the winter many of us are hyper motivated for the spring, training and making sure that our form will be decent enough that we can start the season off well when we head south for a training camp. We have big goals for the first races/events of the year, plans of domination and accomplishment. But what happens once we get through that initial phase of the season? Any plans for the final days of the summer, and then the beautiful days of riding available to us in September and October?
It is easy to be motivated when the season is getting underway, when the Classics are motivating us and our dreams are larger than life. But that only lasts for a few weeks, then we need to start looking ahead and making plans for how to stay motivated throughout the summer. Why ride on the turbo all winter if you aren’t going to keep going when the weather is good?
Planning out your summer loosely is important. You can create small and large goals, both of which help to keep you motivated and heading out the door for your rides. As important as the goals is making sure you take some time to rest, and enjoy time with the family. Many of us ride, ride and ride slowly digging ourselves into a hole of fatigue. Once you are there your interest in the bike fades and when you do get out your body won’t perform. Riding just isn’t any fun anymore at that stage.
A couple of tips then. Develop some goals for yourself, have a loose idea of how you want your summer to unfold with weeks where you’ll train more and others you’ll train less. And then even plan a week for yourself where you won’t ride at all. Shocking I know, and hard to do, but it will make a world of difference in your excitement at getting on the bike.
There are lots of nice riding days left before the winter snows start to fly. Don’t waste them!
