Well, this certainly resonates! Looking back over 40 odd years as an endurance “athlete”, one thing stands out : the innumerable times I’ve had to “start again”.
As often as not it’s been injury that has caused a temporary hiatus to my training and racing. Other times something rather more long term, like the 18 months of chemo I had for a, now in remission, form of cancer.
Whatever. My enthusiastic but rather mediocre career has been a continual parade of having to start again.
First thing I learnt was that you don’t actually have to start again from base zero. There’s usually a huge reservoir of fitness that you retain for a very long time. It comes back surprisingly quickly.
Second, the motivation (for me, anyway), has to come from having some sort of goal or aspiration. Riding/training to “get fit” or”stay healthy” is not enough to motivate me to commit to training, with all the time and effort that that entails.
Thirdly, and for me, a very strong motivation, is being accountable to someone you respect. Maybe your mate whom you ride with and don’t want to hold back. Don’t want to look like a poseur riding your flash, expensive bike. Or, maybe a coach. You wouldn’t want to commit to a training schedule and not complete it, would you? What would the coach think of your degree of commitment or your mental fortitude?!!
Now I know that that mindset may not be for everyone, but for me, being seen and regarded as someone who gives it a go, regardless of it being sometimes distinctly unpleasant, is a very powerful motivation.
Yes, as you can probably guess, I do care what other people think of me. Not obsessively, not to the exclusion of everything else, but as a powerful motivation to get out and give it your best shot. That is usually respected, albeit, grudgingly, sometimes.
The following quote sums up my attitude!
Hope I’m not seeming too pretentious!
“There is a strange and paradoxical fact that there is a reciprocal relationship between the worth of something and the difficulty in accomplishing it.”
Reading back over this it sounds as if I have a serious self esteem problem! Yeah, Nah. I don’t actually think so, but maybe leaning in that direction as far as road cycling is concerned.
PS: I find TR seriously motivating even if I’m only trying to impress a computer!