Lack of Motivation

[JaniceG]

Hi All,

I've lurked around this board for sometime now, but this is my first post.

I'm coming off a two year illness (chronic infections, double digit number of surgeries...very long story) and having some issues being motivated to get back on my bike regularly. Prior to being sick I was on my bike 5x/week and put on 150-200 miles per week. Given that I'm finally feeling better after such a long illness, you would think I could natually be motivated to ride/exercise. However, I find the opposite. I'm less motivated than when I was sick. One of my friends thinks it's because it took so much energy to deal with the illness that there is little left.

I'm curious if anyone has been in a similar situation and how did they get out of the "rut"?

Also, cycling_sarah, I recently read that you completed your "60 day challange". What inspired you to do the challange? I'm thinking of doing something similar.

Janice

[suzieqtwa]

Hi Janice
Welcome to TE
See is anyone lives near you ,and wants to ride. That way you have to go whether you feel like it or not. There is no way I would have completed the miles that I have ,had I not met Oxyback (Ellen) off of this site). When the weather is nice we go for a long ride almost every Saturday. Plus I ride to work (13 miles RT),so I have to get on the bike whether I feel like it or not. Right now I'm not too motivate because I live in Portland ,and it rains.
You live in Los Gatos where the weather is nice all the time...you have no excuse.

[OakLeaf]

Welcome to TE. So sorry to hear about all your troubles and glad you're starting to feel better! ((((((Janice))))))

I agree it can be VERY difficult to re-establish a fitness routine once it's been interrupted for whatever reason, especially when it's been such a long time. I'll just say the same thing I told someone else here recently: give yourself permission to be where you are.

Don't feel bad about going for a two mile ride. Don't feel bad about doing it at 10 miles an hour. Tell your mind to STFU if it thinks you're not doing what you "ought" to or what you "used to" do.

Let your body feel the joy. Let your legs feel the joy of movement. Let your skin feel the joy of air flowing past it. Let your blood feel the joy of rushing through your extremities. Let your lungs feel the joy of being fully opened to air. Let your muscles feel the joy of clenching and unclenching and getting fatigued.

Make yourself get out and ride at least three days a week (but if it feels really joyful right away, be careful not to overdo it).

I think it'll come back to you before too long.

[cycling_sarah]

I'm glad you are feeling better and thinking about cycling again!

I think it is very natural to have a slump in energy and fall out of the habit of exercising every so often. Especially when you've been through the things you mentioned!! But after you've had time to get through that I think you get to a point where you feel you don't have energy to exercise, but you would have more energy if you did exercise...

At the beginning of this year, my gran died and I was run down from dealing with that and had a long month and a half bout of the flu. I didn't get out on my bike much at all for 6 months. When I did, it was disappointing to find I had lost my fitness and that my old bike routes seemed so hard! I moped for a while.

I really wanted to get out of the slump. I looked at my old stats from building up fitness previously and I read bike blogs and forums. I got out there and rode, just taking it easy and pedaling harder on my favorite faster bits or when I was in the mood to. After about 11-12 weeks, I had a real boost in energy! My leg/pedal muscles were really coming back too.

As for the 60/60 challenge. I was riding all the good weather days and we had a nice October. I ended up with 30/30 almost by surprise. Then, some blogging girls were talking about doing a 30/30 challenge for November, so I joined in. The comments back and forth were very motivational.

I think the best thing to do when you start up is not think about 'training', but just 'riding'. Go out on your bike for 3 or 5 miles a first. Hop on in your street clothes with your clipless shoes on and your pants tucked into your sock and play a little on your bike. See if you can find a friend to ride with you. You will find it easier to go further and faster with company. The longer rides and fitness come back and then you will want to try a challenge.

Good luck! Keep on posting with updates for us! Hope my experiences help you out a little :)

[redrhodie]

Hi! Welcome! One thing that keeps me riding is keeping it simple. I get up, get dressed, pump my tires, and I'm off. It's part of my routine. I don't drive to ride, I just get up and go. I don't vary my routes much. I'm lucky to live in a beautiful place for cycling, and I'm not easily bored by the same routes.

cycling_sarah has been a big motivator to me, too! I'm off to meet her right now! Knowing she's waiting for me makes me a little faster in the morning, too!

[kfergos]

Good for you coming through your hard time and even wanting to get back into cycling. I know you can!

The only way I keep riding is because it's part of my routine. If I varied my activity too much, I wouldn't be able to keep it up. I know it's hard, but you probably already know that it takes about 6 weeks to establish something as a habit. If you can routinely work cycling into your life for the next 6 weeks -- even when you don't feel like it, and even if it's only a little bit, as the ladies mentioned above -- after that it'll start feeling more natural.

[greycoral]

I know you were a big cyclist before you got sick, maybe that's part of what's holding you back? Do you feel overwhelmed with the thought of having to do long rides? Maybe you're remembering how much energy it took or how tired you were. I say, ride for fun. Around the block. Down to the store. Whatever it takes. Don't focus as much on training or longer things, just go as much as your body wants to, even if it's only once a week! You might never get back to what you were doing before, but I think once you get the ball rolling, on a smaller scale, you might find your love for it again.

[sundial]

Hi Janice, it's nice to have you here. :)

There's an ebb and flow to the healing process. Sometimes our bodies are not quite through and ask for a little longer break. You'll know when it's time to get back on the bike. :)

[Karma007]

Ride somewhere. For example, choose to ride to the coffee shop, or thriftstore, or movies or something. As much as I love to ride because I love to ride, sometimes having a purpose is just fun.

[SouthernBelle]

This is a tough time of year to re-start too; so much going on. Maybe just do some "fiddling around" rides between now and the new year. Use that time to put together a plan for the new year.

HTH,

[sundial]

What is fun about this time of year are night rides. Maybe noodle around the neighborhood and look at the Christmas lights?

[Zen]

Get you bike out and look at it.
Sit with it in the living room for a while.
Maybe it will start talking to you (in the transcendental sense)

[Tater]

Ride somewhere. For example, choose to ride to the coffee shop, or thriftstore, or movies or something. As much as I love to ride because I love to ride, sometimes having a purpose is just fun.

This is close to how I got back into riding after totally losing motivation for cycling over the summer. I just started by doing short errands on my bike and after a couple weeks, I found myself wanting to go longer. I had my mojo back and all it took was some simple, easy paced, around town errands.

Don't put pressure on yourself, you'll be back on the bike when your mind and body are ready.