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Thursday, April 5, 2012

Motivation, where did you go?

I woke up this morning with a feeling that nothing productive was going to get done today.  I don't know what that is about. So far this week, I have been rocking my schedule - taking things on, checking off items on my to-do list left and right.  But this morning I feel that energy vibe starting to peter out.  I don't know.  Maybe it has something to do with several nights in a row of six hours of sleep.  Some people can live on that.  I cannot.  And, frankly, I should know that by now.  So, I will muddle through this day as best I can and hope I get my mojo back.

This has been a good week fitness-wise.  After PRing at the 10K on Sunday, I have followed that up with an increased effort week all around.  After several weeks of either maintaining current effort or taking my rest week (at 70 percent of normal effort), I have turned up the volume on all my workouts.  So, my week has thus far looked like this:

Monday:  Slow Flow Yoga and 35-minutes elliptical (up from 30 min,)
Tuesday: Power Vinyasa Yoga and 6,000 meters rowing on the ERG (up from 5,500 meters)
Wednesday: 60-minute run (up from 55 minutes)

Yesterday's run was particularly rewarding because I went into it feeling sort of sluggish - possibly from lack of good sleep.  In fact, I was wondering if my less-than-enthusiastic anticipation of the run would lead to a bad run.  (You know, negative self-talk and all that.)  I told myself on the drive over to the coffee shop to shape up and just let things happen the way they were meant to.  And, it went great!

I ran with the group for the first five miles, and I had a great time talking to a friend of mine along the way.  It was a slightly hilly route, and I was glad to have someone to push me along.  (I think I would have taken a lot more walk breaks otherwise.)  After circling back to the coffee shop, I added another twelve minutes to finish up the hour I had hoped to run.  I ended up doing 6.3 miles in about 61 minutes.  Average pace of 9:39.  Not bad.  I felt happy going in to coffee and didn't feel the least bit guilty about ordering my Vanilla Caramel Latte.  (It was delicious, by the way.)

Today on tap I have a 6,000 meter row and then tomorrow I am heading up to Green Bay to join a friend for part of her birthday run.  I am really looking forward to this run.  I am curious about the trail we are going to run on and it just sounds like a fantabulous way to celebrate a birthday.  My plan is to do ten miles tomorrow and make this my long run for the week.  I realize that - given my track record (ha! a pun!) - moving my long run from Sunday to Friday is a possible invitation for disaster; my body doesn't seem to like surprises like this.  However, I am hopeful that if I take it slow and listen to my body, I will be fine.  Fingers crossed.

Day 37 of the No-Chocolate Challenge:

So, as a final thought, I was thinking this morning how happy I am that the no-chocolate challenge is almost done.  What have I learned from this?  Well, certainly that I haven't lost my taste for chocolate - I can't wait to eat some on Sunday.  In fact, I have missed it so much that I probably won't ever give up chocolate again.  So, not very deep, huh?  No great insights into what I am made of, no deeper understanding of who I am and what makes me tick - just a deep-seated assurance that I will never give up chocolate again.  Sad, but in a happy way.

Lindt, we will meet again soon...

What do you do when motivation lacks?

6 comments:

  1. I was hopping over to thank you for your comment and love that I stumbled on a post about motivation. You are right, blogging is a great way to stay motivated. I have found if I am in a rut in pulling myself out of bed in the wee hours of the morning, I blog my goal and bingo! I am up!

    So great on the no-chocolate challenge. There is NO WAY I could do that! It is my one little vice at times....

    Enjoy your indulgence on Sunday!

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    1. Aw, thanks for stopping by! Motivation is what motivates me for a lot of things, ironically, and if that makes sense. I do things because I think they'll motivate me to KEEP doing. I have volunteered for that reason, joined running clubs, stuck with group runs, and now blogged. I guess in a way, it's a way to stay accountable to yourself.

      Yeah, the chocolate thing. That was a mistake. :)

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  2. Great job on a PR last Sunday! It may not be lack of motivation. it might be your body saying "alright, you ramped it up this week, time to ease back and recover" (maybe). When the motivation is lacking, I just force my self to do what I need to get done because if I put it off (a chore) or skip a workout, I will feel worse for not doing it when it needed getting done.

    Enjoy your chocolate on Sunday. It sounds like you deserve it!!!

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    1. I think you might be right about the body needing a break. I ended up not doing the rowing yesterday, in anticipation of today's long run. I didn't want to push things so far that they break. Hopefully I can get back on track today, though!

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  3. I love all of the yoga in your week. I wish our gym offered legit yoga. We mostly only have bodyflow, which is so canned that it doesn't feel like the real thing.

    And that run sounds like it went great!

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    1. Yoga is really great. I cannot believe I am saying those words, but I am. I used to really not like yoga. I don't know why - moved too slow for me or something. Now, however, after taking the slow flow class for over a year (started when I got injured), I love it. It has really helped with flexibility issues and general strength, surprisingly. If you think you'd like doing it, it might be worth taking a few classes at a local yoga studio and then getting a DVD for at home. (I think the classes are worthwhile to learn the poses.) :)

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