I am struggling to FTfP at the moment. I have a stressful job with a demanding MD (who doesn’t, I hear you say!), by the time I come to train in the evening I feel exhausted from the day and don’t feel up for “beasting” myself on the bike. My work hours are normally from 0730 to 1700hrs.
I am really disappointed with myself because normally I can FTfP and I am of the competitive type who hates to miss sessions or even worse not complete them.
Is there anyone with the same dilemma or has faced and overcome this scenario?
I haven’t ever dealt with your exact situation per say, but I think we can all relate to struggling to find the energy and motivation to train after a long/stressful day. Honestly, I am not sure I would believe someone if they said they didn’t!
One thing that works for me is training in the morning, even if that means waking up at the crack of dawn to squeeze it in. It puts me in a good mood the rest of the day, which is a big motivator… cause who likes being a grumpy pants all day!? I also find that finding a friend to ride with helps to hold me accountable and get me out the door.
Some other things I find helpful: Prepping a post workout snack, laying out your clothes and having your bike ready to roll so that come training time you can’t tell yourself it is too much effort to go ride. Lastly, I remind myself that my competition or the rider I want to be able to keep up with is probably out training that day… so if I keep failing to #FtFP I am choosing to get dropped. Idk about you but I hate getting dropped! lol
Looking forward to hearing what other people do to help them find the motivation!
Interesting topic, and certainly had issues with since the lockdown.
I suppose it wasn’t so much that but the fact all my events bar one has been cancelled.
I personally need a target to aim for in my training or else i can easily start skipping days and this happened with the lockdown and cancellations. Hopefully, i’ve turned that corner and started training properly with the help of ‘‘sweet spot 4’’
These are weird times and it’s awesome to hear how our athletes are overcoming the lack of racing. A structured plan definitely helps to give you the guidance & targets you need to push yourself in training, so we think you made a great choice @dyersteel! Stoked to hear how you do on the SS part 4 plan and how you were able to #FtFP
Some very great points from @Lacey_Rivette just having everything ready to go is a huge plus. It is one less step to take to get out the door. Speaking of getting out the door sometimes that is the hardest part. Even for me if I am not feeling it, it is a big struggle but 10 minutes in and Im happy to be riding.
Other ways to help motivate yourself:
Do different routes. Some riders will ride the same routes, in the same direction on similar days or workouts. Find different routes, do them backwards, look at a map and find new roads to ride on. Really only limited to your own imagination.
Bottom to top intervals or Stravals. You can still #FtFP by trying to accommodate these type of efforts. Find segments that match the time of your intervals. Then just focus on finishing the segment as opposed to a time. Same goes with a climb. Just go from bottom to top.
Do some off road riding. You can do mountain biking, gravel riding or etc. Don’t just do all the same type of riding if you can. Mix it up. Can go off of heart rate and perceived exertion as opposed to staring at the power as well which can help.
We would say group rides but right now that may not be the safest option with health concerns.
But I think the biggest thing is having a plan. A purpose for each ride. Right now we are coming down to the end of a typical training cycle. So you just want to get to September, can talk about an offseason break, and then you are going to do some light fall foundation and into strength training. So just seeing it laid out and how things change in the training can really help.
Hi, what a revelation training in the morning is! Once I have got over the 5am alarm call, all is good. Over here atm it’s definitely the best time to train. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread
Yeah at 5am you only have one hurdle to get over and that is getting out of bed. Once out of bed its good. After work seems like so many things can and will get in the way. Plus fatigue from the day. Glad you had a good morning and the rest of the day like Lacey said you will feel great!
We loved this topic, so decided to record a podcast on it for you guys. Check it out and let us know what yall think! Do yall have any other tips we didn’t think of?!
