The question of keeping yourself motivated and engaged when the January Fitness Craze ends is one of trickiest ones to answer and following on from the last blog about getting stuck in the January cycle, I’ve been asked a few times about how to keep motivated beyond February.
One of the ways I keep myself motivated (and actively encourage my clients to keep motivated) is to book a couple of big challenges every year. Challenges that take a few months of concentrated training to get ready for. In the last few years, I’ve become more interested and more passionate about Triathlon. I love that you dive into a river or a lake and swim for half an hour, get out as fast as you can, get out of your wetsuit and onto your bike for an hour and a half and then with really heavy legs, set off for a run for an hour. There is something about the challenge of having three different things to master that I absolutely love.
This year I’ve set myself the challenge of a half Ironman Triathlon – a 1.2mile swim, a 56 mile ride and then…a half marathon (13.1 Miles). That’s A LOT! It’s just on the border of terrifying and bonkers and honestly speaking, it’s a challenge that I am not completely convinced that I can complete.
Yesterday I connected with Graeame Stone a triathlon coach from Sport Coaching (www.sportcoaching.se) who has agreed to take me on as a client and help me get to the triathlon in June. Well, we know he’s brave because I’m really not very good at giving up control and having someone boss me about. I definitely prefer to do the bossing (…that’s why I’m a trainer!). No doubt, a number of my clients chuckling away at the thought of someone bossing me about for a change. I may invite them along to one or two of the sessions and see how they fare!
I’m so excited to learn new things and have something big to focus on. It’s essentially the first step in a three year plan to get me to Ironman in 2020. Now that’s a seriously long triathlon – 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and then…a full marathon (26.2 miles). It actually makes me feel a bit sick just thinking about it. It will keep me active and focussed over the next few years as I have to get fitter and stronger and learn how to manage my body and keep injury free for all that time.
So, think of something you want to challenge yourself to do, make a plan and work your way through the training to get there and achieve something amazing in 2017! It does not matter how big or small it is, as long as you will find it a challenge and you can learn something new and push yourself to a new limit while you’re getting ready for it.
