the motivational factor can be a tough one. I find if I just force myself to get out the door once I get going I'm fine. Example is just get on the bike, once I'm 15-20 minutes into a ride I'm stoked to be on it. Same with running. After getting a couple sessions under the belt the motivation will often come back.

I also go and watch races taped or live and that's inspiring. And of course I use Trifuel daily :) and read members blogs and race reports and that gets me going as well.

Often a reason folks fall off the band wagon is due to overtraining.
Ya just get burned out and having to go for ANOTHER F ing run is the last thing you want to do.
PJT is so right...pick a goal, and yes,make it an easy one. Then pick another harder one...and start working your way back up.You build confidence that way.
Get a good plan for your goal..and you work the plan,don't let the plan work you. (In other words, don't let it run your life.)
Make sure your plan has down time and days off.
Try training with a few like minded individuals. Folks you like to be around and who don't turn every training session into a race or hammerfest.
Sounds like you are already starting to get re-motivated..that's why you're here!
Good luck!

How topical. In the last 2-3 weeks, I've felt my motivation level drop considerably for reasons I am unsure of.

I am missing days of training and on the days I do train, I am lackadasical - doing the distances but without a clear focus and without reaching for the power and speed I should be.

I am eating more, feeding cravings without discipline, and feeling even a little bloated from doing this.

I'm not depressed or anything - I just feel I've been training for a long time and I'm starting to get that thousand-yard-stare and getting into a vague headspace where I'm losing the disciplined focus I had and I'm starting to drift off and spacing out. I know what my goals are and I have a training plan yet I don't feel I want it bad enough to follow through right now.

I hope it's just a weird temporary lull that will go as fast as it came but what do you all do when this happens?

deepbluex

I feel your pain brother, I am midseason and most of my A races are done with the regionals left in sept.

I am fighting a lingering cold and an injury in my hip and struggling to stay on the program.

I am heading to a good friends wedding for most of a week, will probably just be running and even that will be at a minimum and I am thinking it will probably be good for me.

If these days off get me back on the program I will let you know, but I know how hard it is to take it easy or rest days.

this turned out to be kinda rambling but the point being a forced layoff of a few days is just what I need I suspect and maybe it would be good for you too ?

Honestly I think the heat has been getting to me. We're coming off a pretty sweltering heat wave over the last week during which I was just dying halfway through my normal training distances and feeling wiped well before I usually feel tired. It was a blow to the ego to see my times slow down as I kept on training. 30 mile rides turned into 12. 4 mile runs into 2. The swims sucked too because in the heat, everybody wants to dive into the pool all of the sudden and there's a lot of horseplay in the lap pool at the gym now. The few times I went to the ocean, it was nice.

Sounds like a lame excuse but boy it has been hot and painful to put the hammer down in triple digit temperatures - and that feeling of being reluctant to go outside is a big departure from my usual mood when I train. I wasn't expecting to turn into a big heat-wuss.

I'm halfway through my race schedule with 4 races completed this spring/summer and 4 more for summer/fall.

Must be something in the water because I've been in a rut as well. I know part of it is the Texas heat and part is work because its gotten so crazy lately, the other part is me just not caring, no A races to look forward to and I've been so tired lately.

But I think I'm finally getting over it which is good, I did a 45 minute spin class tonight and it felt really good. :)

Just get up and go. Don't think about training or anything before you go or you'll talk yourself out of it.

I didn't do any training last month due to a very lingering sickness and a short vacation (which caused that sickness). 4 weeks of doing nothing was hard given the amount of training was was used to doing, but I found it hard to get that motivation back once I was feeling better.

Just getting out the door those first couple days is a chore, but get over that hump and you'll be on cloud 9. I'm more into training now than I've ever been, and that month break appears to have done more good for my fitness than bad (strangely enough).

Work in some fun days where the goal has nothing to do with your training. I occasionally leave the bike computer at home and just cruise around the lake practicing bunny hops on my (road) bike.

I'm still not good enough to clear an obstruction, but it does bring back the same feeling of when I was 8 and tried to ride wheelies as far as I could.

Sounds like a lot of people are in the same boat. Well, make room everybody. I live in Kansas City and we just came off of a 4 day heat wave 2 weeks ago (100+ temps. with 50-60% humidity)which I so graciously topped off with my first of 3 100 mile rides. The whole next week (last week) I was completely dead. Average bike speed was down1-2 miles per hour. And I just felt fatigued. I think it was a combination of the previous weeks training and overall overtraining. So, I took it easy for the whole week. I still swam, biked, and ran but I just went slow and took some extra time stretching. I find at times like those it is good to slow down and focus on getting back to the basics of form. Do this for a week or so and you will be craving the long rides, fast swims and runs.

I find that I'm motivated by money. Thats what happens when you grow up in a big family with very little money.

When I bought a gym pass I'd go as often as I could to keep the cost per workout low. When I took karate classes I went every day. When I played golf I bought a season pass and the motivator was to be essentially playing free golf by June. My latest motivator was to pay about $500 bucks to enter the Wisconsin IM this year. Plus a new bike, several pairs of shoes, lots of clothes, etc. I'm extremely motivated by the clock ticking of the quickly approaching date and all the cash I've spent getting ready for it. Not to mention the several hundred people that I know will be cheering for me.

If you're motivated by getting your moneys worth like I am I suggest picking a race that you want to do and signing up on the day that the registration opens. Pick something with some real costs to it like a 1/2 or an adventure race.

It also helps to know someone whose doing the same event so you have a training buddy. It's usually rare that your buddy will be unmotivated on the same days that you are.

I can testify that a horse is definitely more expensive. My wife bought one in April ($13,500). She's buying a saddle today ($4000). Monthly room and board ($305). Riding boots ($600)

But if she wasn't at the barn all the time I wouldn't have the time to train. I'm free to spend as much as I need on tri gear assuming we can pay the bill at the end of each month. Works for me.