Blergh...

So I feel like I have been trapped in the doldrums a bit lately. Desire to train and improve is there (sort of) but motivation is lacking. And when my motivation is lacking my excuses are poised on ready rapid fire…plus its winter and cold and dark in the morning (see!!! See what I am like!!)

It also doesn’t help that I managed to pick up a cold which must be a HUGE bug cause it took me down (no – not man flu…the Rambo of all bugs I swear!) and I am still trying to shake the death rattle in my cough at the moment a week later. (Another excuse…rereading prior to publishing at the moment!)

So moving this pity party right along, I have had some interesting interactions over the past couple of weeks.

Just over a week ago I had the honour of celebrating 10 years of marriage to my beautiful wife! Some may say she / I  deserves a medal for the 10 years gone but the truth of it is that I am fortunate enough to have married my best friend and can only look forward to many more years together!! She is so awesome that she even came for a run with me on our day (we packed the kids off to school and daycare and had a day to ourselves….evil parents hey!). She is awesome and having her support me the way she does keeps me going on a daily basis as I only want to be better and more deserving of her!

Anniversary "run-fie"...yup I am the lucky one on the left

The usual week on the hamster wheel keeping life interesting in the in between days. I have managed to get a couple of sessions in the gym and a few runs completed which are positives. Nothing specific or targeted at the time though.

Interesting Interaction #2…On Friday last week we had a guest speak come to our work to talk about safety and compliance. This was a young man (28) who is a quadriplegic. He suffered a fall when he was 21 that resulted in him being left with 96% paralysis. I will not go into the details of his injury and full storey here but needless to say I found his storey captivating and his strength and courage inspirational! His storey really did resonate with me, probably more so due to the bike crash and the simplicity with which his situation deteriorated after his fall. I used the memory of his talk during my run on Sunday to keep my mindset positive in the fact that I could and was running opposed to the poor bugger trapped in his chair for the remainder of his days. Certainly a lesson in not taking things for granted. It has also given me the desire to investigate using his company as my charity next year as I re-embark upon the IM dream.

Interesting Interaction #3…at a work event on Friday I was chatting to some people and inevitably managed to find out that one of the chaps had completed a couple of 70.3 events in the UK before moving to Perth. Like a moth to a flame I was chatting to him about his training and experiences and all things IM (I can’t help it…it’s like I am an addict!). Sadly he has torn his ACL and has been out of action for nearly 12 months now due to misdiagnosis, continued training and further damage. In our conversation we talked about the need for motivation and he made an interesting point that I had not considered before.

The reason that he kept upping the distances and races and then race types (from 10k – half mara – full mara – tris – 70.3s) was for motivation. He was telling me that he got to a stage where he would sign up for a half a couple of weeks before the event as he no longer “feared” it. It was this realisation that prompted his move into the field of triathlon. I found that really interesting and again I could relate. Not the part about only signing up a couple of weeks out and still smashing it (nowhere near THAT fit!), but the part about it not holding the same fear (and by default motivation) that it used to. Could it be that after the challenge of last year around the country the appeal/shine of a half just doesn’t cut it anymore…it is an interesting one to ponder and I don’t think I am ready to commit to an answer on that just yet. But an interesting point none the less…

Managed to grind out a very miserable 16k run on the weekend which I needed to get done and just confirmed for me that the half this weekend will not be a record breaker but will get done!

I have my follow up appointment this week on my shoulder post op….apart from the odd little niggle here and there I am hoping for the all clear and that will be the end of it!

Through my tri club I have signed up for a 12 week training course that finishes the Saturday before the first race in the Tri series that I have signed up for…Course starts on September 20^th and I am stoked! It promises to be a small – medium group of people that we will train together for the duration. This will be the first time I will be training with the club and with like-minded people in the tri field! Plus it is paid for now so motivation is there to train J

Well that’s about it for now so, thanks for reading, happy training and here’s to keeping motivated!