I watch other athletes sometimes and wish I could bottle up their motivation and take a dose for my own. You know the ones….they never miss a day of riding, they always look like they are having fun even when its so cold and wet outside that you wouldn’t dare leave the house. And if they aren’t outside braving the elements, you know they are on their trainers logging the hours while you are trying to figure out how to muster up the energy to make some more coffee.
Its not that I’m not motivated. In fact, the one word most of my friends would choose to describe me as is motivated. But my levels of motivation change throughout the year and I, like every other athlete, need to switch things up a bit and focus on what I need to do to stay motivated. For me this means more yoga and mountain biking and moving the body enough to burn off the increased calorie consumption from my obsession with elaborate home-cooked meals throughout the Winter.
I have many athletes and friends who approach me asking how to jump start their training and racing. Motivate me….that’s essentially what they are asking of me. And while I can certainly try to help, motivation is something that comes from within. It is something so individual, so personal, that you truly are the only one that will have the power to maintain the power of motivation.
I asked some riders what motivates them and the answers ran the gamut. Dave Zabriskie shared, “I can say almost everything motivates me. I want to be the best. I want to try as hard as I can...I wonder what the world would be like if everyone tried to do their best. If I take too much time off the bike I get pretty agitated so it's best I keep riding or I would go insane trying to deal with this world. I can get so worked up over little things like gas powered leaf blowers, they drive me up the wall.”
Read the full article in the March issue of ROAD Magazine.....
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