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Staying Motivated
Oct. 30th, 2009 04:13 pmThe sudden change in the weather this week, precipitated by winds and a dust storm on Tuesday evening, has profoundly affected our (K and myself) motivation to get out and go rowing. We have just a few weeks between now and the start of the Holiday Challenge, where we will each erg 200,000 m between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's hard to stay focused when that's the next event on the calendar--there's really no good way to prepare to row a distance like that, other than to put in long, somewhat tedious miles on the lake. And when putting in those miles requires stepping in cold water first thing in the morning, well.
I have to remind myself to think back to my collegiate rowing days. Sure, we had docks, but we also rowed when it was snowing out. We just learned how to bundle up appropriately to keep getting ourselves out there.
This morning, as I stood in the middle of my room trying to find a will and a reason to get out and go rowing (while the other half of my mind sleepily complained about the cold and 5.5 hours of sleep and pointed out the allure of my warm bed), I got a text message from K. We just couldn't get ourselves to do it. When even the buddy system starts to fail, I know I have to go back to the drawing board because I start to feel regret by the end of the day when I have too much energy (right now). In some ways, this instance is okay, because we're going on a pretty long bike ride tomorrow. At the same time, there's no substitute for actually rowing.
I'm reminded of the period during the early summer, right after my shoulder started really bothering me, when I decided that if I couldn't row, I still needed to get up and practice a different aspect of rowing, the aspect of making sure that I was taking care of my own well-being. This time around, I think I need to work on the strength-training component of my sport. From now on, if I miss practice on the water, I need to get myself to the gym instead.
I have to remind myself to think back to my collegiate rowing days. Sure, we had docks, but we also rowed when it was snowing out. We just learned how to bundle up appropriately to keep getting ourselves out there.
This morning, as I stood in the middle of my room trying to find a will and a reason to get out and go rowing (while the other half of my mind sleepily complained about the cold and 5.5 hours of sleep and pointed out the allure of my warm bed), I got a text message from K. We just couldn't get ourselves to do it. When even the buddy system starts to fail, I know I have to go back to the drawing board because I start to feel regret by the end of the day when I have too much energy (right now). In some ways, this instance is okay, because we're going on a pretty long bike ride tomorrow. At the same time, there's no substitute for actually rowing.
I'm reminded of the period during the early summer, right after my shoulder started really bothering me, when I decided that if I couldn't row, I still needed to get up and practice a different aspect of rowing, the aspect of making sure that I was taking care of my own well-being. This time around, I think I need to work on the strength-training component of my sport. From now on, if I miss practice on the water, I need to get myself to the gym instead.
