The First Law: Conservation of Motivation

I'm sure anyone who is a dedicated endurance athlete, especially a triathlete, knows of the January crowds at the fitness center or Y where they work out in the winter. It used to frustrate me that my early morning swim routine was thrown off by crowds of folks swimming 2:30/100 with a combo breastroke/freestyle. Or that, it was impossible to get a treadmill and if you did, you were limited to just 30 minutes due to people on the sign-up sheet.

I tend to take it in stride these days because I know, sadly enough, that by the end of january defections will begin in force and by the end of February, it'll be the same old crew of crusty die-hards.

A lot of friends of mine ask me how I keep in such good shape (they always seem to ask me when I'm actually not fit from a triathlon perspective--like this time of year--so i struggle with how to answer them) and what they are really asking me of course is how to lose weight. I tell them that losing weight is very easy--eat less, exercise more. If you do that you'll lose weight. Of course, the catch is that its hard to eat less and exercise more.

Similarly, people ask me how to get good at triathlon. I tell em it's easy. Just swim, bike, and run a lot and do it at a fairly high intensity. Of course, staying motivated to do that long enough to get good (think years) requires more motivation than most people have.

I struggled with this early on in my triathlon career (and still have to pay attention to it). I'd set a goal and start working towards it. I'd see some results and redouble my efforts and before long I'd be burned out or injured or both. Through painful trial and error I came upon my First Law of Triathlon: The Conservtion of Motivation. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to be reasonably good at this sport--you just have to consistently do the right things--for a long time (I've been at it now for 12 years). The Conservation of Motivation should be applied everyday, ideed every morning when you get up. It should be applied to planning for a season of training. If you get up and the morning and it's 5 degrees and windy and you don't feel like doing that 9 miler--don't. Cut yourself a break--just know you'll hop back in the saddle latter--maybe latter that day or maybe the day after. Or the one after that. From a season perspective, especially if you focus on an IM or other key race like I do, then just plan your training to go gung ho for a finite period of time leading up to the race (for me, this 12-14 weeks before an IM). The rest of the time, have fun, get some good workouts in, race a bit and don't sweat it too much.

Just make sure to obey the First Law of Triathlon! It took me 54 years to learn this!