OK, Stephen...I'll take the plung and give it a shot. First of all, if you are sincere about your
changes, then I will say that a lot of respect is gained when an individual admits to mistakes and
decides to make changes for the good. You might be pleasantly surprised just how much attention that
gains. Congratulations upon choosing a positive outlook toward life (in general).
As for your training malaise, it's not that uncommon provided that is what it it truely is and not a
symptom of other problems. If you trained hard or trained for a long time, then burn out is a very
likely outcome. If that is the case, it seems what you need to is add back the fun part. Sometimes
that requires a person to step back and re-evaluate what made it fun in the first place. When you
find those things which adds positive and good feelings about training, then the goals that you
might wish to achieve can be easily obtained and determined.
On the otherhand, if your trainings problems are only a symptom of other issues that might effect
your senses of self-worth or self-esteem, you might consider finding help. That is not admitting to
be ill, but rather an admition of willingness to change for the better. It's a good thing to find
help. Self diagnosis can be a very tricky thing (and difficult to do). But rest assured, athletic
activity is a BIG positive for any type of depression or just general poor self-motivation. In
simpler terms, physical activity and training is a method by which many people take control of
their lives.
Chances are your just in a slump... what triggered that slump can be crucial to determining the
right direction in which to find a solution. Finding a reason will help... but, finding a solution
is sometimes simple and sometimes complicated. In either case, the important part is that you
realize there seems to be a problem and it's reflected in your training habits.
The simple solution is to put the fun back into training. Or in other words, take the stress out
of training. The complex solution will require much more investigation. The only thing you could
do to make the problem worse is stop all athletic activity. That would only add stress to your
activity. However, it is good to reduce your level of activity or find that activity (even if it's
not triathlons)that adds fun to your life. Once the incentive is back... the rest will take care
of itself.
We are all creators of a social nature... we don't typically just do an athletic event and not
expect some sort of feed back from others. Without good feedback from friends, relatives or family,
any activity can seem insignificant. Alienation of ourselves is a sure fire way of creating a vacuum
that can result in lack of motivation. So, I guess fun means you must include others in a positive
way. It's called sharing (and, that can be very scarey sometimes). Good Luck and Congratulations in
your new positive direction.
FWIW Joe M
[email hidden] (Dr. Steven Walker) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...
Quoted message said:As you may have noticed, I have been on a week long sabbatical to collect my thoughts and retrain
my behaviour patterns. I am a changed person and am ready to reenter the multisport community as a
productive, contributing member. It is my sincere wish to put the past behind and look forward to
the future.
I promise not to troll, talk in gibberish, slander others, or misbehave. As a token of good
measure, I would like to post a legitimate triathlon question. It is because of this issue that
perhaps I acted like such an [censored].
"How does one get over training malaise?" I haven't felt like training the last few months. My
running miles are down, I'm not swimming anymore, and have a general disinterest in training
right now.
Suggestions appreciated.
Sincerely,
Steven
