However, I think that it is beneficial to reflect on our past--which is pretty much what this blog centers on whether it is race reports or year reports. How else do we learn to fix our mistakes and flaws? Well, part of that process involves knowing what worked in the past and what didn't, so that you know what will be most effective in the future.
So when I was reflecting on how 2013 was my best training season yet--despite still having a number of flaws like inconsistency--I was thinking even deeper about why & how it became my best season yet. So I dug back looking at my training hours...
Training Hours
2010: 383 hours
2011: 254 hours
2012: 229 hours
2013: 385 hours
As you can tell, 2010 and 2013 seem almost identical, except 2010 had no structure within those hours. However, 2011 and 2012 are embarrassingly lower, which is why I reflected a little more further.
Since I am me and no one else isn't, I know that the major debt in training hours for 2011 was due to an injury as a result of a crash, and the debt for 2012 was a result of traveling out of town and from consistently getting sick.
But when I think about it even more, something common appears to me. For both 2011 and 2012, most of my training hours were done in the first half of the year. For 2011, my injury happened in July and for 2012 my one-month trip to the Philippines began in July as well. After returning back in August (for both years) my off-season training time was terribly low.
Overtraining? I doubt it because I knew what was "too much" for me, and at my age with my energy, I doubt it's even possible to overtrain with 250 hours.
Burnout? Uhh...not really. Burnout would be a psychological result of too overtraining and if I didn't overtrain, I don't think burnout would come on its own after a crash or a trip to the Philippines.
With that said, I think the culprit was pure lack of motivation. But wouldn't lack of motivation be a result of something...like burnout? Again, I don't think so, and I'll explain why.
I think that the lack of motivation was a result of the lack of something simple that everyone needs but doesn't get enough of...oxygen? Nope.
Happiness. Yes, the lack of happiness was what destroyed my training hours in 2011 and 2012, but the surplus of happiness is what rebuilt my 2013 season and is what is continuing to build my 2014 season.
I'm not one to get depressed, but I can sure get unhappy! My crash in 2011 was one of my first semi-major crashes that left me off the bike for 2 months. Cycling was pretty much the only way I created joy and happiness, and as a result of not being able to do that, I had no other way to make myself as happy as I'd be if I were able to ride. In 2012, I was really happy to be with my family back home but after arriving back, I was somewhat in a confused state and I guess almost a depressed, but more unhappy, state because I realized that I missed out on a lot of family interaction and I never really had any growing up as the only family in the United States. My grandfather was also getting sick, and he passed away at the end of the year which further made me unhappy.
Getting It Back
In general, my motivation to work harder on the bike ironically came to my mind when I was in my grandfather's house a few days after his funeral. While I was still mourning his death, I knew that he was in a better place and that my family was starting a new chapter in our lives, almost like we have been renewed. This was right around New Year's Day 2013, and so I thought that it would be appropriate to renew myself as well, to transition into this new chapter in our lives.
Well what other way is there to renew myself than making myself stronger on the bike? Of course, this was fueled when I met up with my friend who said her boyfriend, aka Eric, was riding every day. I was definitely happy for him, but I thought about how behind I was and that bugged me a little when I realized we would be racing collegiate races this year.
When I came back home, I adjusted my training plan and grinded...sort of. But I knew that 2011 and 2012 were weak sauce seasons and I knew I had to do better than both of those years. I trained with hard workouts that were aimed at fixing my weaknesses, and I was getting tons of PR's a week. I knew that I was getting faster...faster than I was compared to 2011 and 2012, especially when I was finally able to break into the top 20, top 10, and top 5 spots in races...mainly criteriums.
Thus, I think that was the ultimately happiness-maker--which was to finally actually start training and to take it more serious. Improving my own work is what made me happy, and that was confirmed (of course) at the San Bruno Hill Climb with my new PR!
So if you ever find yourself unmotivated to train or get out there and ride, think about your happiness. Don't forget that happiness begins with the self!
- DB
No comments:
Post a Comment