I need help finding my training motivation now all my bones are intact! It is so nice to be back not only riding my horses but out on my mountain bike too. Considering I only started mountain biking about a year 9 months ago, as soon as I couldn’t do it, I really really missed it.
The last 9 weeks I’ve had broken ribs and a broken hand, from two separate injuries and then Qantas fell over in the school a week ago, his mouth and bit full of sand after nosediving. I came off over the front of the saddle, hit the floor with my face, pulled a muscle in my left shoulder and cracked another rib when he stood on me with 3 of his available 4 feet…..thanks for that Q!
So needless to say I am not as fit as I would like to be, I am probably the least muscled I’ve been since I started weight training in my teens. Normally I would do 3 gym sessions a week, mainly free weights and some body weight, two cardio sessions, usually on my mountain bike and two Pilates/Yoga sessions a week. Plus having a very active job and horse riding. But recently I’ve lost my exercise mojo (not helped by broken bones, but no excuse) especially as I don’t have to be a certain weight for FEI races at the moment, so I’m lacking that as motivation.
At FEI endurance riders have to weigh a minimum 75kg with their saddle at 3* level, my natural weight is around the 56kg mark, if I train hard then I manage to keep a steady 62kg which means my saddle has to weigh 13kg, which although heavy is much better than the 19kg it would have to weigh if I didn’t train myself.
With the likelihood of me competing at FEI a good year or two away I really need something else to motivate me and get me out of bed in the mornings. I have to train before work otherwise it’s not happening, I have no motivation to do so after riding in the evenings. I know very well that the stronger and fitter I am the better I ride and the less likely I am to get injured if I fall but without a goal weight it’s difficult to quantify stronger and fitter to give me something to aim for.
What does everyone else use as motivation? How do you measure your training success and what your aiming for?
Beth Endurance 