I never thought I would hear myself say these words but I have. I am over it. I am sick of sprinting, long rides, fast rides all of it, over it. I don’t want to go to the gym or run, I want to get fat. Well not really but what I really want is to eat like a fat person and not workout like an athlete and not get fat. The worst part of this is that my double trouble partner is also over it so there is no outside source of training inspiration currently besides the fact that we are right at the beginning of the season which is proving to not be any motivation at all. I honestly want to buy a beach cruiser.
This weekend I was able to take two days off and do absolutely nothing and spend time with my family which was wonderful. I made the three hour drive home for Easter and was able to see my girlfriends that I hadn’t seen since New Years. On my way back to Charleston I took a brief stop in Summerville to meet up with my co-workers/friends to celebrate Sara’s birthday. We went to Accent on Wine and More and it was absolutely lovely. The weather has finally warmed and we were able to sit outside on the sidewalk and drink our wine. So wonderful to be surrounded by good company.
Tuesday I made myself go out to ride laps with Daniel at Edgewater. Which wasn’t too bad considering the company was good, but it still took a little effort to get myself on a bike. Tuesday night was team sprints at Hampton Park which is gorgeous! I had never been out there but it is a beautiful place. Rachael and I got there at 5:30 which is when it is supposed to start and we started riding and we did several laps and no one was there so we decided that no one was there and we were not feeling this so we were going to go get fat. So we pulled into the parking lot and low and behold Jason and Timmy were behind us. Damn it. Then we had to confess our plan and Timmy gave us shit about it and then told us we had two minutes to decide and well we went and got burgers. We were sitting down eating and we get this text from our team director Jimmy:
Timmy tattled.
Yesterday I decided that I would start running again thinking maybe if is start doing something I really hate exercise wise then maybe I will want to ride again. We will see how this works out over the next few weeks. I do know one thing for sure though, I am not riding today, it is ridiculously windy.
Eat my sparkle dust 
This, I think, is the danger of treating cycling as a sport, instead of as fun and transportation. It’s just too easy to lose motivation, it’s like doing something you used to love for a living…
An enforced training regimen is tough. It generally isn’t any fun. I bought a trainer, and had intended to use it for “ride substitution” – days when I couldn’t ride, I coud use the trainer. Unfortunately, trainers are about as much fun as watching paint dry. So I came up with a devious scheme. I use the trainer for intervals and sprint rides. These are things I know I should do just to help my normal rides, but when I go out riding, whether on the road or on trails, it’s typically for enjoyment. But the intervals and sprints help keep me in shape, and they’ve made a difference in my normal rides.
The situation you’re in is tough, and the weather hasn’t helped. I have a friend who road races, he really lives for it. But there are days he feels like you do. What he does, is grabs his mountain bike, and goes for a ride with our group. It’s fun, it’s not something he has to feel competitive about, it’s more like sprints than a regular road ride, and he doesn’t have to feel bad about taking “a day off from training” – because it’s plenty good exercise. Maybe a change of scenery would help?
That’s a great idea, I’ll have to give it a go!