Love What You Do

I've been thinking about hobbies.  Last night Mark got up at 1am to drive to our boat (2 hrs) to go fishing.  He absolutely loves it.  To him, the drive doesn't matter and sleep can wait because there are fish to be caught! He spends hours preparing his gear, reading fishing reports, checking on weather and wind, and has even read a book or two (which is HUGE if you know him).  He wants to be good at his hobby because being good makes it more fun.  Besides his hobby he works and makes plenty of time for me and Hunter at home.  The hobby, by definition, is what he does in his chosen free time (well,  we all know with a small child there isn't actually any 'free' time, so rather he makes time).  

This of course got me thinking about triathlon.  For most people, it is a hobby.  Like fishing, an expensive, time consuming, hobby.  But what really struck me is that so many times training for the hobby seems to become a chore for many people.  They 'have' to get out for the bike ride or come up with many excuses (spoken or not) throughout their day to avoid actually doing a workout.  If this is your chosen hobby, which you started for whatever reason, you should LOVE it!  If there is no passion involved, then why do it? 

I think the main reason I have had success in triathlon is that I truly love the sport.  I love the daily training grind.  I love training on my own, with groups, with fast people or slow people - there is a time and place for it all.  I love the feeling after a workout so hard you never though you'd finish.  What I love most is showing up on race day to challenge my body and mind and see what I can do.  I love enjoying race day with everyone there and commiserating afterwards.  

If you find yourself in a rut with training and are feeling like it is more like a 'to-do' item rather than what you are doing for fun then something has gone wrong in your thought process.  You need to reset and remember why you chose this hobby to fill your free time!  What do you enjoy?  What makes it stressful or ruins it as a hobby?  Why are you not making time to do it? 

There are many ways to get fast at triathlon if that is your goal, but I can tell you not enjoying it and being too strict is not going to pay off in the long run.  Get out and train hard if that suits you.  If this is a hobby you truly love, like fishing, you will make time for it. 

Happy training!