Burnout.
It’s that time of year again. December’s trainer intervals have finally caught up with us. The months of traveling and racing, racing and traveling; staying in hotels, staying in host houses; eating on the road, eating in the car; eating at Subway, eating at Chipotle; and driving. So. Much. Driving…
Some days it’s hard to get on the bike. But it’s 75 and sunny. I should ride 100 miles right?
It’s not that I don’t want to ride my bike. It’s that I don’t really want to train anymore. I don’t want to see my power numbers, my heart rate, my cadence, or my average speed. I just want to ride, without worrying about my TSS or recovery or threshold intervals. So this past week, that’s exactly what I did.
I left my Garmin in my pocket (*okay, it was on the mount, but I only had time and maps on the display, so that I wouldn’t get lost and I’d remember when to eat) and just rode my bike. Like the good ‘ol days – before Garmin’s and WAHOO’s, before power meters and heart rate straps, before slammed stems and pocketed skinsuits. I just rode on feel. And it was awesome.
I didn’t care how hard I was going. I didn’t care how fast I was going. I just wanted to have fun and enjoy the ride. If I felt tired, I slowed down. If I hit the bottom of a hill and my legs felt good, I would sprint out-of-the-saddle all the way to the top. It was fun, and that’s all that matters, isn’t it?
***
If you don’t love what you’re doing, then something needs to change. If you’re burned out on riding, take a week off the bike. If you’re burnt out on training, take a week off of TrainingPeaks. Put the head unit in your pocket, or don’t take it at all. Remind yourself why you love cycling. Because chances are, on your first few rides, you weren’t kitted up in skin-tight Lycra, staring at a bike computer, trying to hold a certain Wattage to the ‘T’.
It’s more likely that you went out on your bike because it was an escape, it was something different, a form of aerobic exercise that – dare I say – was kind of fun. Perhaps you got into cycling through the local group ride. You liked the comradery, meeting new people, and the special kind of unconscious bonding that you can only get through suffering alongside a complete stranger. Perhaps you got into cycling through the local bike shop – you liked the new frames and technology, and wanted to test-ride everything from an E-bike to a stump-jumper (honestly, I don’t know what the latter is, but I’ve heard mountain bikers say it before).
Remind yourself why you love to ride. Is it the masochistic suffering? Is it the companionship? Is it an escape from home, going out and exploring nature?
Whatever it is, find what you love, and keep doing it.
*As long as it involves riding a bike 🙂