Where's Your Mojo Gone?
mojo
ˈməʊdʒəʊ/
a magic charm, talisman, or spell.
Where’s your Mojo gone? Here’s the magic you need to get it and you back in the saddle!
Have you ever found yourself in a position where you just can’t get motivated to get on your bike? You avoid looking at posts for the rides that are going out, you blame it on changes in the atmosphere, tiredness, anything that comes to mind to try and explain just where your mojo has gone!
Well, that exact this started happening to me last year and my biggest fear was that I felt like I was really starting to fall out of love with cycling! How could that possibly be true given that I’d had so much fun training for LEJOG in 2015 and maintaining that fitness through 2016 but for some reason I found myself begrudgingly throwing my leg over the bike one Saturday morning for a training ride, only because I’d signed up for another challenge in an attempt to retain the fitness I’d achieved the year before.
Having an event to train for had motivated me in the past and was a great excuse to always be cycling. I had so much fun, so I never felt like I was training but now I felt like I was really starting to dislike it.
Riding with friends had always been a way to get me out but one ride buddy moved away and another had a nasty cycling accident so she couldn’t ride for a few months…my mojo had, by now, well and truly left the building, I was cycling because I ‘had’ to not because I wanted to.
Even decent weather didn’t motivate me but I decided one day to give myself a kick up the backside and get out for a ride. 10 miles in I had a tantrum, got off my bike and stamped my feet, literally, feeling frustrated with myself for not enjoying it. How had I come to loath cycling so much? Was our love affair finished?
Fast forward a few weeks and I’ve been busy with work and projects at home and I’m still mojo less. Finding a happy balance between cycling and life isn’t easy for me as I have an all or nothing personality that mythical area of balance that apparently sits between the two extremes eludes me.
The FLAB community forum, for which I am “The Guardian”, has rekindled my interest. I enjoy reading the posts and seeing how excited and proud people are of their achievements and it’s reminded me of why I fell in love with cycling years ago and how inspired I used to feel to ride and to encourage others into this great sport.
I finally went back out for a ride and for the first time in a few months and I really enjoyed it, what had changed? I got back on my bike that day because I wanted to and not because I had to.
As they say everything is clearer in retrospect, I’ve realised that I’m far too hard on myself. Thinking that missing a training ride because my body hurt, was a sign of weakness isn’t helpful and if I’d stopped berating myself I’d have realised that I was overtraining. I have now learnt a very valuable lesson about the importance of recovery and being kinder to myself.
I’ve got a FLAB social ride coming up this weekend and I feel excited, my love affair has been rekindled a trial separation was just what we needed for me to fall back in love.
ˈməʊdʒəʊ/
- noun
a magic charm, talisman, or spell.
Where’s your Mojo gone? Here’s the magic you need to get it and you back in the saddle!
Have you ever found yourself in a position where you just can’t get motivated to get on your bike? You avoid looking at posts for the rides that are going out, you blame it on changes in the atmosphere, tiredness, anything that comes to mind to try and explain just where your mojo has gone!
Well, that exact this started happening to me last year and my biggest fear was that I felt like I was really starting to fall out of love with cycling! How could that possibly be true given that I’d had so much fun training for LEJOG in 2015 and maintaining that fitness through 2016 but for some reason I found myself begrudgingly throwing my leg over the bike one Saturday morning for a training ride, only because I’d signed up for another challenge in an attempt to retain the fitness I’d achieved the year before.
Having an event to train for had motivated me in the past and was a great excuse to always be cycling. I had so much fun, so I never felt like I was training but now I felt like I was really starting to dislike it.
Riding with friends had always been a way to get me out but one ride buddy moved away and another had a nasty cycling accident so she couldn’t ride for a few months…my mojo had, by now, well and truly left the building, I was cycling because I ‘had’ to not because I wanted to.
Even decent weather didn’t motivate me but I decided one day to give myself a kick up the backside and get out for a ride. 10 miles in I had a tantrum, got off my bike and stamped my feet, literally, feeling frustrated with myself for not enjoying it. How had I come to loath cycling so much? Was our love affair finished?
Fast forward a few weeks and I’ve been busy with work and projects at home and I’m still mojo less. Finding a happy balance between cycling and life isn’t easy for me as I have an all or nothing personality that mythical area of balance that apparently sits between the two extremes eludes me.
The FLAB community forum, for which I am “The Guardian”, has rekindled my interest. I enjoy reading the posts and seeing how excited and proud people are of their achievements and it’s reminded me of why I fell in love with cycling years ago and how inspired I used to feel to ride and to encourage others into this great sport.
I finally went back out for a ride and for the first time in a few months and I really enjoyed it, what had changed? I got back on my bike that day because I wanted to and not because I had to.
As they say everything is clearer in retrospect, I’ve realised that I’m far too hard on myself. Thinking that missing a training ride because my body hurt, was a sign of weakness isn’t helpful and if I’d stopped berating myself I’d have realised that I was overtraining. I have now learnt a very valuable lesson about the importance of recovery and being kinder to myself.
I’ve got a FLAB social ride coming up this weekend and I feel excited, my love affair has been rekindled a trial separation was just what we needed for me to fall back in love.