Motivation - Christmas Advent Calendar

I didn’t have a problem with letting the bike feel lonely, I wanted it to, but in the weeks without training plans, training mates, goals and motivation I was more alone - did I feel lonely? 

Perhaps one of the single most important factors for the work we do is motivation. The fire. The desire. That will inside of us. The reason why we get up in the morning and get to work. Athlete or not you need motivation to do your job. Luckily my “after-school-fun-with-friends” turned into my job. My passion for mountain biking, which filled my heart with happiness, became my fulltime job, I’m a lucky bastard, I know. With that said, I think athletes are basically just normal human beings (just basically), who also have days, where the mountains or weights in the gym, are just not calling for us. I try to show this side of pursuing sport too, but I think I anyway do tend to mostly show my oh-so-motivated days. Which there is definitely most of (if not I would find something else to do!), so I’m not lying…
But I did learn a thing or two this off-season about motivation, that I think made me capable of writing something more useful.

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I completely lost my motivation after world champs, at the beginning of September, and for the next 5 weeks, I only spent 20 hours in training-gear (that’s not much for a cyclist :-) ). Putting the bike aside and find other things to do in your free time is not an easy task for everyone, but this year I didn’t have a problem with letting the bike feel lonely, I wanted it to, but in the weeks without training plans, training mates, goals and motivation I was more alone - did I feel lonely?
This was a part of my lack of eager to ride. It has nothing to do with my ‘village’ - I have a lovely family, amazing friends and the sweetest boyfriend who all makes my life wonderful, it wasn’t about the people who surround me, it was in me. So the feeling of a bit of loneliness wasn’t the main ‘reason’ or what you say, but it was there. And don’t get fooled, when athletes are away from their sport (could also be caused by an injury) it can be so lonely. ​

First climbs after the break .. felt a bit, auch

Besides the sudden free time it was also the time for me to deal with what my future should hold. What’s best for Malene? Which I, on one hand, find enlightening, meaning I think I learn a lot during this process and I like to sit down and talk with people/sponsors to share ambitions and so on, but on the other hand it’s also very mentally demanding. Like I guess it is in every workplace. It’s kind of a mental game you just gotta deal with. I haven’t seen many athletes talking about these periods of the carrier, but everybody must have them. It’s not easy to be in the unknown - what will the future hold? ​

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I haven’t seen many athletes talking about these periods of the carrier, but everybody must have them. It’s not easy to be in the unknown - what will the future hold? ​​

I talked with my coach, Benjamin, and I told him I needed some time, I wasn’t ready to go into a training mode just yet. And when I saw that the first world cup of 2019 is at the end of May, I felt this kind of calm-breeze hitting me. I didn't need to train if I didn’t want to, so I honestly just waited for my motivation to come back to me. I didn’t push myself or felt bad about anything I just cruised around in my little world. When November came, I knew which direction my next chapter would go and I felt the desire, the fire, that will to make the next chapter a good one. 1..2..3 let’s go, coach we gotta get this fitness going. ​

So when you ask me “How do you keep the motivation high? How do you stay positive?”
My desire for riding bikes was low in the months following world champs, but what I found out was, that when I just accepted the fact that the fire wasn’t there and it was all right… It came back. Now I can see goals and progress in front of me, and I do love to ride bikes and ride bikes fast. If you feel that way about riding bikes too, then don’t be scared when you feel some negativity, your motivation to dig deep for the sport will come back. We’re just human beings, it’s okay :-) ​

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That was a bit about my motivation curve - but how do you use the motivation you got the best way possible? And how to keep your fitness on some kind of level when you want to train the absolute minimum? Stay tuned for the next story #wintertraining #clothing #planing