Uh,
Chris says longtime listener, recent convert watcher.
That must mean that you're on YouTube, uh, with us Chris, if you're here.
Good to see you a first time, caller says, thanks for all the, you do.
I've come to the end of yet another very consistent and fruitful base season
with great improvements to show for it.
But I'm lacking motivation.
I've always pursued the same racing goals every year with my local mountain bike
series, serving as C and B races and our XC state championship serving as my race.
But this year, I'm just not motivated to do those events.
Don't get me wrong.
I'm still willing to do the work, but I feel like I need a
fresh start in terms of racing.
I'm a mid-pack finisher, so I'm not motivated by a win
as it is out of reach for me.
So I guess I'm just a bit bored with just finishing mid pack
at the same races every year.
What have you done in similar situations?
I hope answering this question can be valuable to other listeners
because I feel like I can't be alone.
Yeah, for sure.
Um, not being alone in this, you're not at all, Chris, uh, that happens
with plenty of athletes, uh, Keegan you're taking on like these
big, long ultra endurance events.
It's a totally different thing for you, even though you've
done long things before, but it's a very different focus and.
Heck you went from swimming to cycling, but then also within cycling, you
changed your focus multiple times and Ivy you've done genuinely.
I think every, have you done a downhill race?
I dunno if you've done, maybe that's the only thing you haven't done.
I haven't,
that's a bad idea.
I'm not going to be that
actually you rip on the sets.
You'd be really good at it today.
So no, Chris, like this is normal, first of all, to feel like you're
a S uh, what do we want to call it?
Like stagnant or the racing experience becomes stale for you.
Yeah, totally.
That's and don't feel bad about that either.
Like that.
That's not something that is on you.
That's just the way things go.
Um, yeah, I feel like.
For me, if I don't find what sparks joy like to take a Marie Kondo
thing here, if I don't find what sparks joy in bike racing, then it
is really tough to get motivation.
What do we all find for motivation in terms of like, um, I guess with cycling
events in particular, perhaps you can share a moment when you changed that when
like you started focusing on something differently and why you made that.
Amber, do you have a, do you want to lead us off on this?
Sure.
I've gone through a few different shifts on this front,
uh, in cycling in particular.
Um, when I got started, I was, you know, a relative beginner and I wasn't on a team.
And so I was really racing for myself and learning race
tactics, which was really fun.
And I was.
Really enjoyed that learning curve.
Um, but then I shifted to being on a team and being a teammate and
being somebody who was really caring more about what was the result
of the team versus my own result.
And I know that's hard with mountain biking.
Um, part of me wants to recommend that you give road racing and try
and find a team and, you know, work with some teammates that might not
be something that appeals to you.
Uh, but now honestly, I mean, one of the things that has been a common
thread throughout my whole career was I really enjoy the feeling of being.
Just do it feels really good.
And I enjoy the process of going from that off-season low level of
fitness to a high level of fitness.
And so I would encourage you to just think about, you know,
what are some other elements.
Riding that may not even necessarily have to do with racing.
It might be motivating for you right now.
My main motivation is that I want it.
I want to feel fit again.
I just want to feel like I can hop on my bike and climb up a mountain and
feel really good and snappy doing that.
And I definitely don't feel like that right now, but I know that I can get there
and I know I'm gonna enjoy that process.
Um, so it's a really basic thing.
You know, if you're looking at a local race series and you want to go because
there's a social component to that.
That's great too.
You don't necessarily have to raise for women if it's a similar course that you're
racing at year after year, you can work on improving your time on that course.
I mean, there are other ways of framing, even a race scenario
where you're not on a team.
Um, so I would just suggest get, get creative and see if
something resonates with you.
How about you Ivy?
Um, what would you have to share in this situation?
Uh, I'm super transparent in my lack of motivation frequently happens to
me all the time and just, it varies sometimes I'll have a really good
month or a good week, and sometimes it changes daily and I have bouts
of nihilism and pain doesn't matter.
Nothing matters.
I'll try to get to the bottom of why.
Um, sometimes it's just like a rest thing or a nutrition thing.
Um, but if the answer is an obvious, I try really hard not to dig into why
and figure out why I'm not motivated because that hasn't really worked for me.
Um, if it's not.
I don't know, it seems like just like digging in deeper and trying to
figure out why I'm not stoked about training and racing and everything.
Doesn't doesn't work for me.
Um, so instead, um, I just try to do change up, you know, training
structures to see if there's something I can change that will make me
more excited about writing or do a different discipline for a little bit.
From doing a lot of training on the road, if that can be a little, um, like
mind numbing and, um, just mixing up with a different discipline and doing an
off-road ride just for one day without structure can really help me sometimes.
So, um, and everyone's different.
And for Chris with racing, sounds like they're doing the same races every year.
I wonder if they mean when they say the same races every year.
I wonder if they just mean the same type of discipline or if they're actually doing
like the same local series every year.
And maybe they just need to mix it up.
Go find a different race, a few hours out of town and make a weekend out of
it to keep them excited about something else and other races that are out there.
Yeah.
I don't think we've ever covered Ivy.
What made you change from road racing over to cross?
Oh, um,
well, I broke so many bones and Birkbeck half and bones in my
body and my teeth and everything.
So tired of crashing.
And, uh, I did really struggle with the motivation to train for what it looked
like to be really good at road racing.
Um, I just didn't, I wasn't motivated to do it anymore.
I didn't want to go ride by myself, um, on the road where
I was worried about my safety.
Um, with cars and I want him to get off of the road and it was
too, I just couldn't get motivated to, to be on the road anymore.
And since then, it's now that I do off-road stuff, it's easier
to incorporate road rides now that I don't do it all the time.
And it would been, so the motivation is there again.
Um, but yeah, that's how I got into off-road.
I just was absolutely crapped on road racing and crashing.
Kind of the culture of road racing and everything that
surrounds the training for road.
I was just as just done and started just like goofing off on an Enduro bike
and was like, oh, I like offered stuff.
And I still like pedaling really hard.
So, um, what can I do?
Um, yeah.
And then crossing in sometime in sexy.
Yeah.
Um, and so it's normal to have this transition.
First of all, Chris, everybody changes now Keegan, in your case,
it's like your job to change because it was a lifetime grand Prix.
Uh, I mean, I, uh, I guess, I mean, you could also just continue to pursue XCO
too, and that could also very much be your job, but there is this huge opportunity.
So like what caused you to shift.
Was it, is it like, and, and by the way, I want to normalize this it's okay.
For professional motivation to be the goal.
Like it's okay to say there's more money to go here because it's your job.
It's like what everybody would do at any job.
And it's like, Hey, there's an opportunity to get more money over here.
So that's on the table.
That's okay to say.
But then also, like, was there anything more to having you switched from shorter
races going into ultra endurance?
Maybe this was what you always wanted to do, even though
you're doing something else.
So when I've always been everybody's tech CEO, for me, since I was a junior, you
know, there's like, I, I just realized the other day, like, while I've raised,
like this race, like Mount St Anne world cup, like the last 10, 12 years in a row.
Um, and I'm just, I'm really, I'm excited to do something different, but also
I think the marathon stuff has always kind of suited me a little bit better.
Like, I've always, I do, I'd done it.
Like, man, this is like, I liked this.
It's more fun to me.
I think I'm better.
Um, but there wasn't really a huge platform for it over here.
Like there was a couple of gravel races or some longer marathon, like
there was the epic ride series and like some other random stuff here and
there, but it wasn't quite as big a.
And then all of a sudden, like these gravel races, like just appeared, it
seemed like, I guess I'd always kind of been there, but they just like exploded.
Um, and I wasn't really sure what I thought of it.
I was like, nah, it's kinda, it's kinda weird.
Like, I didn't really seem too into it, but I raced one of them,
the Belgian waffle, uh, the Cedar city one and I had a ton of fun.
I was like, wow, this is really cool.
Like there's tactics, there's a lot of fitness.
It's like, It's hard.
Um, and it's cool.
And I think I love these long races cause it's really like so much can
happen and it's, if you don't give up and you just like, keep your, keep
your head down and keep, keep trucking, like you're gonna do well, you know, as
long as you don't pull the pin, which I think is kind of a cool, solid racing,
like it just, it's really difficult.
Um, and there's a lot that goes into it.
You have to have like, you know, pretty good repeatable power,
cause there's like a lot of surges and, but you also have to have a.
Diesel motor for a long, these events are.
Um, so it's kind of a cool balance of a lot of different things.
And there's also still like the technical aspect of like handling skills.
And I think even though it's relatively easy compared to mountain bike racing,
you're still like you're going fast.
And I think it's almost harder in some ways to rip a gravel road quickly,
especially when you're kind of shelved.
Um, yeah, so I'm, I'm actually more motivated this year than
I had been in a long time.
That's what I've never really liked.
Like, I've never really lacked motivation to train I going.
I love training.
I love no sounds.
I think it's like, like a dog, just, I need my job, you know, like
to go out and train, work hard,
get it done, throw ball fetch.
Like I love pushing myself and finding like those limits, you know, where, like
I was thinking that it was like a man.
I wonder like how many days of a camp like that I could handle
before I like completely fell apart.
You know?
Like couldn't either.
So I guess that's why, like, I'm kind of excited for this
24 is it's such a different.
Different thing.
I love like pushing myself to do new things and, um, so new goals, but I'm
still racing some SEO, like I'm definitely gonna go back and try and defend my
SEO national title and short track.
Like I think still fun.
I'm just going to pick and choose the events I want to do now.
Instead of force myself like, oh, I have to go there, do this race to get points.
And cause to me that isn't quite as much fun.
Like I want to do a race because I want to do it.
I don't want it.
Go because I have to, if that make sense.
And so I'm kinda looking forward to a new challenge and, um, yeah,
I'm looking forward to that.
And back to the motivation thing with, uh, COVID like there was no racing
and like there's, wasn't much going on and I got to still motivate a tranq.
So like, I know it's going to help me for next year, so I have to
stay fit and like keep building.
But along the way, you can find other goals too.
Like if you don't want to race, maybe like find enough Katie,
you want to go do or like.
Get some friends together and go like race on a different circuit.
Like I understand, like I grew up racing at the same Intermountain cup series
in Utah for, you know, as a junior, we race the same races every year.
I was like, man, I was so excited when I get to leave the state and
go do something else, you know?
So I understand what you're kind of what you're feeling, but I think if you can
make that, you can find some other events.
I mean, there's some gravel races you can go do.
And, or maybe there's a road race, like Amber mentioned, like you can
learn a lot from those events too.
I think like road racing and gravel racing, you it'll make
you a better mountain biker.
You'll learn tactics.
Um, all that other stuff.
So I think maybe just find something that motivates, you know, or if
you don't, if you don't want to race at all, then just train.
If you're selling that you're still motivated to train.
So just train and then you're probably going to be just as fit or
better for your state championship.
That's your main target.
Like you don't have to race every weekend to be good.
Yeah.
And then they'll start winning and then they'll be super motivated.
And then the,
yeah, it's amazing how that works.
That's the common theme that I'm finding is that so it's, and this.
Absolutely.
Okay.
As well.
But when races are nearby, they're accessible and we do them and it becomes
a fun routine and we know the people there and that just becomes part of it.
But sometimes, uh, maybe we, instead of looking at events that are just
close to us or they're there, or we've done them before we should instead
look at events that really like.
Make us excited or challenge us in a particular way that motivates us.
Right.
So it's okay to do that.
It's okay to change things up.
So Chris and I'm boy, like having an event on the calendar is a
great way to manage motivation.
And the next question from David really goes into more of the kind of things on
consistency and tying into motivation too.
But having that event that makes you excited on the calendar.
Having an event that doesn't make you excited on the calendar makes it really
tough to push through those days when you don't want to be out there, uh,
or push through those days when, um, uh, yeah, I guess just give your best
on days when it's tempting to just not give your best, you know, and then
have something to be excited about.
It totally changes it.
As long as
you build out, like you build out your race calendar and a comic excited
to do this, this and this, and then.
Like, as you get closer, you're like, yeah, this just doesn't sound fun.
Like, I don't want to do that anymore.
You know, like I always do that.
I have like my full, like having an Excel sheet and all my races, and then I'll like
put them in, put them on the calendar.
And as you get closer, I'm like, man, it's just like, I don't want to do this.
I'd rather just go train and just go ride with my friends.
So like sometimes you don't have to do it.
You don't want to have just a bike race.
Like there's other things you can do, you know, just focus on the really
ones that you really want to do.
And then you'll be more excited for those.
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