Consistency Is King

I love riding, but there are days where my motivation wanes, especially if I’m only heading out for a short spin. The excuses start early as I try convincing myself that missing an hour-long recovery ride won’t derail my fitness. Once that happens, I rationalize how I could better use my time—for cooking or to get an extra hour of sleep. Before I know it, my window of opportunity has passed.

I doubt I’m alone in this. Many of the riders I know can at times find it hard to motivate themselves to go for training rides. I brought this up recently and was reminded how important those short rides can be. Skipping one ride can easily lead to missing two or three days of riding. Whether the reason is physical or psychological, getting out for that ride could turn into an ‘hour of power’ where your legs feel great or it just could be an easy spin to release tension, consistency is king.

There are mental benefits, too. I always feel more calm and balanced after a ride, and reminding myself of that is one way I can talk myself into getting out the door. It’s important for athletes to have alone time each day where they can reflect or simply take a break from the chaos of daily life. Research has shown that exercise and sunlight help with enhancing mood and even some of the mental health issues associated to clinical depression.

Riding offers a rare opportunity for me to reflect on where I’m at in my life, what I’m doing, and reassess my goals. The key is to make
riding just as important as brushing one’s teeth.

With that, I set out to stop making excuses and get some things done. First, I stopped hitting snooze on my alarm clock. Now, when it goes off at 6 a.m., I get out of bed before I can mentally run through all the reasons I should go back to sleep. I also stopped procrastinating when it comes time for core-strength workouts. Now, I’m motivated by Nike’s “Just Do It,” slogan. Those mountains of excuses (which can spread the like the plague into other areas of my life) are gone.

As we roll into 2014, I’m taking a hard look at everything I’ve been putting off, procrastinating over, or avoiding with excuses. When something needs done, I’ve promised myself I will do it. I’ve even twisted Nike’s slogan into something more meaningful. Do it Now! I say it often these days, and if the question of whether I should go for a short ride ever arises, I have a ready-made answer: Do it now. Do it now. Do it now.