Training Day #38

Retaining Motivation

After missing two training days and having four days off, it was hard to get the motivation back to pick up my training. When I have periods of not working toward my goals, i.e., triathlon training, it reminds me of a video by Matt D’Avella explaining his “Two-Day Rule.”  He explains that he doesn’t take more than two days off from working out or skipping one of his routines. The theory is that if he takes more than two days, then his motivation or likelihood to continue the habit dramatically diminishes. This concept definitely hit home for me! Go ahead and watch the video!

So back to the triathlon training! Today was an easy run day according to the training calendar. The workout consists of a warmup for 5 to 15 minutes, a 30-minute run, and a 5 to 10 minute cool down. After reconfiguring my heart rate (HR) zones on my Garmin Forerunner a few days ago, I tried to use this as a basis for my workout. The 30-minute run goal was to remain in my HR zone 1 (130-144 bpm). For me, this is hard to do without just walking the entire time. However, I tried my best. I averaged around 158 bpm. I stayed in the zone for about 10 minutes of the start of my workout and then hovered around 150. The end of my training was all uphill, so naturally, my HR increased.

Overall, this was a low-effort workout to get back into the groove of things and restart my two-day rule. I have found that if I kept going even if it is just to say I did something, my motivation to continue remains high, and my habits don’t break down. So here’s to continuing my training!

Key Takeaways:

1. Don’t skip more than two days of workouts in a row! (“Two Day Rule” by Matt D’Avella)
2. Sometimes the HR Zones are just suggestions, do what you feel is the correct zone.

Training Statistics: