Speaking with friends and highly competitive athletes paddling under the banners of Palm, Peak UK, NRS, and Level Six to name a few, I have been able to get into the mind set of what drives and inspires individuals to keep pushing themselves to become better, faster, and stronger.
We all have different reasons why we train, but knowing what motivates me and likewise for others has helped put my own training back on track. So here are some tips I have learned to help you stay motivated on your competitive journey, whatever it may be.
Set yourself goals
Having events to train for is a great start. An event will put a time frame on your training. No matter how big or small, it's good to set yourself a realistic goal in that event. I often have an idea of where I’d like to place and that keeps my mind on track. Some races I will go with the mindset of I want nothing else but a win, although in other races I know a top 20 result will be good for me.
Visualize your competition
We all want to prove ourselves against the best to see where we stand. I often get motivation by imagining how hard other athletes are training. In every race there is at least one person I have complete respect for as an athlete. They are sometimes rivals but most often friends. Having the determination to beat them I know I have to train harder than them, I truly believe they do the same too, it’s what makes me want to push my body as far as I can to gain a physical edge.
Eat smart!
Eating is super important, it's no hidden secret that it’s crucial to eat healthy, but I never realised to what extent until this year. Eating clean is all well and good, but under-eating or having too many cheat days can be the difference to keeping the energy up and finding motivation during that next grueling session. Listening to your body is the key, if you are training hard you are going to need a lot of fuel!
Video research
Along with improving technically, video is a great tool to gain the quickest answers. Analyze yourself in practice and watch others too, compare yourself to them to gain an edge. knowing you have the ability to do better next time will encourage you to get straight back out there. I sometimes watch old footage of race runs prior to a competition to see where I can improve before I'm even in the country, especially if I know I’ve made a costly mistake somewhere.
Never stop learning
The moment we stop learning is the moment we stop improving. I really enjoy learning about racing, there are so many aspects to getting good and every event is different. The more races I do, the better I feel I’m becoming and that also encourages my ambition and dream to have success at the top level.
Eventually, once you get yourself in a rhythm, it becomes self fulfilling. You are motivated to train because this is the time of day that you train at. It becomes like eating, just part of your life.