Got injured and lost motivation

Training
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This past February I was training well and my numbers were looking great. I was excited for my first race of the year at Southern Cross. Then, tendinitis in my knee flared up and took me off the bike for over 8 weeks. Since then I have really struggled with my motivation to get back to steady training. Any tips or thoughts on how to get going again and salvage the rest of this year?

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Some of the existing discussions on the topic:

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Very sorry to hear. Try to remember WHY you love CYCLING…not training. Training can be fun, but for most of us, it was a love of cycling that lead us to discover training. Always remember the fundamental “WHY.” And if that is not enough, then ‘cool.’ Training, cycling, sports, hobbies…they are all meant to change as we change. Enjoy the seaons.

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“Just make it to lunch.” It can be daunting and demotivating trying to get back to where you were. It happens and everyone has set backs. If you break it down to a small goal, you’ll be on your way. If you don’t want to get out of bed or quit, make your goal, “just make it to lunch” and then reassess whether or not you want to quit. Then, just make it to dinner - then breakfast and so on.

In TR terms, just make it through this one workout and when you’re done, congratulate yourself and just make it through the next one. Also, if your FTP is high and you’re anxious about failing, take several steps back and work at a lower FTP.

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5

Ride your bike first and sod the training. That comes later.

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That is when my mindset is at the moment as well. The issue is that most of my weekday riding is early in the morning on the trainer. I usually run zwift with TR so I can have a distraction.

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My tips having been in a similar position last year…

Forget training.
Forget results.
Forget FTP/CP20/etc/etc
Just go out and ride for fun. Allow yourself to fall back in love with your bike.

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8

Exactly this. I also struggled with motivation last year, to the point where I’d be an hour into a TR workout and then ask myself wtf I was doing and just hopped off. Decided to just ride outside whenever, however I wanted and didn’t worry about power or fitness or anything. Riding unstructured really brought back the joy in cycling for me and the results and motivation to train followed.

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