Discipline vs Hunger. What is the "Right Way", Anyway?

After finishing the Deca Iron last November, people asked, "What's next?" I work in a bike shop, so the question came almost hourly.

My usual response was that I was going to spend 2013 getting some speed back.
In January, I sat down and put some goals to paper. I was going to do it "the right way", and get fast. Periodization, incremental increases, etc. I trained like this many years ago, and the gains were OK...but I was different back then. More of a Type A personality, I thrived on "getting my workout in" around work and other life obligations, but that was then. This is now March of 2013.

Two months from that day I sat down to pen those goals, I am about as out of shape as I have been in years. It is very clear that doing things "the right way" is not going to work for me. Looking at a calendar, with workouts planned in advance is not enough to get me out the door. The discipline just isn't there.
But I don't want discipline.

I want HUNGER, and not hunger to have discipline. Discipline is dreading a workout and doing it anyway, to stay on task. When hungry, the feeling of dreading a run or ride isn't even there. You WANT to workout everyday and it's what is on your mind every minute. When you have HUNGER, you don't need discipline. Somewhere, I lost the hunger.

Maybe it's because I've spent the last 3 years working toward that penultimate goal of 10x Iron, and having achieved it, I'm lost with where to go next, but I don't think so. My fault is when I tried to plan things out. Maybe 12 years ago, when I first came into triathlon, telling myself I was a badass triathlete(which I wasn't), and sacrificing things, scheduling workouts might have motivated me.

Maybe there is no "right way"... Everyone is different. I think it's time to go back to what works for me. Mass volume, heavy lifting, little sleep, and adventures.

Time to get fit again. With the increase in daylight coming this weekend, I hope you find your mojo as well! Cheers,
kp

For more on free-spirited training, check out my post on Training VS Adventuring over at Tentman.

Deca Iron Race Report