Wednesday 15 August 2012

Oh no FOMO

The Beardy Guy astutely pointed out to me that I tend to have something called FOMO. This is diagnosed in the ultra running book, Relentless Forward Progress as:


Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) is a frequent cause of fatigue and burnout in the ultrarunning community. As you become aware that you're capable of running vast distances, especially through gorgeous locales or with new and interesting running companions, you may continually add outings and events to indulge your physiological, spiritual, and social desires. While such desires are wonderful motivators, FOMO can leave you taking on additional events without consideration of training benefit or adequate consideration of physiological cost.
If you find yourself unable to decline invitations for a group run, you might have FOMO. If you're unable to resist signing up for every race, you might have FOMO. If you miss a holiday meal to run, you might have FOMO. Beware of FOMO. 


I think he may be onto something there. I love events and I love entering them. I love the sense of achievement, the medal, tshirt, spreadsheet with a time or sense of collective spirit of endeavour. It's why I want to do an aquathlon next week before I can even spell the word, then a 1500m swim race, then a sprint tri and then an off road sprint tri. 

I really do need to keep my enthusiasm in check. 

I've prepared a little mental filter:

  • Will the event cost a lot of money? - this gets rid of many quite easily
  • Will the event require a bit of training? - as opposed to ad hoc training that I am in now
  • Will the event add anything to my proper training? eg enhance it, be a useful benchmark
  • What is my risk of injuring myself or adding some kind of pressure by entering something I'm not ready for? 
  • Will it be loads of fun and therefore none of these above questions apply because then it would be something I would hate to miss out on?


Wait a minute with that last question... 

2 comments:

  1. Hello, I am finally catching up with you and your life and you sound so happy. and so you should be! You sound re connected in the best of ways, which research has shown is what we really need. Take good care, follow your bliss. :-)xx

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  2. I'm right there with you on the last question! Great post!

    ReplyDelete