# Anyone else ever burn-out?



## tdm (Aug 4, 2005)

Buy a new boat! Or, change style kayak to c1 or canoe. A day on the river is always a good day.


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## gh (Oct 13, 2003)

take a break, maybe even a summer and ride your mountain bike. dont do it if it dont feel good.


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## GAtoCSU (Apr 18, 2005)

Hey man,

Sorry to hear that you're feeling this way. I spent quit a bit of time racing and competing in freestyle when I was younger. I paddled on the water.. hmm.. 250+ days/year for atleast 4 years. One day I just decided to do something else.

I took 2 years off from boating (I would go every now and then.. maybe twice/year). I don't really regret taking that time off but, I wish that I would have just taken a step back from competing and just had a few days on the river for some soul boating.

I think that a lot of boaters get cought up in running the hard stuff or having to keep up on the freestyle scene. But, that's not what is important. What's inportant is having a good time on the river and kickin' it with your hommies. I turned my boating around after spending 26 miles on the Gauley with a few friends of mine. It was an awesome day.

Take some time off if you need to. But, before you do that.. Get back to the basics and paddle for yourself. I think that might help you find your mojo again.

Sincerely,

Scott
AKA PEaches


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## LoopDog (Apr 13, 2004)

I would get burned out too if I swam class III stuff all the time. Maybe you should try frisbee golf or yoga, sounds like you need a new hobby.


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## bkp77 (May 9, 2004)

that sucks but I've been there with climbing and kayaking. For climbing, i agree with the previous statement. just do it for fun and yourself, at this point. trying to be the "best" climber burned me out. I still love it but just do it allot less, use it as a great excuse to travel to other countries and hang out with climbing buddies every couple years. the travel and exploring new places is keeping me interested now a days. 

For kayaking, yeah, I quit but found that rafting fit me best. You hardcore kayakers tend to sneer abit at it but it works for me. i love the art of rowing and pulling up and camping by the river. Plus, being able to take my dad, family and friends on week long river/ fly fishing trips does it for me now. 

No easy fix but good luck to you and I hope you are able to find something that fires you up again.


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## 217 (Oct 27, 2003)

variety is the spice of life.......


i feel for you. the nice thing about kayaking is that you can always come back. i quit college football after burning myself out as a senior and i've regreted it everyday since. but i cant go back....on a positive side i participated in life changing activities after.....if you chill for a while and pursue other stuff you'll miss it before you know it.....absence and fonder hearts or something.........

goodluck

-aaron


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## Jahve (Oct 31, 2003)

I hear you on the burnt out thing  Many days anymore I choose to sit on my porch, drink high life, and throw the ball for the dog rather than go paddlin. 

Been boatin for over 25 years now and I look back to the blue dancer at the salider put in after my roll class that my parents made me take when I was in the 7th grade (yep did not want to go at first :roll:  reason = you cant fish out of a kayak), anyway that feelin that kayakin gives you as you are learnin in the milk run, then as time goes on it takes browns, the numbers, piney, and lake just to get that same feelin. Lately I have been havin trouble gettin back to that dancer at salider. I still make it out and have a ton of enjoyable days but I have gotten away from paddlin every day. 

Here is lately what I find keeps me comin back summer after summer. I try to incorporate a young, beginner, preferably fearless, somewhat athletic, and most importantly extremely motivated boater into my day to day paddlin routine. Watchin someone learn and havin them all fired up to get a personal first d on a run is enough to get me off the porch and on the river.

Last and dont take this the wrong way but sometimes you need to walk away. If the enjoyment is not there leave until motivated to come back. This motivation may never return as is the case with me  I played college athletics and had the chance to play after college in Europe or CBA ball - by the time I was 23-24 I was soooo burnt. Burnt on weights, the gym, the plyo workouts, the pool, agility workouts, the camps, the coaches, the politics, or better put the entire scene. I walked away and havent picked up a ball since. The motivation still is just no there to do it or coach it so I dont and my life has been better since.

Well now off to do somethin I am motivated to do - spring sledneckin and BC skiing! WWWWAAAAHHHHHOOOOO!


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## ToddG (Nov 29, 2003)

i had a couple yrs years of being "over it" while in CO. mentally, i stepped away for a minute. i focused on building my career, hanging with my gf, snowboarding, other stuff for a little while. but i couldn't stay away for long. now, after 15 yrs as a kayaker, i'm as motivated & excited as i ever was. 

like RDNEK, part of it has to do with runnin' with some younger, more fired-up, less jaded, less opinionated whippersnappers. their lack of responsibilities & apprehension makes for a paddling crew that isn't hung up on "it's too far", "it's too low", "i have to finish building my deck" .. their stoke is contagious. also, part of it has to do with getting back into photography & wanting to frame the lifestyle artistically with a camera. & the last part is that i moved to a place that is LITTERED with amazing gorges that haven't been explored, so the spirit of adventure & discovery that was a given when I first started kayaking, & then went away for a long time, is now my everyday. 

try avoiding the chatboards for awhile. don't watch kayaking vids. separate yourself altogether for awhile .. then down the road, something will trigger your re-interest & you'll come to the realization that the athletic parts of kayaking are ingrained muscle memory & that the lifestyle/social parts are an integral part of the makeup of your personality. 

& with that, i'ma go & pack up my gear. i got a new boat yesterday & robe canyon is dropping, so i gotta rope these seattle yuppies into it before it gets "too low" for them.


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## farp (Nov 4, 2003)

I was working in Costa Rica when one morning I looked at my boat I realized I didn't want to get in it. I have never been egulfed in kayaking since. What I have found is I prefer to focus on the people I'm hanging with and not the activity of boating. I end up on easier rivers but at least I'm with friends and family that motivate me and bring joy back into something I had lost much love.


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## richp (Feb 27, 2005)

If it's just a block on kayaking, but you still love rivers and the outdoors, why not see if someone you know has a raft they'll let you borrow? Getting on the river a different way -- as bkp77 mentioned -- could be a means of doing river stuff with other folks who aren't as interested in doing real intense water, but are still good company. 

Besides, think how decadent you can be with a raft. The material compensation can be well worth the scorn you'll receive from your former buddies.....

If you're interested, contact me off-list and maybe I can steer you in the direction of a rig to use for a while. I think I know sombody who might be willing to drop you a loaner rig for a tryout. 

FWIW.

Richp


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## GoodTimes (Mar 9, 2006)

My story is a little different......but, for what it's worth.....I left kayaking in my "prime" for a job a thousand miles away from any river worth mentioning. I tried to convince myself that I'd find something to replace my love for rivers. I discovered after missing the first season of my life how impossible it would be.

I can't tell you how painful it was to visit the Buzz everday, "watch" the rivers start to rise, read all the excited posts, and not be able to do a damn thing.

I realized in my time away that it wasn't just sitting in my boat that I missed (although that was HUGE), it was a piece of me, rivers had helped make me the person I am today. And at the risk of sounding cheesy, rivers feed my sole. 

I like the other guys ideas......shelf the kayak for a few and hop in a raft. It's how I spent my weekends from the age of three (thanks gramps!), when I finally sat in a kayak, I felt like I was born again. I'd bet you find your kayaking mojo before you know it!

Good luck......


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## BastrdSonOfElvis (Mar 24, 2005)

Hey man, do what makes you feel good. Learn a new language, write a book even if it sucks, bike more, buy a paraglider, open up a brothel whatever. But it aint fun, don't do it. It's not like you have some responsibility or some obligation to fulfill. When you feel like boatin, go boatin.


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## will raft 4 beer (Nov 6, 2003)

quit crowding my rivers and sit home drinking highlife. I think your problem is you are probably not doing enough overnighters. It's not always about the rapids, it's about sleeping next to the wonderful sound of a river next to your tent on a warm summer night. I enjoy my class V's, but I enjoy a calm water float trip that lasts 3 days just as well. buy a raft if you don't have buddies with one. Sitting in a kayak and cooking in flatulents all day can cramp anybody's style, esp. on flatwater stuff. kicking back on a raft floating and camping out in the desert and drinking highlife in the sun is the summation of evolution. Kayaking's fun too.


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## Dave Frank (Oct 14, 2003)

Maybe the Buzz is contributing to your burnout. I'm no slouch but with 450 posts, you must be close to leading the league. Stop posting, start floating. Sure wish I could do that.


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## yourrealdad (May 25, 2004)

Jerry Rice once said after entering his 87th season that he still gets butterflies before every game. He said if he didn't then he knew it was time to leave. Do you still get butterflies? Now I can't say that I am getting burnt out on kayaking as I have only been doing it for three seasons, but I have been burnt out on other sports and activities in my short life so far. Mainly College. All I know is I quit a sport before I needed to and have regretted it ever since. You have been kayaking longer than I have been born and the fact that you question feeling burnt out makes me think there is a flame waiting to be extinguished by running some good ol whitewater, but it is like one of those trick candle that you get on your seventh bithday that just keeps coming lit again and again. 
Anyhoo I'm one of those young wippersnappers that wantws to be on the river every day so let me know if you want to run together, I'm sure an old dog like you can show me some new tricks.


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## LSB (Mar 23, 2004)

The same thing happened to me with skiing. I worked at a ski area for 10 years. Now, unless theres a foot of fresh I dont even bother. After a couple of seasons video boating in WV it began to happen with boating. My solution was to buy a raft and start doing multiday trips. Now I sit back in my highback seat with a diet coors and a cheap cigar and gawk stoopidly at the canyon walls.


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## Cheyenne (Oct 14, 2003)

Try to remember those things that really got you stoked when you were just starting to paddle, and see if youv'e lost some of those things. Take a look at your current lifestyle, and your current group of friends. Have there been any large changes there?

It could be that you simply need a little break from it. It could be that you need to readjust some of your personal goals, and possibly find a different set of paddling partners (if they don't share your own set of goals). If you do take a break however, keep active in something. Turning into a couch potatoe is not the answer.

I'm kind of going/went through the same thing with climbing. Over 30 years of climbing, I never was a *great* climber (was doing 5.9's when the world was doing 5.11's, doing 5.11's when the world was doing 5.13/14's). As I have gotten older, I found that my body can't quite do the things that my mind would like it to do (I suspect that at the moment following a 5.9 might be pushing it..)

Several of my recent climbing partners have all been younger and newer to the sport. Some have different climbing goals (ohh.. let's go hit the sport climbs, or lets see how fast we can climb this), or there is enough of a generational/experience gap (one friend recently started a new family with a new baby, while my youngest kid is finishing up a 2nd year at college)

I basically took a little time off (I got out maybe 3, 4 times in the last two years), and am now trying to get back into the swing of things. I've tried to change my attitude to try to match some of the original things that really made climbing fun for me when I started. To take a more of a "lets just have fun with what I can do" attitude.

Anyway -- good luck


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## J Rock (May 19, 2005)

I am burnt out on skiing. After doing it for 22+ years, I just don't have the desire to sit in traffic on the weekend so I can go and ski sub-par conditions. My friends don't seem to understand but that is OK. I know that for me, some easy groomers with my girlfriend is going to be enough... more because I like being with her than I like being on the sticks. With that said, a good foot of freshies and my old crew never sounds like a bad day if you follow my drift. I guess my advice is to love what you do, where you are and who you're with... if any of those three things aren't being satisfied it's time to pick up and move on. There are plenty of other amazing hobbies out there just waiting to be had.


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## Fuzzy (May 25, 2005)

get a squirt boat!!


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## gh (Oct 13, 2003)

Dave, there are still boneheads like me out in front of him.


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## BastrdSonOfElvis (Mar 24, 2005)

Hmmm...tell me about your relationship with your mother.


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## mountainbuns (Feb 19, 2004)

Hey Caspian, I burnt out a too before I left Colorado. Running the same old rivers, broken nose, way too many competitions, broken back, dating one too many kayakers, bumm shoulder, who knows why? But physically and mentally I needed a break. Since moving, the new rivers and laid back vibe have restored my interest and paddling is more fun again. Even though I've stepped it down. But now I often am reminded of my early days in a dancer with a bunch of old guys in big boats and ratty gear with nothing to prove. 

Seems like for a lot of kayakers, kayaking is their whole identity. You hear it all the time- bitching about the non-boater girlfriend asking for some time, or that all the good times are over once kids come along. Pretty limited world view.

It was said well above - just go do other stuff, whatever strikes your fancy, without regret. Or pack up the hiking boots/climbing shoes, mtn bike, and boat and come visit your buds in Idaho to check out some new terrain. We'd love to have ya!


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## sj (Aug 13, 2004)

Yes I have. 8 seasons 100 plus days each in my youth left me wondering whats next. I haven't moved forward in 10 years but new craft(wood dory) and old freinds have kept the flame burning . Try both would be my only advice Good luck. sj


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## vaultman14 (Feb 3, 2006)

ok i just came up with a solution to the burn out ready for it........ here it is.... go to wal-mart or target or whatever store is closer and get an air matress for oooooohhhhhhh 20 bucks go to the nearest whitewater park.... bring some beer... and some buds and surf the waves/holes with the air matress im telling you its amazing hahaha so there you go thats a free one j/k hope you get it back!!!!!!!


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## benrodda (Mar 27, 2004)

So this may actually contribute to the burnout or it may really help with it but.... 

I actually like teaching younger boaters. I kind of live vicariously through the people that I am teaching. I get fired up about the things that they get fired up. in some ways it is like starting all over. 

its just a thought because on the other hand it is tough. You look over your shoulder all of the time. You spend more time in the eddy or fishing them out and soooo on. 

maybe that will help.

ben


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## Rushis Right (Jan 3, 2006)

Totally Burnt. Any suggestions on converting a T-3 to C-1?


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## rushis wrong (Apr 27, 2006)

*Rush sits down when he pees*

Rush is a total queer. I paddled the middle fork of the salmon with him years ago and he got black balled for any further trips. The guy peed in his dry suit one day to stay warm.


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## prozoned (Jun 17, 2005)

man, i think u need to stop smokin ganja, 
that will always unmotivate you and it makes the things u do seem lame and boring. Plus i can see how anything can get boring after doing it for 25 years :lol:


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