For 6 months I haven't speedrunned. I don't know why I never do another run.. I don't know if it's because I always say im going to speedrun a game and never do which makes me feel like dirt or it's because I have no motivation to do another run. I know it's weird to care about something like speedrunning but I did it for a while and I still want to speedrun. What should I do?
If you're not having fun, just stop. It's as simple as that. This is a hobby, it's supposed to be fun. Yes, it'll bring frustration and annoyance sometimes, but that's the nature of being competitive. But if you don't have the motivation, then it's not worth trying to push yourself. If you're still having fun but you just aren't motivated, well I can't really help you there since motivation isn't a magical thing, you have to find a way to motivate yourself.
Yeah I've stopped for the good part of a year because I got tired of the games I was running, and didn't find any other game I wanted to run. I've almost exclusively ran games I've loved so I'm not picking up random games nor do I do tournaments with games I don't run already, I guess it depends on each runner's dynamic. I know some people just love speedrun and will always look for a new game to run.
Speedrunning's always done this for me in short intervals, even when I was doing it casually and still being an anonymous lurker on the site. I find myself most exhausted when I botch more than a few runs in a row, but I suppose most of that is because the games I run have longish periods of low intensity tasks. One of them that I'm currently routing mostly equivocates to the starting 2-3 hours being nothing but a general routine with some breaks in between.
I was recently burned out pretty hard on my main game thanks to the hour long runs with long periods of monotony and high risk intensity sections, but another runner brought a new glitch to light that makes a big change to the run and I was immediately hooked right back into it. I suppose the burnout is just natural, since nobody likes listening to the same music forever or making the same thing forever. Breaks really do help in this respect. If you want to get back into it right now, I'd suggest looking for some games you've heard of in the past and you thought were neat, but you never had a chance to try them. Pick one of those up, play it through if it's fun, and see if you'd like to run those.
In general, Timmiluvs hit the nail on the head. Speedrunning should be fun, if it's not, take a break from the idea for a while.
As a last note: I may be an odd case here, but I find just routing games and writing up guides to help others run games to be one of the most enjoyable parts. When I get tired of running my main game, I just go back to routing on the other one or I just play some of the other games I keep around that I'd never consider speedrunning. (I aspired to be a teacher, so maybe this is just part of that.) Speedrunning also gives me another reason to play games that I love, but have little reason to go back to.
It is very healthy to take breaks from hobbies when you find them frustrating. If it's just about not wanting to put in work on new games, there's nothing wrong with that either. Don't be beholden to a list of things you should do. Do what you want even if that's just watching other folks, playing stuff casually, or running the same game you like over and over.
Are you finding that lack of motivation in just speedrunning, or is it in other things you do as well?
This was for the Thread Starter really @UbuntuJackson, but it's good to hear that you are only tired of speedrunning.
While I understand from your perspective, at least for me, Speedrunning has allowed me a motivation for playing games I used to love and haven't had any motivation to play due to health reasons.
I have an autoimmune condition that usually makes it difficult and painful to play some games for long amounts of times. I find that having a goal helps me ignore my physical discomfort. Without speedrunning I probably wouldn't be playing games at all, which for me would be depressing as they've always been a big part of my life and something I've enjoyed immensely.
But my reasons for running are rather specific to me. I certainly understand that others might find it more fun to just play games without the pressure of a speedrun.
That said, Speedrunning isn't my only hobby. I do Karaoke with my wife on a weekly basis, I write, and I dabble in coding and web design.
If a hobby doesn't work for you, that's fine, get a new one! You can be well rounded with or without speedrunning.
Just understand that for some of us, speedrunning is meaningful in some way that goes beyond simply running games.