Funny thing..... On Sunday I will be running a demanding 30 km race in Hamilton. I'm not in the least nervous about it. In contrast, today I was scheduled for a training ride in my own basement and I've been anxious about it since yesterday. My anxiety was not unfounded. Based on my incomplete Wednesday workout at the new levels, I knew today was going to be a brute. It was!
I took about an hour to get changed into my workout clothes and then did some stretching and light calisthenics all in order to procrastinate the pain. Once I got on the bike my 15 minute warm up turned into 30 minutes, with the intent of further delaying the inevitable. I did several little tests during the warm up to see what 227 watts felt like, and I can tell you it did not feel good. I had little confidence that I would complete the session per the program.
As a matter of fact I spent the warm up time mentally adjusting my schedule for the next 5 weeks on the basis that I clearly needed to back off a little. I felt dangerously over trained, and as much as you can take some pride in the tenacity it takes to keep pounding away after your body has given up, it also doesn't make any sense. In fact it is quite counterproductive.
The challenge is finding the sweet spot between giving in to the pain, and over training. I think that today I went right to the upper limit, if not beyond. Of course you figured out by now that I did the entire workout. Somehow!! Perhaps there exists somewhere in my past a tougher session than the one I had today, but if so I can't remember it. The mental battle was incredible. It is tougher even than the actual test sessions because in that case you're simply doing all you can and that's it, whereas in the case of a targeted workout like today you are trying to achieve a specific goal, and anything less would be considered failure.
So that's how I talked my way through the first 20 minute session, but by the end I felt so depleted that to do it all over again seemed incomprehensible. Fortunately after my 10 minute rest I felt a bit better and I managed to coach myself through the second half, minute by excruciating minute. I wish I had the writing skill to be able to express how it felt. I would suggest that you imagine some kind of extreme pain, like when you hit yourself in the knee cap with a hammer. Then imagine that you can stop the pain simply by deciding to stop, but instead you choose not to make that decision. That perhaps gives you a sense of the mental battle.
Anyway I feel pretty good right now and will keep my feet up for the next day and a half and see what Sunday at the races brings. I suspect I'm still going to be feeling the effects of today but so be it. I am committed to enjoying the race and if I end up taking a few walking breaks I can probably live with that. The bike sessions continue to be my focus for now.
I am so committed to this program, and the more I educate myself the more I get excited about it. I have known for years that extreme exertion levels while running always took my heart rate higher than similar levels riding, and wondered why that was so. Recently I formulated my own amateur opinion that it was a good thing that my heart rate was starting to creep up while riding. That may seem contradictory as normally you would think that hard training would be intended to bring your rate down. But I think I got it right. You need to gain sport specific, muscular strength and endurance, in order to take advantage of your well conditioned cardiovascular system. Today I found a great article to support my theory, and perhaps some of you may be interested. Find it here.
Have a peaceful weekend. I look forward to mine for a couple of reasons, not the least of which is seeing my little sister on Sunday. Around The Bay is a semi regular part of Brett's race circuit and as such Teresa and Roo will be our only fans. The beauty of this race is the indoor finish at Copps Coliseum which allows spectators to stay warm and dry. Talk to you after the race.
...and on living dangerously...
"May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds."---Edward Abbey
Love
Peter
I took about an hour to get changed into my workout clothes and then did some stretching and light calisthenics all in order to procrastinate the pain. Once I got on the bike my 15 minute warm up turned into 30 minutes, with the intent of further delaying the inevitable. I did several little tests during the warm up to see what 227 watts felt like, and I can tell you it did not feel good. I had little confidence that I would complete the session per the program.
As a matter of fact I spent the warm up time mentally adjusting my schedule for the next 5 weeks on the basis that I clearly needed to back off a little. I felt dangerously over trained, and as much as you can take some pride in the tenacity it takes to keep pounding away after your body has given up, it also doesn't make any sense. In fact it is quite counterproductive.
The challenge is finding the sweet spot between giving in to the pain, and over training. I think that today I went right to the upper limit, if not beyond. Of course you figured out by now that I did the entire workout. Somehow!! Perhaps there exists somewhere in my past a tougher session than the one I had today, but if so I can't remember it. The mental battle was incredible. It is tougher even than the actual test sessions because in that case you're simply doing all you can and that's it, whereas in the case of a targeted workout like today you are trying to achieve a specific goal, and anything less would be considered failure.
So that's how I talked my way through the first 20 minute session, but by the end I felt so depleted that to do it all over again seemed incomprehensible. Fortunately after my 10 minute rest I felt a bit better and I managed to coach myself through the second half, minute by excruciating minute. I wish I had the writing skill to be able to express how it felt. I would suggest that you imagine some kind of extreme pain, like when you hit yourself in the knee cap with a hammer. Then imagine that you can stop the pain simply by deciding to stop, but instead you choose not to make that decision. That perhaps gives you a sense of the mental battle.
Anyway I feel pretty good right now and will keep my feet up for the next day and a half and see what Sunday at the races brings. I suspect I'm still going to be feeling the effects of today but so be it. I am committed to enjoying the race and if I end up taking a few walking breaks I can probably live with that. The bike sessions continue to be my focus for now.
I am so committed to this program, and the more I educate myself the more I get excited about it. I have known for years that extreme exertion levels while running always took my heart rate higher than similar levels riding, and wondered why that was so. Recently I formulated my own amateur opinion that it was a good thing that my heart rate was starting to creep up while riding. That may seem contradictory as normally you would think that hard training would be intended to bring your rate down. But I think I got it right. You need to gain sport specific, muscular strength and endurance, in order to take advantage of your well conditioned cardiovascular system. Today I found a great article to support my theory, and perhaps some of you may be interested. Find it here.
Have a peaceful weekend. I look forward to mine for a couple of reasons, not the least of which is seeing my little sister on Sunday. Around The Bay is a semi regular part of Brett's race circuit and as such Teresa and Roo will be our only fans. The beauty of this race is the indoor finish at Copps Coliseum which allows spectators to stay warm and dry. Talk to you after the race.
...and on living dangerously...
"May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds."---Edward Abbey
Love
Peter
Interesting article. I also think your explanation of your training is very well done! Good luck to both you and Brett tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteLove old john
sorry...
ReplyDelete