Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => The Knowledge => Further and Faster => Topic started by: gonzo on 15 June, 2008, 06:56:29 pm
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I've been evaluating past performaces when training or racing and one problem that seems to occur repeatadely is that mid-effort I'll ask myself why I'm doing it and "wouldn't it be easier if you just eased off?".
This has been the reason for me falling out the back of racing bunches as well as my complete inability to do well in some intervals etc.
Does anyone have any idea how to stop me stopping?
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I've been evaluating past performaces when training or racing and one problem that seems to occur repeatadely is that mid-effort I'll ask myself why I'm doing it and "wouldn't it be easier if you just eased off?".
This has been the reason for me falling out the back of racing bunches as well as my complete inability to do well in some intervals etc.
Does anyone have any idea how to stop me stopping?
You need a brian. A brian will shout at you and make it far more unpleasant to ease off than to fight to the last pedal turn to stay with the bunch..
Those who are in the Dundee racing scene may know who I mean...
...d
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i used to row quite a lot, and in rowing the standard 'how fit are you' test is either a 2,000 or 5,000 timed piece on the rowing machine. I went through about six months where I'd get to 2/3 distance and think exactly the same - what's the point, this hurts, I dont really care, I'm stopping.
I had a brian, although mine was called steve, but it made no difference at all - I just hated him a little bit more every time it happened.
The way I dealt with it was to do some deliberately slow 2k's just to remind myself that I could finish the distance, then build back up to doing them at 90% for a bit, then back up to full effort over about 3 months. It also helped that I was trying to get back into the 1st boat and needed to prove that I was in the right state.
It never happened to me in a race. I figured everyone else was hurting just as bad as me, and the boat that won would be the one that could deal with it best.
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I've been evaluating past performaces when training or racing and one problem that seems to occur repeatadely is that mid-effort I'll ask myself why I'm doing it and "wouldn't it be easier if you just eased off?".
For me, 50% of the challenge is overcoming these feelings. If it was easy, then training/racing would just be all science and planning.
Modern Pro-cyclists have a bloke shouting in their earpiece - I have more admiration for athletes who push THEMSELVES.
So turn this around - when you DO finish a hard session as planned, pat yourself on the back. :)
And when you "let yourself down", remind yourself how little Joe High-St pushed himself today - zip, in most cases.
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Thanks for your advice guys!
And when you "let yourself down", remind yourself how little Joe High-St pushed himself today - zip, in most cases.
That's the one I use to try and get myself out when it's wet, but I'll gve it a go in this situation too.
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I have a similar problem with long sessions where, about halfway into it, I just think, "bugger this for a game of soldiers" and the negs start creeping in. It makes turbo or lap work really hard to complete; long stuff is easier 'cos I can pick a long loop, so packing takes as long as doing the job.
Where does one get these Brians from? And can I have a nice one? I've had trainers before (the current tri club is one) who use negatives and positives, but I always focus on the negs and it gets me down and lo, there I go packing again. I basically need someone to bellow "DAMN! I FREAKING LOVE YOU, BIG BOY!" at the top of every hill and "C'MON! YOU CAN DO IT!" at the bottom.
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How about hypnosis? Implanting positive thoughts for when the going gets tough and you start to question yourself?
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Perhaps you would be more comfortable with Phyloscophy? ;)
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Perhaps you would be more comfortable with Phyloscophy? ;)
Are you taking the sips? ;D
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disclaimer: I've never raced bikes, only kayaks, in flat-water sprint and marathon events.
That said, there are a lot of simiarities in the duration of the events. (a kayak marathon is 4 hours for a moderate paddler).
In the small (about 60) West Australian racing scene, there were 4 world medalists. So I ended up training alongside them and in the same events.
I observed 3 things:
I'm no athlete!
World-champion level athletes are a different species. Their bodies don't work the same way.
World-champion level athletes are insane. They would regard pushing themselves to the point of blacking out as normal. Then get up and do it again. These people don't need someone else to push them.
I think to be *good* at any sport there needs to be a certain amount of insanity.
Oh, and I remember one more thing; human beings are incredibly resilient, and exercise intensities that would kill a horse or dog just make people hurt.
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"Physcology". Is this the science of dealing with the brain as if it was a muscle?
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Think really hard and it gets bigger and veinier. I once concentrated so hard on late nineteeth-century German philosophers so hard my hat burst.
Back on topic, I was reminded by the Dun Run that so much performance is psychological. The "Dunwich: 7" sign summons up new vim and vigour every single time. How to keep that level of mental peak for a whole event?
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I've been evaluating past performaces when training or racing and one problem that seems to occur repeatadely is that mid-effort I'll ask myself why I'm doing it and "wouldn't it be easier if you just eased off?".
You just described the middle section of most >100km Audaxes I have done.
This sounds a bit tragic but I try and think of people who have done much more amazing things. Just before my LEJoG ride in 2002 I saw a documentary of a fella who rowed the Pacific solo. It took him 9 months I think (I don't remember exactly). He nearly starved nd then nearly drowned on an Australian beach at the end.
All I have to do is think of this fella and I stop mentally complaining.
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mid-effort I'll ask myself why I'm doing it and "wouldn't it be easier if you just eased off?".
Although I haven't done anything competitive for a long time, I can relate to this. I also have "why am I doing this?" moments even on my casual rides if one of my headaches descends. :P
In high school, I was a middling swimmer; in my first or second year, I was on the relay team with some seniors. As we got into the bigger meets, the other guys starting getting angry with me--I was messing up the transitions because, rather than going all-out in the last few yards to get to the wall, I would gradually slow down. Why? This was a race!
I fixed the problem immediately, but it took me a while to figure out the cause--I was more relieved to be almost done than I was driven to really go hard. If you don't want to be there enough to force yourself, you won't force yourself. To quote a Calexico song (partly about the Tarahumara long-distance runners), you have to love the run, not [just] the race.
Getting shouted at wasn't pleasant, but it provided a good and quick lesson in getting out of my head and helping the team. Even though I don't do that kind of stuff anymore, I sometimes miss the team atmosphere and the focused effort--just not the humorlessness.
I also got a good dose of reality when I found out that the school record I set as a senior, after four years of trying, was easily broken the next year by a freshman. Another good reminder to get over myself.
World-champion level athletes are insane.
It's amazing how often people who are very intense about something (not just sports) are either unbalanced or damaged. If the activity works for them and doesn't make things worse, OK. It's when they get egotistical or abusive (these things seem to go along with singlemindedness) that I won't put up with it.
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How to keep that level of mental peak for a whole event?
If you could keep it for a whole event, it wouldn't be a peak any more.
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Does anyone have any idea how to stop me stopping?
My (totally unqualified) suggestion:
I think it's a mental thing so perhaps you have to trick yourself. Picture the reward perhaps. Take riding a TT: the 'reward' is your time, perhaps a PB. Try to imagine the disappointment when you see your finishing time knowing you could have done better. Or pretend you're doing it for a loved one and you don't want to let them down. Tell yourself it's crucial you do well for them.
From your posts you take your training and racing very seriously so it must be important to you, surely? Just keep reminding yourself how important.
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Thanks all, I do quite like a lot of your tips.
Scampi - I like your ideas, but it's only really sprint/breakaway interval training that's a problem. I use all of those ideas to keep me going in TTs, but it's the sprint intervals where I have problems; I know I'm rubbish and my best effort isn't all that fast.
Reading what I've just written, I guess that telling myself that I'm better will do the job. Also, imagining racing against others will help.
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This article might be useful in dealing with the psychological aspects of it:
VeloNews | The Coach(ed) Corner: Training the brain | The Journal of Competitive Cycling. (http://www.velonews.com/article/81823)
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This article might be useful in dealing with the psychological aspects of it:
VeloNews | The Coach(ed) Corner: Training the brain | The Journal of Competitive Cycling. (http://www.velonews.com/article/81823)
Ta, top stuff!