Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Pain


Pain is an often misused or misunderstood word. There is pain due to an injury: something hurts, there is mental pain or anguish, and there is pain associated with pushing your own physical limits.

One of my workouts is a 90 minute inquisition starting with high-rpm drills (1 min x100,110,120 rpm, 3X through), followed by six repetitions of 6min near-maximum effort 90-100 rpm riding, then 4 min 90-100 rpm lower effort recovery. Six minutes is a long time to pedal at maximum effort. It’s hard to not look at the watch, because each time I do, only 30 seconds have passed. It reminds me of the 20-minute time trial when I competed in the Cadence Kona Challenge in October. After eight minutes, I stopped paying attention to my heart rate and just focused on keeping my rpms up. The next twelve minutes were an eternity, the last two of which were agonizing.

I am amazed by the physical ability of others, which in part is what helps to motivate me. Pushing physical limits can be painful, but in some sense, it is“purification through pain.” Next time the limit is a little further. Hence, the Spanish Inquisition photo (just in case you didn’t get the Monty Python reference). “Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise!”

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! I'm honored to post the first comment. The site looks...... excuse me but I was in he middle of eating marshmellows...... as I was saying, looks good. I see that you posted..........oops I was "dunkin', my "Double FudgeTown "cookie & it fell back in the glass of whole milk, splashing the creamy goodness of milk on the keyboard. Yea, looks like you posted some of those blogs at 4 AM! You make me feel like such a slug with all this running around.
Seriously, we know it's from the heart and for a great cause... God's speed Mr. Green.
All this writing,composing & thinking has burned alot of calories and made me work up an appetite. I'm heading downstairs for some Ben & Jerrys' Heath Bar Crunch with a Pringles and french onion soup dip chaser. Then i'll brush my teeth and gargle with a pint of Guiness before bed time. Ahhhhhh.
Keep up the good work. When I go raid the refrigerator at 4AM, i'll have an extra piece of hot apple pie a la mode for you!

Walt

Unknown said...

I was just about to hit the bike trainer in the garage, but what you describe sounds more appealing. Must go to garage, must - go- to - garage.

Anonymous said...

I hope you made it to the garage instead.
I wish I could harness half the commitment you have.
I visited the rest of your site. Again, it looks great. I even converted & viewed your workout regime in metrics…. You show off!
I see from your profile that you’re a,”Triathelete”. That’s is so funny, because I’m a, “Try not to eat”. As a matter of fact I have a Huuuuge competition this weekend. My goal is to not put on another five pounds. Two to four pounds is OK, but five is right out! It’s gonna be tough with, “Superbowls”, of pasta, meats (grilled steaks, fish, sausages, brijole, calamari) beer (Imported only) , and plenty of low sodium chips. Yea that’s right the only exercise this weekend will be to try to do ten”Dips”. Last year I managed only seven, & I figure there is room for improvement in that event.
I saw the pictures. Everyone looks fantastic. I can’t believe how much the boys have grown up, while their uncle Walt has grown out! Please no more 4 AM postings….. get some sleep – You look too healthy!
Ciao for now from the trenches,
Walt

Anonymous said...

Damn Son! You think you know a guy after all these years. Seriously, it is inspiring to see the effort you put into your workouts and family. Good luck! Eric