In 2009, I was hanging out with a lot of pro triathletes. I was lucky to learn a lot about the sport in this time.
Over the years, I “adapted” to a high volume of load, or stimulus while trying to “hang on” to these people in training sessions.
One of the hardest and most productive sessions that I can remember though was solo, done in the little garage.
It was 4.5 hours on a time-trial bike set up in a bike trainer. There were about 5 “efforts” done at race pace around 30minutes each, and a bunch of water bottles stacked up on a chair next to me, filled with different salty/sugary mixes to keep me going.
On the brick wall in front there was a little post-it note with the durations that I had to hold the efforts, and the wattage needed for each one.
After each “effort,” it would return to still a hard effort, but not quite as hard. Anyway, after each one, the “pull” to get off the bike and go do something else was tangible.
When the race comes, the ability to “not really move” for 4.5-5.5 hours while you sit on the bike at a high output is important, so training the discomfort – the ability to sit there, stay focused and keep pushing – was critical.
There were many “harder” or more “intense” sessions.
But watching a brick wall, experiencing the “pull” to walk away or “soft-pedal” but then stay in the position trains the mental “discomfort” as much as it does the aerobic system.
To put ourselves into these kinds of positions likely isn’t necessary. But noticing when the discomfort does arise in a situation and sitting with it, observing it, can definitely be useful.
