Thursday, February 23, 2012

Suffocation

Waiting for the weekend so I can suffer. Maybe my favorite thing about cycling is this word - Suffer. Its not used in the running game so much. Most likely because for me running was relatively short and intense. The pain feels worse than suffering, its comfort then a feeling like either something is going to break or I'm going to pass out. Cycling is a slow burn. You can keep up, but be on the rivet for a LONG time. The pounding is such a limiting factor, or at least over the last few years it was for me. Invariably my legs would hurt before my heart and lungs. On the old bike, much like in XC Skiing, the pain is drawn out over a long period of time. Simply eating some food can take you from the depths of despair to the front hammering and all the time a feeling of suffering. And bike racers embrace this. They love to talk about suffering on a ride. Now I find myself using the term all the time. Since I've done no exercise all week I can't wait to suffer. We'll be hitting the hills and putting in time on the saddle. Perfect.

I heard a new remix by HEALTH of the wonderful Suffocation by Crystal Castles The tune is short which is a shame because its great. Loving the electronic music this week.

Peace and Love

Kel

4 comments:

  1. Some interesting observations you make here regarding 'suffering'and it's so true......
    As for the electronic music- I use it all the time on my turbo workouts....it really helps me with cadence....

    -Trevor

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  2. A question if I may...How can one distinguish between the different types of suffering that you're talking about?

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  3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSokDsOwE1g
    'you have this little taste of blood in your mouth'

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  4. If i was a writer I'd do a better job! Suffering on a bike for me anyway is a slow burn. I can be really tired but keep going and keep my HR really high. When I was running, if I crossed that threshold I would fall apart really quickly. Suffer for a bit and then max out. In many ways it was easier to accept. For example, 4 minutes for a mile. the first minute is really easy, complete control, 2nd minute is pretty easy too. Its after 30 or 40 seconds of minute 2 that the pain kicks in, and then for the last 70 seconds its eyeballs out. Riding, the minutes are now hours. Hour one is easy, hour 2 is a bit harder, hour 3 gets really hard and the last hour is suffer suffer suffer until the muscles don't work anymore. A completely different feeling. Not saying one is easier or harder than the other - For me running was harder because of injury. For sure, a hard 5km on the track is complete pain and suffering but it lasts less than 14 minutes and is only hard for about 7 or 8 minutes and that hard is REALLY hard. Just different on a bike.

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