I'm In... Let the Suffering Begin!

I was sitting in front of my computer ready to go at 7:45 this morning. The registration for the Mt Washington Autoroad Bicycle Hillclimb Race opened at 8:00am. This race is known to sell out in less than 30 minutes and I wanted to make sure I got in this time around. The last time I tried to get in I nonchalantly logged in about 3 hours after registration opened and found myself 400 deep on a waiting list. The other alternative is to race in Newton's Revenge which is the same route up the Mt W autoroad except it take place 6 weeks earlier at the beginning of July and it isn't nearly as popular (there are always a lot of pros racing at the "official" race in August, even if they are banned dopers like Tyler Hamilton). Plus, if you really want to get the best time possible you really need that extra 6 weeks of training. I know I've tried but I really can't put into words how difficult this race is. 

There's two ways to do this race. You can do it to finish it, like I did the first time when I finished in 1:32.. Or you can do it to place, like I'm doing it this time. My 1:32 was the first time I ever climbed the mountain on my bike and it was brutal, but without a time goal set in my mind I paced myself differently than if I had wanted to hit a specific time. Second time I did it in 1:24 (my goal was 1:20). Third time I did it was two years ago during a practice ride in early June and I wanted to do it in 1:20, which for me was pretty aggressive for that early in the season. Under 1:20 is considered the "top notch" category.. I got to the top at 1:20:00, fell off my bike, and puked (well, dry heaved really) for two minutes. I thought this was a really good accomplishment, especially considering how early in the season it was and that my warmup for the race included an 8 mile climb out of Gorham, NH to the Mt Washington autoroad at 6:00am during which I was chased by a huge moose which literally came inches from knocking me off my bike and crushing me like a grape and in the process scared the shit out of me. It was a female moose and I think she was really into my spandex biking kit that I was wearing that day :)  Anyway, I continued training hard and got myself in very, very good shape for the race. My goal was 1:15 and I know I would have hit it except for one thing... There were 70 mile an hour winds at the top of the mountain and torrential downpours so they cancelled the race. Huge dissapointment!

This year my goal is to come top 10 in my age group which is going to require a time somewhere between 1:10 and 1:15. I am shooting for 1:10 in decent race conditions (i.e. not raining hard and winds under 50 mph at the top). This is going to require a level of mental and physical conditioning higher than I have ever achieved in my life. It is going to mean levels of suffering that 99.99% of people will never endure in a lifetime. It is a goal, that were I to attempt to achieve it today, I would fail so miserably it would be laughable. And that's why I've set it to be my top goal for 2009. For me, a goal is something that once achieved, will signify an extreme level of growth. It can be physical, mental, or spiritual. The best goals allow me to grow in all three ways. And if there's one thing I learned, extreme growth does not come without extreme suffering.

People have asked me what it takes to build mental toughness. One of the things people love about coming to Dynamic Strength and Conditioning is the fact that they push themselves to new levels. Levels that they never push themselves to on their own. This is the type of experience that is required to develop mental toughness. But the toughest part is the ability to be able to work that hard when you're on your own and you don't have a trainer or group of workout partners pushing you. When nobody is watching and you put yourself in more pain than your body wants to handle and your brain is doing it's best to get you to quit but you continue anyways. When you decide that one of two things is going to happen; you're going to complete what you set out to do, or you're going to die trying. Sound over the top? Maybe a little extreme? Maybe it is, but that's what it takes if you want to compete to win or if you want to reach levels of fitness and performance that you thought impossible.

Does everybody have to be that psycho about their fitness levels? Of course not. But the second you stop pushing yourself out of your comfort zone you will stop making gains. People come to my gym and push themselves ridiculously hard and realize incredible strength, endurance and energy gains. They ask me if it gets any easier the more they do it. They don't like the answer I give them when I tell them that it gets harder.. Why does it get harder? Because the stronger you get, the harder you can push yourself. The harder you have to push yourself to make gains. My friend Doug has been coming to the Spartan workouts and he texted me his workout from yesterday. 6 rounds of 40:20 with double 20kg kettlebells with no rest of:

double snatches

power wheel rollouts

double clean and press

renegade row

double front squat

That is a sick workout! And, he did it alone. That is what mental toughness is. 

I'm in better shape than I've ever been in and I still put myself through at least one workout per week that takes me three days to recover from. I do this by myself with nobody watching. That's how you develop mental toughness and that's what's going to keep me going on my bike as I pass by the mile 3 marker on Mount Washington where the grade averages 18% for a mile, my heart screaming at 95% max, my brain telling me there's no freaking way we're making it the rest of the way, and there's more than 4 miles to go... Of course, that's assuming it doesn't kill me first :)

Lance Armstrong said it best. "Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, an hour, a day, or even a year. But eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it will last forever."

Train hard, be well,

Kevin