Originally Posted by
khatfull
I wasn't trying to suggest I'd be puttering around, rather, that the motivation for improvement won't have anything to do with BF anymore. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I do want to improve and will work to do so but I don't want to lose sight of the more Zen reasons we do this...and to pause sometimes and enjoy a ride just to enjoy a ride and not go out every time trying to beat the last personal best time on any route.
That ride Monday night when I forced myself to go slow for recovery was just different in a very good way than most any other time I've gone out to ride. It felt good for a totally different reason, and I liked it a lot. I don't want to lose sight of that feeling anymore than I want to lose sight of the great feeling one has after a all-out hard effort.
I think that much of BF (the road forum anyway) doesn't appreciate the former.
Make sense?
It sounds to me like you are on the right track
.
I think that all of the concepts surrounding "burnout" are as much mental as they are physical. If you never have fun when you are hammering then eventually hammering while lose its appeal. Group rides and training races are a great way to have fun while you are working out hard. So is racing.
Having a training mentality sucks alot of the fun out of riding, although there is still great gratification to be had from overcoming a tough interval session that is in no way fun (it's called endorphins).
Personally, I know that doing 1-5 min intervals hurts ALOT, and is no fun. Yet I persist....
Im lucky to live in a place that has regular group rides and training criteriums. I do 1-5 min intervals during these rides spontaneously and sometimes feel no pain becasue I am having that much fun.
And I think that alot of people here do appreciate the "former" as you put it, it's just that posting about the gushy "sunshine and rainbows" type of stuff isn't exactly protocol forum material.... Those are the kinds of personal experiences in life that are hard to communicate, and they're also a red flag for you to get flamed.