Recently I went on a long bike road ride, about 50 miles long. That is not unusual for me, nor is a 4 to 9 mile hill at around mile 30 or 40. But what was unusual about this ride was my “ah ha” moment. I was climbing the hill and trying to push myself more than any other time on that particular climb. This climb is actually easier than most of the others that I find myself climbing on a given weekend. It is easy in the sense that it is not too steep, but it is relentless. I will sometimes pedal to a certain heart rate, say 165-170. The goal is to maintain a constant heart rate between 165-170 for the entire climb. This is easier said than done. Heart rates will vary for many reasons, one of course is the grade of the climb, or the incline. Heat is a big factor, as the heat rises, so does your heart rate. Heart rates are different for everyone. Mine is higher than many at my age. Most Drs. say that your max heart rate is 220 minus your age. and that you don’t want to go over 80% of that. If that were true with me, I wouldn’t be allowed on hills. So let’s say your are 50, we take 220-50=170 for max HR. So 80% of that would be where you want to train. Just doesn’t work for me. Anyway I got off on a little tangent there, sorry.
So as I was saying, I was on this 4.5 mile climb and really wanted to beat my previous personal record (PR). I didn’t want to do heart rate training, I wanted to beat my old PR! So I pedaled really hard at the beginning like I always do. Then I usually just maintain a fairly rigorous pace and push as hard as I can. But in my mind I know I have 4.5 miles to go, so I pace myself and save some for the end. This typically gets me a pretty good time up the climb. But this time I started thinking, “you know, I only move when I pedal, so I need to pedal” Sounds simple, but it is true, I can think about it, pace myself, save some for the end, etc…but ultimately, as in life, it only matters when you actually do something. Planning and talking and thinking will only get you so far. It is the doing, in this case, the pedaling that matters. I decided to just pedal harder and when I got tired towards the end, I just pedaled, because that is all that really matters at the end of the climb. And guess what, I did get a PR. I hadn’t come close to beating my old record for more than a year….now to apply it to other areas of my life, that will be the real test.