I think Lance Armstrong put it best when he described the sport of cycling - let alone all endurance sports. It is simply about being in total denial over everything. You have to be in denial that there is a tremendous amount of pain, be in denial that you love and respect yourself and most importantly, be in denial that you are fatigued.
For me, there comes a point in both my cycling and running where the mind is ready to roll, where there is a limitless supply of passion and drive, but the body cannot respond. Great example was today. I had to do some intervals on my bike and the targets were pretty good considering the workout [2 intense interval sessions, all within the SAME workout]. The first half, I went all out and left it on the 'field'. The result: a cespool of sweat and misery left around my bike and garage floor. My dad came down to get some paint for his art and said "wow, this looks like the aftermath of a World War 1 battlefield." The second half was so, so painful. There was a constant struggle between my mind and body. Simply put, my body just refused to turn the pedals despite my mind trying to 'will' it to do so. In the end, I ended up missing my target wattage by a significant amount but I feel good about it. Good that I didn't leave some in the tank to finish strong; instead, I went as far as I could, and then did the best job possible with what was left in the tank [which was already on 'E' for empty].
So there's my bit of training advice. When you have intervals, dont half-ass it until the last one and then blow it out of the water. Rather, all the REAL work is done prior to the last interval and EXPECIALLY the two sets prior to the final. Those are the ones that the legs will be totally fried but you have to will yourself to get through it. To give you an idea, my 'RESTING' heart rate [in between intevals] was between 170-163 bpm. Which means everything else was north of 170 bpm.
Know anybody going to bed early tonite? I sure as shit do. Night.
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