Over the past week or so my theme has been to “stick with it,” to be mentally and physically strong and to not back down.  Greg Lemond has a quote that fits in nicely with this theme.  He says:

“Training never gets easier, you just get faster.”

How true this is.  Our bodies adapt to the stress we apply though training by getting stronger.  So in order to continue to improve, to get stronger and faster we must continuously challenge ourselves.  We must push the envelope and get out of our comfort zones.  If we don’t we stagnate.

And this is never easy.  Our bodies are always capable of doing more, capable of being pushed longer and harder.  But our brain play tricks on us and tells us things like “this is hard enough, don’t push me any more,” or “this is getting too painful” or “nobody will see that you’re backing off a bit, so it’s OK” or “why are you doing this” or one of many, many more.  You’ve experienced this same self-talk, so know them all.  

So our challenge is to learn to embrace this discomfort, because it will always be part of our training. 

Think of the hardest workouts you’ve experienced, the hardest races.  They’ve been mentally and physically draining.  You finish and hunch over or lay down to catch your breath.  You’re sweaty, you’re tired, you’re sore and totally spent. 

But within a few minutes you start to recover.  The pain is gone and an overwhelming sense of accomplishment and pride come over you.  Hopefully you’re able to share this feeling with friends, workout partners and competitors.  The training has been hard, but you feel great. 

Was it all worth it?  You bet!  Tell me your personal example of training hard then reaping the benefits, then GET OUT AND RIDE!