What's your psychological technique for climbing?

SwainsL

So we all know there are things which help us to push ourselves harder. Like a cheering crowd or a hug with a loved one before you set off.

Even when you're going up a hill, there might be someone ahead and you feel the urge to overtake.

In a situation where none of these occur, what passes through your mind when you need to push harder?

TakeTurns

There's a hot girl waiting at the top of the hill.





...there never is. Doesn't mean there won't be the next time.

alihisgreat

I find it relatively easy to reach my maximum... Strava ensures that.

harrydaisy

Head down and concentrate on cadence, but I often tell myself that if I make it to the top of the climb I will be able to close that deal/ be successful in something....or for my kids or something like that. It works for me and I can assure you I don't give up

Herbsman

I enjoy climbing so don't need any psychological carrots or sticks. Climbing any hill is pure pleasure for me.

pak-man

when the going gets tough, I count pedal strokes in groups of 10 (so count 10 pedal turns then reset to zero and start again)! My psychological rationale is that I concentrate on the next pedal turn i.e. one step at a time. I also find it helps take my mind off the pain. Either that or I'm a bit OCD

steel42

Just keep calling myself a useless little girl for making such a big fuss over a hill. Feels very manly

napoleond

I just imagine that I'm crushing the souls of all others who are with me. In fact, I don't have to imagine, I just watch their pitiful faces.

nunowoolmez

I'm like Herbsman, i enjoy climbing. However, climbing is rather like long distance running. If you view the climb as a whole it will seem like a big obstacle. If you break it down into parts it is much more achievable. When i used to run marathons & half marathons i didn't look at the race in it's entire length. I broke it down into sections & just concentrated on the next section, next mile, even next stretch of road. This way it is far easier to manage phsychologically.

Apart from that i often think about things i would be eating after my training ride & the quicker i got up the climb the nearer i was to eating them! Try to manipulate your mind into looking forward to & enjoying the climbs.

Either that or imagine a viscous dog chasing you...

napoleond

To be fair, there aren't any hills long enough in the UK (IME) to really cause me to have to 'psychologically' beat it...

mk1markfalkirk

I just pay attention to my breathing and to my beat going nuts and really just enjoy the refreshing pain that it brings

fevmeister

SHUT THE F*CK UP LEGS

smidsy

Oh f@ck there's a hill, granny ring, drop back from group, f@ck, f@uck,f@ck. Or something similar.

I really need to work on them there hills :-(

dmclite-3.0

I like the pressure of climbing, to bite into it, lean over the bars, push harder but more evenly on the pedals. I know it won't last forever but relish the pain it gives but I like the pain.

I also like to imagine Claudia Winkleman in a nurses uniform waiting for me after telling me if I climb well she will do things to me that would make Caligula blush.

Bordersroadie

Strava.

Harry Thorpe

Just pretend I'm Marco Pantani

JamesB5446

harrydaisy wrote:

Head down and concentrate on cadence, but I often tell myself that if I make it to the top of the climb I will be able to close that deal/ be successful in something....or for my kids or something like that. It works for me and I can assure you I don't give up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msFu17II-Is

steel42 wrote:

Just keep calling myself a useless little girl for making such a big fuss over a hill. Feels very manly

This plus lots of swearing.

BelgianBeerGeek

Just tell myself "It's only a hill" and grind it out.

If with others, provoke angry looks by saying "It's only a hill" and holding an expression of extreme serenity. Whilst hurting on the inside. Weakness must not be shown at any cost.

weedram

smidsy wrote:

Oh f@ck there's a hill, granny ring, drop back from group, f@ck, f@uck,f@ck. Or something similar.

I really need to work on them there hills :-(

So you've seen me out on a club ride then!!!

I was trying to thing of how to put my feelings into words - then I read this post. Sums it up perfectly.

peat

I don't look too far ahead, if i look up and see the horizon miles away it can kill my mojo.

alihisgreat

JamesB5446 wrote:

harrydaisy wrote:

Head down and concentrate on cadence, but I often tell myself that if I make it to the top of the climb I will be able to close that deal/ be successful in something....or for my kids or something like that. It works for me and I can assure you I don't give up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msFu17II-Is

steel42 wrote:

Just keep calling myself a useless little girl for making such a big fuss over a hill. Feels very manly

This plus lots of swearing.

I swear a lot when I'm climbing too... calling my legs c****s seems to make a difference

racingcondor

+1 on the internal drill sergent emotional abuse method.

Works well when it's not internal as well. I had a friend decide to hurl abuse at me as I went past each lap at a crit a couple of years ago, it actually helped a lot . Of course, by the end of the race there was no-one willing to stand within 10ft of him...

kamil1891

NapoleonD wrote:

To be fair, there aren't any hills long enough in the UK (IME) to really cause me to have to 'psychologically' beat it...

You haven't tried hard enough then, have you? 8)

seanorawe

Approaching traffic lights half way up. 'Please go red, please go red, please go red, please go red' when they dont go red I shout b@stard at the top of my voice.

markos1963

Give up, move to Norfolk and take up time trialling

JamesB5446

I was going down a hill once and my mate said there was a junction at the bottom so I slowed down loads. Turns out the junction was about half way up the other side and I'd lost loads of momentum for nothing.

Thinking about the hatred I felt at that moment is good for spurring me on.

Reane_Machine

Peat wrote:

I don't look too far ahead, if i look up and see the horizon miles away it can kill my mojo.

+1.

Used to do the counting revolutions method, but I found it easier to stare about 2 metres ahead and glance a bit further every now and then.

rubyrider

I've only been cycling a few months and I've also wondered how folks spur themselves on.

I try and imagine that each hill is making a deposit in my fitness bank that I'll be able to draw on next time so it will be easier next time around. Also I think of my my feet making little circles and I have to concentrate on keeping those little rotations going round and round..... Helps take my mind off it!

Reane_Machine

rubyrider wrote:

I've only been cycling a few months and I've also wondered how folks spur themselves on.

I try and imagine that each hill is making a deposit in my fitness bank that I'll be able to draw on next time so it will be easier next time around. Also I think of my my feet making little circles and I have to concentrate on keeping those little rotations going round and round..... Helps take my mind off it!

What's the interest rates on those deposits?

I like the circles thing, focus on small things you can do lots of and the hills fly by! ish....

mike6

Breathing. Sounds stupid, I know, but a good friend of mine who is a natural climber gave me the secret. Two actually.
I am built like a climber but am not a natural

Firstly, breathing is the carburation of your climbing engine. Really fill your lungs, right to the bottom on each breath rather than shallow gasping. Start this just before the hill to get the breathing right and concentrate on that.

Secondly, gearing. I now start all big hills in a lower gear than I think necessary and spin. If it feels too easy change up. This is both psychologically and physically easier than getting into oxygen debt and having to drop gears and trying to recover on a steep slope.

I also talk to myself, and the bike, but that's just me.

SHADOWMATE

I gasp "C'mon ya bastard" and console myself that even slow pedalling is still pedalling.