Pain and methods to over ride it

whojanicanackerov

Their are lots of great topics on here but I`m yet to find anything regarding pain and mental approach to dealing with it.
Yes the MTFU can be tapped on the keyboard but when we are tapping the pedals in pain we are not thinking that are we?
Legs are burning with lactate and the mind is trying to stay strong and not give in.
What really drives you on to keep suffering.
I hoping that we can all learn from each reply and maybe take something from it.

danowat

I find that it starts prior to the race, visualizing the pain, accepting its going to hurt, and remembering that you've delt with the pain before, and you can deal with it again, but acceptance that its going to hurt is a big thing for me.

During the event, depending on how much form I have, I can either blank it out, either by concentrating on what my legs are doing, and tuning in to how I am turning the pedals, or, mantra's can help, again reassuring yourself that you can handle the pain, and will get through it.

Also, visualizing the pain as a ball of noise and expelling it with shouts or grunts can help, makes you look a bit mental though

Herbsman

I find it helps to smile and try to enjoy it. Try to imagine yourself as an evil psychopath who enjoys hurting innocent people. Think of the pain as your own personal evil meter. The more pain, the more evil. If you're only pedaling gently you're just engaging in the equivalent of a bit of mild verbal bullying. Serious leghurt is the equivalent of torture and murder.

Herbsman

Or if you can't imagine yourself as a murderer just think that whatever pain is in your legs is being inflicted on whoever is trying to hold your wheel (whether real or imaginary). Concentrate on making that person suffer. Project the pain onto the other person rather than thinking of it as something that's happening to you.

danowat

Man, that's dark, really dark.........

GiantMike

Close your eyes and focus on turning the cranks*. Don't think about the pain, how much longer you have until it stops or what you're doing afterwards. Don't think about nice things, just think about the cranks. Always the cranks.

*don't do this on the road or on rollers.

bigpikle

"Pain is just weakness leaving the body..."

I find I need to have clear targets to focus on that keep me going - I have to know in advance what I need to get done and 99% of the time I'll make myself do it. If its an interval then I focus on the time or numbers needed etc and I keep telling myself to hit the goal and keep going. I count down, count back, divide remaining time into chunks and count them off - anything that helps change the focus and see progress. If its an event, then the target is usually around beating someone else.

Of course, all this depends on it being lactic acid pain. If its something else then I stop!

okgo

What drives me is knowing I have raced for 2 or 3 hours and I'm not about to chuck away a result for the sake of a tiny bit of pain.

In a TT its that I don't want to be beaten by someone else by a few seconds, as again its a big time investment for a little bit of pain. I have finished events and nearly passed out with the effort and its all been worth it.

GiantMike

okgo wrote:

What drives me is knowing I have raced for 2 or 3 hours and I'm not about to chuck away a result for the sake of a tiny bit of pain.

In a TT its that I don't want to be beaten by someone else by a few seconds, as again its a big time investment for a little bit of pain. I have finished events and nearly passed out with the effort and its all been worth it.

It's definitely easier to endure pain when racing. Much harder during training.

TakeTurns

Ever since I started riding properly (15) I would think of pain as a good thing.

If it hurts, then I'm progressing. The more I make myself suffer, the stronger I will become.

Nowadays I focus on the cranks and my pedaling motion. It helps to channel my thought away from the pain and prevent me from dropping my cadence.

poynedexter

i talk to myself as i'm riding. tell myself it'll ease in a while when the road changes. i break the race down into blocks but always study the other riders and confirm that they are suffering more than me. try speaking calmly with them and smile. they hate to see you happy (even tho you are on the boil!).

Herbsman

Maybe forget about the evil meter, but just think of the simple equation, pain = power. When it's hurting, just big yourself up, feed yourself compliments, boast to yourself, take sheer pride in the amount of power you are producing, and how awesome it feels to be generating such wattage. To partake in such self-admiration and -aggrandisement may be considered arrogant and cocky, and could lead to overconfidence, but these are qualities that are beneficial in cycle racing. The more it hurts, the more of a big, bad, energy-producing powerhouse you are. Respect!

dw300

Herbsman wrote:

Or if you can't imagine yourself as a murderer just think that whatever pain is in your legs is being inflicted on whoever is trying to hold your wheel (whether real or imaginary). Concentrate on making that person suffer. Project the pain onto the other person rather than thinking of it as something that's happening to you.

YES!!!

:twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

mattshrops

I ask for the baby jesus to help me.

whojanicanackerov

Some good stuff here!!

SBezza

It really depends on whether it is in training or racing, they need completely different mental attitudes from me.

Racing is easier in one respect, although the pain might well be higher, the result of the race and how it affects various outcomes of year long competitions means it is easy for me to block out the aches and pains (though not always, I have binned races due to severe pain before, though normally the time has usually suffered by this time as well). I know full well all of my competitors are suffering as well.

Training is another ball game however, there is no instant gratification of a result/win/PB etc, and the pain endured is part of a long 3/or 4 month process of getting better. This takes a mental focus that in part is a bit of MTFU, but I also think about previous race results, and what I have achieved through working hard. Knowing the hard work and pain you put in during training will have a positive outcome come racing makes the enduring of pain and discomfort a little easier. I visualise successful races, and how I felt afterwards and this dulls some of the sensations.

okgo

I dunno, doing a new power PB for a duration or loop is up there with a result in a race for me but then I am sad.

SBezza

okgo wrote:

I dunno, doing a new power PB for a duration or loop is up there with a result in a race for me but then I am sad.

I never do that sort of thing, my power PB's are set in races normally, so never try and beat them in training

okgo

I suppose you do more TT's than I, its very rare to set a new power pb for me in a road race. In fact I've never done a road race that has been as hard as one of my training rides (when going for it). But that is probably indicative of the level of races I'm riding.

phreak

I see this as much a part of training as the physiological stuff. Don't have links to hand but I'm fairly sure I've read several bits of research showing that our mind tells us to stop a fair way before our body actually needs to, so training the mind to keep going is a very useful skill to have.

GiantMike

phreak wrote:

I see this as much a part of training as the physiological stuff. Don't have links to hand but I'm fairly sure I've read several bits of research showing that our mind tells us to stop a fair way before our body actually needs to, so training the mind to keep going is a very useful skill to have.

So true. If I was training I would ride X hard for Y minutes. If I was being chased by an assassin I'd ride X+ hard for Y+ minutes and that nagging voice in my head wouldn't keep chipping in telling me I should just stop and have a cup of coffee and a bun.








mmmmm, buns.

joe.90

Imagine that when part of you starts screaming, wanting you to quit, that part is everything bad abut you, your negative side.

Keep your mind strong and do not let that part take over.

Almost as if you are a schizophrenic, fighting not to let your weak mind take over.

GiantMike

Herbsman wrote:

Or if you can't imagine yourself as a murderer just think that whatever pain is in your legs is being inflicted on whoever is trying to hold your wheel (whether real or imaginary). Concentrate on making that person suffer. Project the pain onto the other person rather than thinking of it as something that's happening to you.

I did a variation of this today. I closed my eyes and imagined that each pedal stroke was me stamping on somebody. Then I got a really clear image of George Michael* and I was stamping on him, over and over again. Cheered me up no end.

*If George ever dies of stamping, I've got an alibi!

Edited because I carnt speel

whojanicanackerov

GiantMike wrote:

Herbsman wrote:

Or if you can't imagine yourself as a murderer just think that whatever pain is in your legs is being inflicted on whoever is trying to hold your wheel (whether real or imaginary). Concentrate on making that person suffer. Project the pain onto the other person rather than thinking of it as something that's happening to you.

I did a variation of this today. I closed my eyes and imagined that each pedal stroke was me stanmping on somebody. Then I got a really clear image of George Michael* and I was stamping on him, pver and pver again. Cheered me up no end.

*If George ever dies of stamping, I've got an alibi!

Please Don`t tell me you were listening to Wham at the time!! That would be more pain to deal with :twisted:

phreak

Can't believe no one's mentioned their inner chimp yet.

mattshrops

Training is for learning how to handle pain(amongst all the other things)

If you can sit in your shed and smash out a performance with ice on the ground and no glory to be had, well, come summer........


(Pedant alert-yes you could be overtrained by summer, as you could also be undertrained-far more likely)

whojanicanackerov

phreak wrote:

Can't believe no one's mentioned their inner chimp yet.

Pigtail

I don't know if I lack imagination, have a high pain threshold, or just don't 'read' my own body very well, but I don't find riding my bike painful. Much of the time I think I can pretty much empty my head of everything and just keep going.

pcb24

Having a goal helps and keeping your mind focused on it (whether that may be keeping above a certain speed on a section or watts). That can help distract from the pain. Research has shown that the area of the brain that deals with pain can become enlarged when we think of pain alot. Hence I would use distraction to take the mind away from it.

Herbsman

Pigtail wrote:

I don't know if I lack imagination, have a high pain threshold, or just don't 'read' my own body very well, but I don't find riding my bike painful. Much of the time I think I can pretty much empty my head of everything and just keep going.

Have you tried pedaling harder?

Pigtail

Herbsman wrote:

Pigtail wrote:

I don't know if I lack imagination, have a high pain threshold, or just don't 'read' my own body very well, but I don't find riding my bike painful. Much of the time I think I can pretty much empty my head of everything and just keep going.

Have you tried pedaling harder?

I've tried very little else since I started cycling a couple of years ago. All of my time on a bike is committed to going faster.