A Knight To Be

It had never occurred to me to consider what this Cloud was all about. Now I know. It's not about climbing above the clouds, or other astral aspirations. It's not about being high, or similar altitude-related (or dopamine) ambitions. It's certainly not about anything light and soft that carelessly floats where the wind might randomly blow. No, none of those. It's about Winter. It's about Pain and Misery and Agony. It's about Dedication and Consistency and Determination. It's about Commitment and Single-Minded Focus. It is Winter. Dark and cold. The Cloud is a lightning-charged, rain-loaded, heavy cumulonimbus. The sort that rides in slow from the sea, so massive that light cannot penetrate to its base. Looming darkness, low and steady, thunder rumbling far in the distance, as if trying to catch up with the floating behemoth. As it clears past the shoreline, the floodgates open, and rain falls in thick sheets, seeming to flow from an infinite well. The Keepe...

Week 8, 26 days to go. I get that tingling feeling from time to time. No, it's not the beta-alanine OD, although that's fun too. It's when you KNOW that you can go harder than the workout demands of you. It's that feeling of restrained, controlled patience. The sensation of having more to give, even though you don't need to. And when you get that feeling in "A Very Dark Place," then you know you've come a long way. It also hints that a Full Frontal Test is imminent for raising that bar once again for renewed, fresh, Suffering. The Sufferfest - A Very Dark Place - Trailer from The Sufferfest on Vimeo . The value of repeating a challenging workout on the same plan cycle is immense. The comparison, at least in RPE, is invaluable. I could go technical and compare in detail how the two repetitions of A Very Dark Place differ. I did that for The Shovel here: https://suffer.tavor.io/2019/10/mining-courage.html The bottom line is that this ti...

Week 7 I may never discover what Salted Watermelon tastes like. As I soak in this glorious Rest Day (that still includes a recovery spin, Yoga, and MTP), I have time to reflect on the past couple of days. On Monday, I rode " Who Dares ." Now, whenever I see an "FTP" focused workout, I tend to relax. Why? because I find it relatively easy to settle into a rhythm and push on. No workout is going to have me sitting at FTP for an extended period (shut up FF), and a session that's an hour-long, well, can't be that punishing with FTP focus, right? Wrong. "Who Dares" is basically 3x 9.5minute sets of: Sprint > subFTP > Sprint > Grind > Surge >Sprint > Rest The idea is to teach your body to be more efficient at recovery under pressure and clear away metabolites faster. The sprints flood the body with metabolites (lactic acid and its buddies). The following sub-FTP efforts force the body to clear them out while still pushin...