Whiting Luge Redemption

Yesterday I went on a quick Whiting-Luge ride with Corby and Matt. I really wanted to ride faster and push more than I normally do. That was the goal. Quite a while ago the idea of just _finishing_ a ride stopped being interesting. Of course I could finish. So the new question was: How fast can you do it?

I've come to realize that on most of the rides I go on I don't push myself very much. I think I've reached a certain fitness level and I tend to keep myself at a certain pace on every ride so as to minimize pain and suffering during and after the ride. That's great if my goal is to stay the same. Obviously I want to grow.

I think I haven't been pushing hard lately because I had learned not to. I remember going to Peter's Canyon once and pushing as hard as I could up Big Red. I got to the top and was sick for 20-30 minutes. I had gone too hard and blew up.

Also I can think back to training for Counting Coup and fighting cramps on every single ride. Turns out that was a function of my huge saddle, but it stuck in my head as a consequence of pushing too hard.

So all that said, I think I need to push harder more often. I have a good saddle now, I know how to take care of myself nutritionally and I think I'd rather blow up because I pushed too hard instead of not trying.

The reason for this post is that I was inspired yesterday but what was a fairly fast pace for me on Whiting-Luge. I pushed and didn't fall apart. I didn't cramp and I feel pretty good today - the day after the ride. It made me want to try harder more often.

We'll see how things go.