Passion, Pace, and Purpose
Something came to me about the pace of life. It sometimes seems like we are rushing to keep pace, catch up, or get done on time. Some people move so fast that they make what they are doing look very easy. It’s not as easy as speculating that those people are at peace with what they are doing. It is a fact that some of them have simply done a particular act so many times that it only looks effortless.
My idea is often to do things at my own pace, in my own time, when I’m ready. It seems Zen-like; there is nothing out of sync, everything in its own time. That seldom turns out to be the best approach. What usually happens is that I am forced to rush and barely make the deadline, I’m attempting to catch up, or I’m late.
When I finish a ride, I am presented with a half dozen statistics, including average speed, average power, average heart rate, and average cadence. Those statistics are often presented as a graphed line over their timeline graphs. This week, the “ah ha” was that average speed drops as some other components increase. While the average speed might be high over most of the ride, a significantly long and steep climb can bring that down very quickly. Meanwhile, the average power output and pulse might significantly increase.
It’s also possible that if one eases up, the power output stays the same or even drops a little. The pulse goes up, but not by much, at least not enough to benefit fitness. But the average speed drops even more.
The opposite is true, too. One can expend an extraordinary amount of effort over a short period, spending a lot of time near one’s VO2 and FTP maximums, and when the climb or sprint is over, the ride is over, too. The matches are burnt, as the saying goes, and the rider must crawl to the finish.
The pace of life is like those trade-offs between physical performance indicators. We have the pace at which we are comfortable, but sometimes, we must increase the stress, increase the pace, and leave our comfort zone to achieve our goals.
But at some point, we must return to equilibrium or suffer physical and mental debilitation. With time and consistency, the pace of life will increase without the need to sacrifice or burn those precious matches. We will tolerate stress better, have less fear, and have longer reserves before we burn out.
I have seen it for a long time, passion drives consistency of purpose, and consistency of purpose builds mental and physical strength. The passion is there within us all, the question is whether we burn it quickly in some futile, effort, waste it slowly over time, or apply it judiciously to bring to life a dream that only we can see.
The Trekking Cyclist 