Well, when I'm suffering, I don't call it suffering in my mind. I call that feeling "muscles growing" and I picture that happening. I mean I vividly picture my legs turning into TdF style cyclist's legs.

And I imagine getting dropped. And dig in deep to stay on, and then to get back, and then to pass... even though I'm by myself. This feeling is easily & strongly brought back to me, because I've mostly ridden with men who are mostly faster & stronger than me. In fact, at my spinning class on Saturday, I was killing myself to "keep up" in my mind with the big strong guy next to me, and actually went into an aero tuck even though I knew I was in spinning class & knew that having a smaller profile in the "wind" wasn't really making any difference. Except in my mind, it was.

Or, I wear a heart rate monitor, and it's just a commitment to keeping the number in the range. A fierce commitment, if need be.

And I know that it's just for a short time, so I tell myself "you can keep going... just a little bit more..." Because really, I can. And you can.

It's not hard for me with intervals, because they are intervals, if that makes sense. I know the break is coming in. What I don't get is how people keep themselves psyched up for the unrelenting pace of actual racing.