Honestly not in need of a direct answer, just wanted to reflect on how unique cycling is as a sport in the way that it shatters a lot of what he is talking about. It’s a sport that presents you with a lot of limits that you cannot just push through with determination. Maybe another way of saying it is that cyclists already have a lot of experience pushing through mental limits ie cold, rain, don’t wanna eat 1400 calories of porridge for breakfast, etc… But in terms of limit pushing in the sport of cycling it’s kind of happening at a level of excellence far above the scope of mr.goggin’s ideas. For example we don’t see him pushing 7.5w/kg for duration and applying his ideas, as that will run you into a whole other kind of limit. He seems like more the kind of rider that would do a 24 hour trainer ride which is a huge flex no doubt but a totally other thing. Credit to the sport really.
He has done one Ironman (Kona 2008). In that race he rode a 6:04:55 for 112 miles (the course has 5,814 ft of elevation gain). So he was averaging 18.4 mph
Without knowing his bike setup and how hard he was actually pushing it, it’s tough to get a super accurate estimate. But if we figure he is 6’1" and was say 175 lbs at the time of the race and that he was using at least clip on road bars. I would guestimate his FTP at the time was maybe 250-280 watts. And if I had to venture a guess he was maybe 77-80 kg at the time
Comparing FTP doesn’t matter, the intervals feel the same regardless if you are 6 w/kg vs 2 w/kg. Sure one might have better TTE and ride faster at a higher power but “ it doesn’t get easier, you just ride faster”.
So I wouldn’t say normal humans aren’t pushing limits, we can to an extent of our current abilities.
I’m not Pogacar by any means but when I do 120 minutes of sweet spot at 90% I’m definitely pushing my limits lol
He preaches mindset more than anything, imo.
I don’t think cycling shatters anything he’s talking about, I think you miss the reason or the “why”.
It’s difficult for me to agree with your answer because of what endurance training does to the human metabolism. That quote which is attributed to greg lemonde certainly is relevant to his super human VO2 max where he still had to go out there and hurt his legs at the pain level that only a Vo2 of 90 can illicit.
But when you look at graphs like fat oxidation rate vs power as published by ISM you can see quite a lot of evidence that a highly trained individual has many advantages that do “make it easier”
For example the resting lactate level of an untrained sick person is the same as such of a PtA or “pro” trained athlete who is pushing 300w. That does sound a lot easier to me !
I’m calling complete BS on that famous quote. After having a breakthrough season from increasing my volume 30+ percent from the previous year, I can undoubtedly say IT DOES GET MUCH EASIER! I’ve gone faster/harder for longer and it’s easier and more enjoyable. I attribute this to the ability to recover faster, TTE and repeatability.
I get what you’re saying and I haven’t upped my hours that much but pushing my own TTE out, doesn’t feel any easier. Sure I can ride harder for longer a with better recovery, doesn’t mean extending tte is easier.
Since it’s a David goggins thread , he would say “ you’re not working hard enough, if you think it’s easy”,
“Someone out there is working harder than you”.
Not easy, rather easier.
IMHO mentally at least, it is easier to go all out and hang onto the group time and time again, than go all out and get dropped. Or go all out and finish the interval, then the next and next interval. As opposed to going all out and cutting an interval/workout short. So as you get fitter/faster it’s “easier” to get fitter and faster, because you’re rewarded with mental wins, YMMV.