another kind of pain cave

[mainemike]

in sailing there is an expression: green room. or, in the green room. its when yer in the ocean and sailing the boat simultaneously. unlike cycling, yer rarely there cuz you tried to get there. you can know its coming, but when it does yer just basically submerged for a bit. see those 2 fellahs on the bow there, prime candidates. forward of the mast is the strike zone and from the cockpit it can pretty wild to see 1 or 2 guys just disappear then reappear, like a magic trick. and its certainly a wild feeling.
what other types of pain caves are there?

[72gmc]

Ever compete in the 400 meters on the track? Approximately 100 meters farther than the human body is meant to sprint, yet you do it anyway. From full vision to walls closing in to swirling spots to the finish line, it's all I can see, not sure I'm even seeing it so much as dreaming it, when will it ever get here. Then it's over and you can't really walk for a bit. I can't claim to have been especially good at it, but I asked the coach to let me run it because I feared it so much--no other distance ever made me hurt like that.

I used to try to push myself that far on skis. Big mountain like Blackcomb, old school 210s, just don't stop even though your legs and lungs are screaming. But I loved that.

[Eddie]

Ever compete in the 400 meters on the track? Approximately 100 meters farther than the human body is meant to sprint, yet you do it anyway. From full vision to walls closing in to swirling spots to the finish line, it's all I can see, not sure I'm even seeing it so much as dreaming it, when will it ever get here. Then it's over and you can't really walk for a bit. I can't claim to have been especially good at it, but I asked the coach to let me run it because I feared it so much--no other distance ever made me hurt like that.

I used to try to push myself that far on skis. Big mountain like Blackcomb, old school 210s, just don't stop even though your legs and lungs are screaming. But I loved that.

This is the 200 freestyle of swimming. It's just about 50 yards longer than you can manage in an near all-out sprint. It's too short to really pace effectively, too long to redline the whole way. When executed properly, it hurts like a bitch, and in that final 10-15 yards, you're only barely conscious of what you're doing.