During my 3rd ascent, I started to feel some doubts about whether I’d finish. I was still recovering from going a bit too fast the ascent prior. The sheer number of vertical feet ahead felt daunting.
I leaned on my experience from running to change my mindset.
I was no stranger to interval training - and when you do a set of intervals, the first 1 or 2 are, of course, hard.
But the real challenge comes from how daunting it feels to look at how many intervals lay ahead.
It often feels borderline impossible. But then you get on the line, and you do it again.
And again. And again.
There’s always more to give than you think.
I knew the same applied to 29029. The trail to the top was long, and thinking of 4 more to go was daunting. But I knew, every time I got off that gondola, as long as I started climbing again, I could make it to the top.
Now I know what you're thinking: "Daniel, your math is wrong. You said you finished 3, but that there was only 4 to go... Isn't Whistler 8 ascents?"
That leads into another strategy, stolen from my running experience: the last rep is free.
If I had a block of 12 intervals to do, I’d tell myself there were only 11, because I knew, as long as I made it to the beginning of the last rep, I could finish the workout, no matter how grueling.
The last one is always free
Same thing on the mountain.
I spent the whole time telling myself Whistler was 7 ascents, because I knew that as long as I got to 7, I’d be able to reach 8.
I kept climbing.