"Doesn't apply. Track racing is
an aerobic activity, done on a flat groomed surface. Endurance riding
is an anaerobic activity, done on technical courses which are neither flat
nor groomed. HUGE difference."
Well it has been a long
time since I took physics and maybe some rules have changed. So I
went upstairs and got on the bathroom scale. Son of a gun. my aerobic
weight (breathing in and out) was the same as my
anarerobic (holding my breath until I turned blue)
weight. (dang!!)
This experiment leads me
to conclude (sadly I might add) that no matter if you are breathing or not
breathing, gravity still sucks. Breathing or not breathing does not seem to
affect gravity.
Emboldened by this
scientific discovery, I moved on to further and more pertinant study of this
vital issue. I designed an experiment to study the effects of weight at
different distances and on flat surfaces and on hilly surfaces. Be carefull, we
are dealing with science here.
I picked up a ten pound supplement bucket and ran
1/4 of a mile down the relativitly (I had to work that word into any
physics discussion) flat road. It felt lousy. After a recovery time,
then I put a 50 pound feed sack on my shoulders
and duplicated that same 1/4 mile run.... It felt worse.... without a huge
budget for instrumentation to accurately measure how much worse it felt, we are
left with a ballpark phrase of " lots worse"
Again after a longer recovery period I took the 10
pound supplement bucket and ran down a steep hill in my pasture and then
back up to the barn. Again , as I am not a fully trained scientist, and am
working with limited resources here, I cannot accurately measure the
amounts we are dealing with here, but Instead of "lousy" Or "Lots worse", the
hill experiment resulted in " bent over gasping for breath with head between the
legs , and wanting to puke, but too tired to do so.". Now some more nit picky
people would want to more accurately measure heart rate etc.. but for our
purposes this will have to do.
After a still longer recovery period, I put the 50
pound feed sack on my shoulders and ran down the steep hill.... however
the experiment was terminated about 20 feet going back up the hill..... I
dropped the feed sack, lay there gasping for oxygen on the ground
until I got my wind back and then went to the barn for my four wheeler...
...And they say Galileo suffered for science? I never saw any paintings of him
running up and down hills...
This experiment leads me to the conclusion that
weight does matter over distance. We can compensate for this it through training
and preparation, but gravity never quits. It doesn't care what muscles you use
and for how long and if you are on the flat or in the hills... gravity
sucks.
You may attempt to
duplicate this experiment on your own.... however do so at your own risk....
with adult supervison..... but not your spouse... he/she already thinks you are
crazy for doing endurance riding. ....he/she doesn't need to see you doing
this.
