CAN YOU TRAIN FOR PAIN?

You’ve reached that stage in the race or ride where your body refuses to obey your brain. As much as you want to hang on to the back of the group, your body replies: “Sorry, but that simply isn’t possible”. You’ve no choice but to slow down; it hurts too much. As you roll along getting your breath back, you reconcile yourself to the fact your brain was writing cheques your body just couldn’t cash. But is it really that straightforward? What if your mind was overinterpreting the signals from your body which was, in reality, not yet anywhere near its limit?

Is it possible to train the mind to soak up more suffering, giving us the edge over the competition? Successful endurance athletes appear to have welcomed pain into their lives and set it a place at the table – just take a look at the thousand-yard stare of a Grand Tour mountain climber for the perfect depiction of concentrated discomfort. But are these levels of pain-tolerance available to us all? Can anyone raise the