Training with adrenalin?

Fat Hack said:

Yeah, I'm trying this thread again.
I'm wondering if creating an adrenalin-fuled, competitive training situation would achieve a superior training effect?

Like perhaps some sort of pursuit with deadly weapons?... hmm interesting possibilities and maybe there is some purpose then to the extensive thread on the Equipment forumn about carrying guns while cycling. Then again some of the motorbikes that blast by inches away on hill climbs certainly get my adrenalin going but I'm not sure they make me any faster.

I've noticed when I'm chasing someone in a fast, very competitve group ride, I can ride like a man possessed -- there's like the motivation of a chase -- and I wonder if this type of riding makes me stronger than plodding along on my own at whatever % heart rate

there may be something to be said for a "fired up" state, may depend on one's personality type. but i look back on some choice cycling memories and notice they were "in the zone" kinda experiences at times.
sure, their was gritty determination, agression and suffering, but there was also this great focused calmness.
the great contradiction of winning, as connie carpenter related it, was that it was hard and easy at the same time. and winning here is relative, this can apply to any goal, such as hangin' with the ride...
plus i was told, yes early on, that racing conditions bring out aggression in some racers, verbal and otherwise, and we should ingnore it as it wastes energy.
however, if the guy is so agressive he fights you over a wheel and won't back down to flaring elbows and hips, that is the wheel you want when it counts, because he probably wont sit up and get boxed in.

Fat Hack said:

Yeah, I'm trying this thread again.

Most of us have probably noticed that we can go harder in a race or competitive training situation, and I'm guessing it has a bit to do with adrenalin or other hormones doing a bit more when we're "fired up", riding very aggressively

I'm wondering if creating an adrenalin-fuled, competitive training situation would achieve a superior training effect?