“I can’t do ___” has an entirely different meaning than “I won’t do ___”. When you strip away all the BS, the excuses and the posturing the difference boils down to a matter of choice.
Most often when you hear someone state “I can’t do this” what they really mean is “I won’t do this”. They have made a choice.
“I can’t train that much because I don’t have the time” really means “I won’t make the time because it is just not that important to me”
“I can’t do that because I don’t know how” translates to”I am too lazy to seek out the instruction or do a little bit of research on my own to master that”
“I can’t do that last rep/set/ interval” actually means “I am not willing to really push myself and commit”.
It’s a mindset.
The Can’t vs Won’t discussion has come up a lot recently. It sprang to mind during a ride this week which involved hill repeats on a local climb called El Dorado. El Dorado is a half-mile climb that averages 13% with pitches much steeper. There is no easy ride up El Dorado. It typically takes me somewhere between 3:50 to 4:00 to do and has become a regular part of both my and Logan Owen’s training diet the past few years. The warm up consists of about an hour rolling it in Z2 to 3 (power) to get to El Dorado then 4 to 5 ascents (sometimes 6) of the climb. It is nearly impossible to climb El Dorado in anything less than Z5 (VO2 Max) and typically you end up in Z6 (anaerobic capacity) because it is so steep. After doing the set number of ascents I roll home steady state in upper Z2 to low end Z3 and toss in a couple of sprints at the very end.
I did this ride a couple of weeks ago and felt great. All of the repeats were pretty consistent from the first one to the last and much quicker and at higher watts than what I have done in the past this time of year. I felt so good I even added a short loop towards the end of the ride which allowed me to do 4 max effort sprints on a slight uphill about 300 meters in length. From both a numbers and “feel” perspective that ride was one of my best of the year. I also wasn’t completely wrecked after it.
This week was almost the exact opposite.
As I was rolling out to El Dorado I felt ok. The first ascent was pretty good, almost exactly the same as my first a few weeks ago. Power numbers were good, time was good but the internal-body-monitor-warning-light was flickering. I hadn’t felt good. Ascent #2 was only slightly slower time wise but at the top just after the effort I felt spent. Then came #3 and the wheels came close to coming off completely. There was no power in the engine room. It was so bad I felt like I might not even make it to the top. The warning light wasn’t flickering anymore, it was on. My training partner Ward commented that I really bogged down noticeably towards the top. My time was 15 seconds slower than the first ascent and the average power was down 30 watts. I almost came to a stop just after the top trying to regroup. Ward asked if I just wanted to call it and head home. I didn’t answer. I was seriously thinking about pulling the pin. It probably wouldn’t be a bad idea. I felt like shit. OK, I was still able to do a 4+minute effort at an average power in Z6 but I felt destroyed doing it. Sometimes you just don’t have it. You just can’t do the effort. Then I decided. I was going to give myself a little more recovery time and dial back the push up El Dorado but I was going to go again. After all, what’s another 4 minutes of pain? So I did. Yes it was the slowest of the day (in quite awhile actually) and the average power was way down BUT it was still in Z6. It was at the very bottom range of my anaerobic capacity but it was still there. Mission accomplished, even if just barely.
I proceeded to roll it home with Ward. I sat on the wheel a bit more than I usually do and I didn’t pull quite as hard as I normally do when I was on the front. I also completely nixed the idea of doing any sprints at the end figuring today was a day I just needed to cut bait and move on. I just didn’t have it and it probably would be best to live to fight another day. I made a choice. But it was a choice made after examining the data coupled with a knowledge of self. It was a choice of “I can’t do any more” because I knew that more would not be better rather than deciding I “won’t” because it hurts too much and I am just not willing to push myself just a bit more.
Can’t vs Won’t. Learn the difference and decide if you really can’t do something or if you have just decided that you don’t want to really try.
