The Tortoise and the Hare is the worst children's story

 The children's tale of an overconfident hare racing against a humble tortoise is a staple of growing up. I'm sure there are multiple good lessons resulting from the story of the tortoise passing the napping hare for the win, but what stuck around for me was the saying that "slow and steady wins the race". Ultimately a good pacing strategy is a key to winning a race, but it is not a training strategy that will put you in a position to win the "race" in the first place. This mentality has been engrained in North American recreational endurance sport: so much so that people see it as more prestigious to seek out longer and longer distances that require one to go even slower and even steadier. Faster runners and faster cyclists are recognized as being able to hold a steady pace that is just less slow than everyone else. The idea of "steady" leads people afraid to feel even the slightest burn on hills even though they know the downhills wont require much exertion. 

The problem is, the body doesn't really get stronger in response to "steady". It gets stronger in response to being stressed by a hard effort followed by some time to repair. In weightlifting, this idea has reached the mainstream. Nobody goes to the gym and carries around a 30lb weight for the entire hour they are there. No, they lift up heavier weights, put them down, lift them up again, take a break, and repeat with other motions. If they come back the next day, they'll lift with motions requiring other muscles, giving the tired muscles from the day before a break. The loading, unloading, and resting of muscles is anything but steady. Getting stronger requires getting uncomfortable.

People make a lot of sacrifices to be able to spend time outside. Maybe you don't have any racing or ambitions to push to the limit, but perhaps there is an upcoming cycling or running vacation where you plan on tackling a challenging route. You can spend some time now on your "training" activities exploring the fringes of your comfort zone on your own terms, throwing caution to the wind with regards to pacing rather than be forced into the deep end by the terrain too early into an activity while you are supposed to be on vacation. Whether you are racing or not, the steep climb to get up to the funner trails up high (as opposed to the more basic trails along the valley bottom) or the final climb to complete the loop and bring you back to where a nice meal is waiting for you will require you to dig deep, finding a "race pace"