tcovert's Winter 2009 Mentor Group - FULL (Page 41)

you rock scott!  some very impressive stuff.

i swam for 15 minutes last night.  it wasn't great and i struggled but, i got my butt in the pool and moved forward.  thanks for all of your encouragement.

Hooray! Getting in the pool way outweighs the struggling in my book.

Interesting point on training partners.

I do virtually all of my training alone and always have. Really don't like running in groups because there's almost never anyone running at the pace I want to run at. I generally ride once a week with my wife for at least some of my long ride and occasionally run with her at her pace when I can afford an "active recovery" workout. But my experience with other people is that there is as much likelihood they're going to either be a distraction that lowers the effectiveness of a workout or sometimes that they are so much faster than me that it just makes me feel inadequate. But I understand that some people gain motivation from other people keeping them accountable.

Looks like we've got it all covered this weekend--swim, bike, run, and tri.

Have fun and be safe out there, Amber and Morgan.

Me, I'm hoping for my first sub-20 5K (PR...last year...is 20:02). Running a local race in a park where I train almost every week...very flat.

Have great weekend, everyone!

72 miles, 4:15:23.  Brutal

So...last weekend was 80 mile ride for me. Weekend before that was 20 mile run. Finished the "trifecta" this morning with a 4000 yd (2.25+ mile) continuous swim. (Did have to stop just past the HIM mark to add some sunscreen on my back...doing the whole session without my feet touching bottom at all wasn't worth a raging sunburn.) Managed to get it done in just under 2:00/100 pace.

Peak swim week this week...but recovery week on the bike, so followed up with a short hill session with my wife in Griffith Park. Saved my legs for 5K tomorrow.

I am so proud of you for swimming.  And you are right.  We are doing this alone.  We can have all the friends we want but it boils down to the fact this is a lonely sport during training.  My coach says few will ever realize the sacrifice that goes on between race days.  Amen.  Thanks for a great wife.  I love her dearly.  We just had this conversation about how much I appreciate all her support.  She says she understands why I am so driven.  Glad one of us does. :/


Question;

I think I saw it in a post here;  A quote.  Something like; "I do what other men won't do today so I can do what other men can't do tomorrow."

Anyone know what the quote is exactly and who said it? 

Rode yesterday with the Vision Quest folks for the first time.  Learned how to ride two by two, a paceline and then did intense workouts.  Was supposed to do 2X 15 mins at 95 FTP, wound up at 115%.  The coach was very happy as I was.  I didn't get dropped by too much by the youngsters.

Going riding in the rain three hours - alone. ..."I do what other men won't do today so..."

Sub-20 mission accomplished.

I had my 5K today at 19:48.8 on my watch...lots of problems & complaints with the chip timing (my wife's official time is off by easily 30 secs or more), but they had me at 19:51.6 officially, FWIW.

geez, feel the breeze?  that was covert passing...

i can only hope to run that fast in my life, good job todd!

thank you scott; i am very proud of myself and give myself a pat on the back.  i went swimming again today and increased the time in the pool to 25 minutes.  yes!

you are so right about how few realize the sacrifice we put in between events but remember to couple that with working it out so that your partnership stays intact; that is what i find the most challenging; beyond my fear of swimming, that is

excellent work on the ride - awesome.

Official results up:  19:49.8...17 of 806 O/A, 16 of 315 men, 2 of 26 M45-49

Thanks. 

Oddly enough, this makes two 5Ks in a row I was 2nd in my AG...but the last one (last June) was alot smaller.


Oh...yeah...race report is up. 

Edited by tcovert 2009-04-19 10:39 PM

Awesome! Great job out there! Keep it up!

Okay, just having a chance to catch up a bit here ...

Cindy, great job of getting in the pool!  I pretty much echo everyone's sentiments, so the only thing I'll add is that in my opinion, swimming is the easiest of the three to get good at.  Not that you'll be breaking any of Phelps' records any time soon, but you might just find that with a little bit of work, your swimming fitness can increase faster and easier than that of biking or running.  Again, just my opinion ... have fun with the swimming! 

Oh yeah, I also train pretty much solo.  I do go on lunchtime rides with a very experienced cyclist and we move pretty good, but we only have an hour and it's more about getting out from behind our desks for a while than it is to gain an extra .5 mph   Also, I swim with a tri club when I can, but that's more OWS training than it is endurance.  We get out together early Friday mornings just to keep a feel for swimming in the ocean.  Other than that, I go it alone and always seem to get a good workout in that way.

Scott, if I haven't yet mentioned it, sweet new ride!  Enjoy it, and keep up all the great work!

Todd, remember the commercial with Kelly LeBrock for Pantene shampoo in the late '80s?  Don't hate me because I'm beautiful?  Well, I hate you for your speed!   Great job, I'm extremely jealous and while I know it's possible to get to that level someday, I don't know how probable it is.  Congrats ... d'ya get hardware?

As for me, I met a couple of guys named Fred on my tour this past weekend.  Pulled into the parking lot, and next to me was a kid (I feel old saying this, but he was a kid!) getting out of his BMW SUV, setting up his very nice Trek Madone and wearing a full Garmin team kit and brand new Pearl Izumi everything else.  He certainly looked good ... MUST be a team Garmin rider.

Next guy, also named Fred, had a very nice Trek Madone, full Astana team kit, brand new acessories.  Believe me, I was pretty intimidated around real cyclists from teams Garmin and Astana!

Just kind of kidding around, don't mean to be mean and I certainly didn't do more than slightly chuckle to myself at the time.  I'm just more of a non-logo guy unless you are actually part of a team.  Not all logos, just team gear.  I wear a local tri club jersey to all events, but I even feel weird in that at times.  I just much prefer solid colors, but that's just me ...

Oh, and I'm not at all knocking Trek.  I ride a 2.1 and I have a Trek MTB.  Good stuff.

Anyway, it wasn't until the ride that I started to really laugh at the first guy.  He came tearing out, and while the front of the pack set a good pace, we were still pretty much cruising at the front of a 70 mile, hilly ride.  From the start, this guy kept getting out of the saddle to make passes, would bolt up front on the flats, only to get passed again on the climbs.  Not a big deal, but it got kind of annoying after 20 miles or so.  I just wanted to say, "Dude, go easier on the flats and save something for the climbs.  It's not a race."

I eventually passed him on Circle R, which is a pretty good local climb, and never saw him again.  He HAD to have run out of gas the way he was going.

As for me, I also forgot this wasn't a race.  I rode pretty smart the first half, but when I realized I had done the major bulk of the climbing and the rest was either downhill or flat with some rollers, I tucked into the aerobars and kept it at 20mph or above.  I don't know if this was intentional or if I was just super warmed up, but just riding at that pace seemed very comfortable.  My legs and knees were sore, but that wouldn't have been any different if I was going slower.  Last 7 miles was pretty much a sprint ... my whole body hurt and I just wanted off that bike.

I swear, I have total respect for the ability of even the slowest rider on any major tours.  To be able to ride like that, but further and faster, for 7 to 21 days is just mind blowing to me.  Don't even get me started on riding an addtional 42 miles and then running a marathon!

Anyway, that was the furthest I've ridden and I had a blast!  Fred and Fred send their love

Geez Todd you are blazing.  I was so proud to break 30 mins.  I am so proud of you. 

And you too Cindy for staying with it.  The mental stuff is tough.  We just have to break through it and go on.  Once on the other side, it feels so good, doesn't it?   I remember those experiences, and working through mental barriers doesn't seem as hard the next time.  For example, rainy, windy yesterday and I was scheduled for a 3 hour bike ride.  Choice of putting n the rain gear and going anyway or down in the basement with Hogan Hero reruns.  I went out and was so darn happy when I got back.  Smiled all day only because I was willing to do what others won't do today so I can do what others can't do tomorrow.  Wish I could find out who said that.  Won't come up googling.



    

"I went out and was so darn happy when I got back.  Smiled all day only because I was willing to do what others won't do today so I can do what others can't do tomorrow."

Great feeling ... way to attack it, Scott!

I didn't say it, that's for sure   Tried googling as well.  Zip.