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TODAY’S TRAINING INSPIRATION:
SIMON WHITFIELD

For today’s inspiration, we need look no further than the performance of one of the world’s finest triathletes. As much he is considered a world class performer in the sport, what makes Simon Whitfield exceptional is that he seems to have a separate level of will, endurance and pain tolerance that he saves only for the most critical moments of the most critical races.

Remarkably, he has displayed this “extra gear” of the mind and body – one that few individuals possess to this degree – on multiple occasions, at multiple Olympics.

A relative unknown in the triathlon at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, he appeared to be out of gold medal contention extremely late in the race.

At a point where everyone’s legs are shot from endless miles of swimming, biking and running, Whitfield appeared to literally turn on the afterburners and sprinted for an extraordinary stretch of road, closing the gap between himself and the seemingly uncatchable gold medalist.

He dug deep and found a kick for the final leg of the triathlon – running through an unimaginable sea of lactic acid in his legs – that allowed him to speed past established legends of the sport, becoming one himself in the process.

Oh yeah, and eight years later he did the same thing to capture the silver.

ON TO TRAINING….

Today, I am sicker again for the third straight day. Still not too sick to move, though, so it’s time to see if I can bring down that 5K time again.

There may be some coughing and hacking involved, but I’ll be damned if I am not going to be able to give it hard for 20 minutes (hopefully less) without acting like a puss.

In the words of Duke Evers in Rocky IV: “No pain. No pain.” He was also called Tony interchangeably in the series of films, depending on the particular movie. I predict that for Rocky 7 he will return as “The Symbol formerly known as Duke and Tony.”

I will set the stage with what has become my mantra the last few days: This is going to hurt…

TODAY’S PERFORMANCE

5K Run Time: 19:24

iPod songs during the training run (custom):
1. Survivor – Burning Heart
2. John Cafferty – Hearts on Fire
3. Survivor – Burning Heart
4. Jermaine Stewart – We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off (Ultimix)

TRAINING NOTE

Did the first two miles at 10 mph. Wanted to slow down to 9 mph earlier but made myself stick it out. Once I dropped down to 9 mph it took a while for my body to start treating that speed like the resting period it usually does. I finally felt recovered with about 0.2 miles left and sped back up to the maximum for that remainder of the distance. It was painful, but I took a few more seconds off of my 5K time again. Hopefully this continues, but my back is not happy with me.

What did Duke say again? Oh yeah. No pain…

INSPIRATIONAL CLIP

For today’s clip, what else would it be? Simon Whitfield’s legendary and inspiring sprint to the finish at the 2000 Olympic Games.