Repost: There's a life lesson in here somewhere

This post originally appeared on Aug 26, 2007.

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BikeMonkey Re-PostA most-confirmedly ex-competitive athlete, I. The formative years, athletically, were the overall formative years and I had the benefit of some formal coaching here and there. One might debate the quality but it was certainly coaching.
I run across the later-life convert to running or cycling, now and again, and there is a common theme. The person who “gets serious” about what-have-you. Marathons, USCF type bike racin’, etc. Being smart and dedicated people they go out and train a whole bunch and usually get pretty decent. Then, there is the plateau. “I want to qualify for Boston, my times are consistent but I can’t get faster”. “I want to do group rides but I’m not fast enough”. “I got dropped from the Cat 5s”.
Intensity.