Elevation and Big Week Training ...

So, It's been a while.

Last weekend the family and I went up to Flagstaff to visit some friends.
(pic is us on San Francisco Peaks.)

I had an opportunity to do my training at elevation (8000 ft.)
Whew ... wiped me out.

Although, I had a wondrously serene 10-mile-run in the forest by Munds Park, running towards Mormon Lake. I saw a huge Elk run across the road in front of me. Awesome.

This weekend, training was crazy.
On Friday, I ran 10 miles, then swam 2+ miles, then rode 30 miles.
On Saturday, I rode for 6-and-a-half hours.
On Sunday I went down to Tempe Town Lake, where the Ironman is held, and watched the SOMA Half-Ironman. Well, actually, I ran 18-and-a-half miles around the lake and watched the race as I ran. I finished the run with two laps up and down A-mountain. Ouch. My legs still haven't recovered. Then I watched the pros fininsh the race. Chris McDonald won and set a new course record of 3:48.

WOW.
A Half-Ironman in 3:48. Crazy!

After the race, I went home and rode my bike for an hour-and -a-half...
.. fell asleep at 7 p.m.
Completely wiped out. Exhausted .. and loving it.

This coming weekend is the hardest and longest of the training period. After this, its taper time. I'm running on empty. Every training session is pushed to the max and i'm waiting for the wheels to come off. I just need to hold it together this last week and all will be well.

Now is the time to focus, hone the mantra and have faith in the training process. I am a machine and I will conquer.

Have a good week. I will be in touch again after this crazy week.
Wish me good vibes and much energy.

Mantra for the week: "Finish Strong."


FYI - my friend Ed is running the Ironman with me and is raising money for a local charity called the Tempe Community Action Agency. If you can help in anyway, that would be awesome. Here is the link:

edtheironman.blogspot.com

Be The Sage

The sage is one who can say "Yes" to Life - under all conditions.
The sage is one who can say "Life is good" - under all circumstances.
The sage is one who is always at home.
The sage is one who needs nothing more or other from Life.
The sage is one who:
sees only Truth,
knows only the Real,
and lives only Now.

With all the craziness happening in the world right now, Focus is of supreme importance. We can choose to see negative or we can choose to be positive.

I will:
Swim to swim.
Bike to bike.
Run to run. To better myself and be positive.

Mantra for today: "Be the Sage. Let life consume you."



FYI - my friend Ed is running the Ironman with me and is raising money for a local charity called the Tempe Community Action Agency. If you can help in anyway, that would be awesome. Here is the link:

edtheironman.blogspot.com

Be Aware!

“Someone once inquired of a Far Eastern Zen master, who had a great serenity and peace about him no matter what pressures he faced:

“How do you maintain that serenity and peace?”
He replied, “I never leave my place of meditation.”

He meditated early in the morning and for the rest of the day, he carried the peace of those moments with him in his mind and heart.”

~ Stephen R. Covey from “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”

Do you meditate?

If not, you should seriously consider sitting quietly for 5-10-20+ minutes a day—connecting with the peace and stillness of your deepest nature and that of the universe.

Let’s remember that the only reason we meditate is to make our LIFE a meditation.

What good is it if we meditate x minutes a day x times per week and we’re an *sshole?

Not very much.

Meditate. Every moment.

Sharpen your focus. Repeat your mantra.

Be Aware. Beware.

Mantra for today: "Slow Down, Be Aware, BUT Keep Moving Forward."

FYI - my friend Ed is running the Ironman with me and is raising money for a local charity called the Tempe Community Action Agency. If you can help in anyway, that would be awesome. Here is the link:

edtheironman.blogspot.com

We Owe it to the Moment: No Reason to be Here at all ...

Energy flows where attention goes
For the gift of the present we owe it to the moment
as above so let it be below
For the grace of the presence we owe it to the moment

No reason no rhyme
Not even to be grateful
No reason to be here at all
The more I learn the less I know for sure
I am reminded
Each new belief is a limit itself to be transcended

Many signals many signs
Appear in sure succession,leaving such impression
So many signals many cycles many constellations
Signs of the times align in infinite progression
Take a slice out of life
Everybodys got to own their own little piece of it
Well hell I've got mine
And now its true I wonder could I really ever do without it?
No victim no crime
So how come they can still call we criminal
So many people doing time
It's easy to get cynical
When there just is not enough justice
There will be those who try to deny and oppose you
There will be others still whose aim is but to use you
Don't let them bring you down, don't let them disappoint thee
Their eyes shall never see the coming of the glory
Sunrise no surprise another spectral morning
Open my eyes to find a brand new day is dawning
Must be the season or the silence
That gives my lovers whispered words the innocence of song birds

Moment, Axis Mutatis, The Shamen

I am grateful to be here now.
All I really need is:

clean air to breath,
clean water to drink,
fresh food to eat,
and my family to love.
Everything else is a distraction/illusion.

Remember what is really important in these perilous times.

Mantra for today: "Keep Moving Forward, One Step at a Time. Don't Stop."


FYI - my friend Ed is running the Ironman with me and is raising money for a local charity called the Tempe Community Action Agency. If you can help in anyway, that would be awesome. Here is the link:

edtheironman.blogspot.com

Be Here Now ...

“Today we come across an individual who behaves like an automaton, who does not know or understand himself, and the only person that he knows is the person that he is supposed to be, whose meaningless chatter has replaced communicative speech, whose synthetic smile has replaced genuine laughter, and whose sense of dull despair has taken the place of genuine pain.
Two statements may be said concerning this individual. One is that he suffers from defects of spontaneity and individuality which may seem to be incurable. At the same time it may be said of him he does not differ essentially from the millions of the rest of us who walk upon this earth.”

~ Erich Fromm

Are you authentically showing up in your life?
Or pretending to be something you’re not?

FYI - my friend Ed is running the Ironman with me and is raising money for a local charity called the Tempe Community Action Agency. If you can help in anyway, that would be awesome. here is the link:

http://edtheironman.blogspot.com/

Get Smart ...

“Whatever we expect with confidence becomes our own self-fulfilling prophecy.”

~ Brian Tracy

Have you ever hear the story about the kids who were accidentally labeled as “smart” or “dumb” and how their teacher’s expectations dramatically impacted their growth in the school year?

Classic story on self-fulfilling prophecies.

The quick version:

School in England. Computer program completely messes up the labeling of kids and literally puts the “smart” kids in the ‘dumb” class and the “dumb” kids in the “smart” class. Oops.

So, teachers start teaching the “smart” kids as if they’re smart and the “dumb” ones as if they’re dumb.

Fast forward 5 months.

They catch the error. And re-test the kids on IQ and other measures.

Guess what?

The truly smarter kids score significantly worse than before. The less intelligent kids? They improve dramatically.

Why?

As the teachers for the “dumb” kids said when asked to explain her teaching experience during the first few weeks of the term: “For some reason, our methods weren’t working,” they replied. “So we had to change our methods.”

Wow.

The data said that these kids were bright. So if things weren’t working, it had to be their teaching methods.

Imagine that.

When the kids had someone who totally believed in their abilities and potential and showered them with optimism and support, they grew.

And if they thought they weren’t too bright? They fulfilled that expectation as well.

VERY (very very very) powerful stuff.

_______________________________________________________________

What expectations do you have in your life?

For your kids if you have them?

For your friends?

For your colleagues?

For your significant other?

And, most importantly (as what you think of yourself is going to be the strongest predictor of what you think of others), WHAT EXPECTATIONS DO YOU HAVE FOR YOURSELF?!?

Let’s create some new prophecies to fulfill, shall we?

This week's mantra: "Slow is smooth, smooth is fast."

FYI - my friend Ed is running the Ironman with me and is raising money for a local charity called the Tempe Community Action Agency. If you can help in anyway, that would be awesome. here is the link:

http://edtheironman.blogspot.com/

Back on Track ...

What is this word "efficiency"?
Sometimes it seems a close cousin to death.
We are encouraged not to linger, not to enjoy life,
to hurry up and get it done so we'll have time for something else.
Something else?
What?

Efficiency the destroyer, millions and millions of living dead,
done in by the electric can-opener, the television, the internet
and the automobile.
Progress is our most important product,
babies are our business,
time is money,
life is cheap.

Modern technology, modern business, the modern state
give us everything we need

except breathable air, drinkable water, real edible food, meaningful work, freedom from fear, freedom to love, freedom to be ourselves, courage, pride, friendship,
hope.
The moral of the story is: don't be in such a hurry.
Beware creeping efficiency.
Slow down and live.

_______________________
So, I am back on track!
My chemical imbalance (what I am calling it), the result from a very fast and hot half-ironman on Sunday, seems to be over.
Food, sleep and a media blackout can do wonders for the soul.
And the endocrine and nervous systems.

It's funny because I actually had one of my best runs, physically, Tuesday morning. But my head was not in the right place. My soul was not in the right place.
And they need to be to realize the full potential of a great workout.
Luckily, we each get a new day to start fresh and new.
My mantra this week: "SLOW DOWN AND LIVE!"

FYI - my friend Ed is running the Ironman with me and is raising money for a local charity called the Tempe Community Action Agency. If you can help in anyway, that would be awesome. here is the link:

http://edtheironman.blogspot.com/