Tuesday, 04 October 2011

I will begin to start posting my training everyday. Sort of a diary. I hope my buddies will be reading this to get updated with my training. I'm pretty sure they will. They enjoy seeing me get tortured(lol).

I will be posting workouts with pictures and data. Anything I have done in the outdoors I will be measuring it with my Garmin watch. I will post a link to the data itself. Pictures are worth more than a million words, but while I'm working out the last thing on my mind is taking a picture. I'll do my best to get them here.


                           Head quarters


These are some pictures of my "head quarters" or better known as my room.


                     Long Term Calendar: I can see how many months until my "A" race

                     Bulletin board: Magazine cutouts - stretching plan

                          "Desktop": calendar - training schedule - books - magazine - training diary

                          "Garage" : My road bike and tri bike - mirror to workout

               Trigger Point therapy: What keeps me running, literally!

Does it take you closer to your goal?

I wish I knew how to start this blog off. I usually have something that inspires me to write. But not today.

    Today something happened that blew my mind. I was with a buddy of mine watching some T.V. Some commercials came up and I said something. My buddy started to laugh................I didn't laugh.
I remarked something that I was going to do. I guess to my friend it was impossible for me to accomplish it.
Conclusion----------> Anger. Frustration. More anger.


       It has been a while since someone has told me I can not accomplish something. Reason why I have kicked those people out of my life. No need to have negative influences in my life. Something either takes you closer to your goal or farther. Nothing in your life will influence you to stay in the same line. Remember when you hang out with x person that likes to drink every day and hang out late will either take you closer to your goal or farther. We all have our weaknesses. It can be a person, thing, food, or place.

PERSON- Be careful who you hang out with. Choose your friends wisely. Friends are people that truly care about you and push you to become successful. Someone that will pace you on their bike for 2 hours while you are running is a true friend. Someone that invites you to hang out every night just because they are "bored" is not, especially after you tell them you have to wake up early to train. Remember there are people who prove the quote "misery loves company."


Thing - Personally I can not own a video game system. Why? I would be playing Call of Duty every day, all day. I love video games but I love to train more. Sacrifices has to be made. Some people have self control and play once a week. But not me. Everyone has different weaknesses. Pay attention to them. After you find it, FIX IT! Eliminate it. Sacrifice it. Throw it in the garage. If it doesn't take you closer to your goal, it takes you .........farther.



Food - This is a biggy. EVERYONE eats. Most of us enjoy it a bit too much. Haagan Daz Ice cream kills me. Cookies and cream to be precise. Love it! I can eat it every day starting from breakfast to midnight snack. Solution? I keep it as far away from me as I can, or at least I try. Sometimes it isn't easy to spot what is our food "enemy."  It can be that we drink soda or juice with every meal. Let's think about this. If we drink 2 cups worth of juice, that have 100 calories per cup, with every meal we are consuming....calculating..... 600 calories per day. That is equivalent to another meal, a little over a big mac. WATCH what you eat. Literally look at what you eat.....turn it upside down.....open it up......shake it.... and ask yourself "Does this take me closer to my goal?"


Place - Bars. Clubs. Park. Your house. Friend's house. Work. Reading these places I have mentioned must be a bit confusing. The first two are understandable. The rest are like "Whaa?" My house is very comfortable. I have a couch you would fall asleep in minutes. The wall colors are very pleasant to look at, but does not motivate anyone to go run. People have walked into my house and have asked "how do you not sleep all day." Park? When I go to the park the last thing I think about is running. I play handball with some buddies. Handball does not help my training.  Some days I decide to chat it up with my brother. I go to his job. I always end up overstaying my visit and missing some workouts for the day. Analyze what places you go to that motivate you to reach your goal. It can be the gym. Maybe a running track. Trails are beautiful to run on. Follow those places in your daily routine. These places will take you closer to your dream and your success.


     Going back to my friend that laughed at me. Now that got me pissed. I will take that negativity and put it into my workouts tomorrow. Something positive has been born from something negative. I have made it that way.......Why?




"Does this take me closer to winning a triathlon? Does this take me closer to placing in my age group next year in the NYC Ironman?"


Ask yourself      " Does this take me closer to _____________________"

Substitutions:
A) breaking my PR
B) Wining the race
C) being a happier person
D) *CUSTOM ANSWER* FIll the blank

A Runner's High

       A Runner's High. Some of us have experienced this, but not everyone. How do you get it? I am no scientist so I can not give you any scientific data to explain this. But I will tell you this. It isn't a myth. It really can happen. You need to push you limits.

     Push my limits?
    
      Limit: A point or level beyond which something does not or may not extend or pass.(google search)


                              Who or what determines the limits to your body?




      YOU DO! That is the beauty of all this. Nobody can tell you that you cannot accomplish something. The only person that can tell you that you cannot is yourself. 


    Soul controls the mind-----------Mind controls the body----------Body does.....




     Running where you thought was not possible. You have never ran this much. You have never ran this far. 




BOOM...BOOM...BOOM...BOOM         Heart beat speeding up


CRUNCH...CRUNCH.....CRUNCH          Your feet hitting the ground


               You want to stop. Your body begs you to STOP! 



 WAIT!!




You just have a few more miles to go. This is the most you have EVER done. Why stop here?




COMMON PUSH


It hurts too much! 


AHH AHH AHH AHH  


 All you hear is your breathing





A LITTLE LONGER!!




Something is happening. You can't stop. Your stride becomes effortless. The pain is gone. You run faster.


WTH is going on!?


I'm flying? something is carrying me. 


*you look down*

You notice your feet are on the ground. But you don't feel it.


Feelings are carrying your legs forward


Fireworks in your heart


It doesn't make sense! That is what makes it so special. Life doesn't make sense. And it is alright. Life is amazing. Problems? There aren't any




YOU JUST RAN AWAY FROM THEM




At this point you become life. Things that surround you don't make your life. But your being does.












                                  You thought you lived?  

I'm tired of comeback stories...screw the pros!

    

    I have heard of so many comeback stories these past few years. Lance Armtrong is probably the biggest story. Retired from cycling he decided to come back and try to win The Tour de France. He came 3rd place but was not happy with that result. This motivated him to build the best team money can buy. Team Radioshack. It had big shots like Chris Horner, Levi Leipheimer, Andreas Kloden, and a few others. He went in The Tour de France very confident, but lady bad luck was on his side. He had a few crashes and this killed his lead and time. Alberto Contador took the victory again. Lance has retired but still trying to make a comeback. Rumors are that he will be competing in a random triathlon of his choosing.

                    ENOUGH OF LANCE ARMSTRONG


          It is my time. It is your time. As athletes and humans we tend to look at everyone else and not ourselves. We seek perfection and compare ourselves to "that". "That" can be a certain time, a certain athlete, a certain look, six pack abs, latest bike, it can be anything. And until we accomplish to attain that then we feel like we aren't worth it. 


                                                   Why do we focus on the pros?


         We go to races and see the pros come in first place. They have the sickest bike on the course, those matching oakleys, the sponsors on their tri suit, and their slim (less than 10%body fat) bodies. Looking at them as if they were Gods. I'm not trying to take away what they have earned. They have worked many hours and hard hours to accomplish what might seem as the impossible. But we are in a selfish sport. We try to make it seem as if we were doing something selfless by signing up with a foundation and giving a huge donation. 


                     Selfish


These foundations help certain people (ex. Livestrong, Team for kids). It is a beautiful thing if you can donate and help others but that doesn't make our sport a less selfish one. 

               Getting back to these Gods. Forget about them!


Let's focus on ourselves. Don't worry about their time, what they wear, how they look, what they do, and how they talk. 


                                     
                                           
                    LOVE     THE     MOMENT


      There is a quote that says "I do not regret the things I have done in my life, but those that I haven't done when I had the chance." How true is this. If you really love what you do, nothing will stop you. 


     Ladies and Gentlemens! Go out today or tonight and Love the Moment.  Enjoy it and let the joy of doing it show. Let your aura spread everywhere you go, write, speak, and breathe. Let people know that you love it. Motivate others to follow their dreams. I ask everyone here reading to      


                 STOP!
                         
     Take a deep breath. Close your eyes. Slow your mind down. Let the muscles in your face and head relax. Let your arms hang by your side, Take a deep breath again. NOW feel your heart beat.

--------->  Imagine yourself where you want to be. It can be passing a finish line, or running next to your rival and passing him(remember to keep your eyes closed). Opening your own cafe. Writing for television shows. Passing the test to become FDNY. Getting a promotion. Running the qualifying time for Boston marathon. Finishing your first triathlon. Breaking your 5k PR.

NOW DO IT!


         Don't think so much. Live the moment which is always now. Don't worry about what you will do tomorrow or what you did yesterday. Focus on NOW.

- Where are you?.....HERE
- What time is it?.....NOW
- What are you?.....THIS MOMENT

(above is from peaceful warrior)


Love. Breathe. Live.

                                                       THE MOMENT