Governing Principles: Quality Time

It is interesting for me to think that 'mileage' was once the title of this blog in light of the circumstances that I am planning on banishing that concept from my mind space.

I'm guilty of mileage obsession: an unhealthy fascination with the distance I move my body in the semi-forward direction.

To be clear:  my goal in 2012 is to race better, NOT log  extreme miles.

To be clear:  I'll probably log extreme miles, but this is only a consequence of a paradigm shift from distance to time.  Mileage happens as a product of concentrated will.

Quality time:  this is my sole concern.

The most successful hours logged in a week can be spent on bike performance, sometimes on lactate threshold work, and sometimes on long slow, miles.  Notice, only two out of the three deal with logging actual miles.

So the first step in banishing this mis-step in my self evaluation is to fess up and acknowledge that I am a mileage junky.

I develop a sense of self worth from bragging about high numbers of miles.

There I said it.  And it sounds f@cking even more crazy out loud.  Try it.  Are you a mileage junky?

Did you forget what training is about in your perspective, too?

It's about spending quality time with your body and self as you ready yourself for a specific event.  Or not even for an event.  It's about the workout, start to finish -- one workout at a time. 

Miles are a subset...the event the super set of your 'being' while training.  Period.

Of course I will go on 18 or 42 mile runs, but I will not log every single mile on it as if that guaranteed my success.

Concentrated Efforts of Will. CEW.  That is the unit I'll be measuring 2012.

CEW = are periods of time where my body and mind are fully focused on co-development.

F@ck the System: Don't stir your coffee!

I was just making my favorite-est most refreshing beverage.  Pom juice (blueberry flavored) + sparkling water.  And on sparkling water I sometimes splurge!  I try them all.  I'm a man of the world.

Sometimes after paying 3 dollars for a liter of sparkling water I drink my favorite-est most refreshing drink in a wine glass.  I don't drink anymore.  So this would be my most fancy beverage, I guess.  So I indulge.  I'll sometimes drink 8 glasses a night and can still drive, and am only more hydrated.

Anyway, what does this have to do with 'f@cking the system'?

Coffee.

Allow me to explain.  I was just noticing how lovely my drink looks in a pint glass.  Dark rich purples on the bottom softening into disparate strains of clear up top.  Beethoven underneath Arvo Part!

I realize now that for the last 10 years I've refused to stir my coffee before drinking it.  Sugar, cream, hell even, powdered milk...I just shake the cup a bit if absolutely necessary!

Why?  Homogeneity is boring.  F'ing boring.  I want my drink to change flavors as I imbibe it.  I want the last sip to pack a whallop of whoop ass in the form of un-diluted sugar!  I want my first sip to be nothing but cream. I want to be scared to death of what the next sip brings!

Life is a little short to be frightened of surprises.  Does the 'system' (whatever that is) teach you to fear change and to therefore fall into place.  I don't know.  That is for minds with a better understanding of the world to let me know.  I just have my suspicions.  Healthy ones.  Healthy suspicions are like the vitamins that keep us all honest.

But ultimately, for what it's worth, this guy here is starting a full blown rebellion by not stirring his mixed beverages!

How do you question authority?

Abundant Universal Love

If all available love on the planet that has not been called dibs over gets channeled somewhere, maybe it's through my straw at Lanikai Juice.

The smoothie is the universe condensing down its intrinsic goodness into a medium that gets transferred via tubular plastic and vacuums.  Everything you need to love and live right there in a cup.  (Alas, maybe we can find reusable solutions here?)

Just sayin'.

Lanikai Juice is the first stop on this transport of nourishment and wellness.  Mad props where they are due.  Thank you!

EpicMan Follow Up: Part I

Some events need some distance between them and their telling.  EpicMan was one such event.  It ranks as one of my greatest athletic performances...I'm surely nothing but proud of my DNF.

The reason?  Ambulance rides are easy.  They are a burden on all your health care costs, too.  I'll own my limits and avoid the drama for us all.  In 2012 I want to do less harm in the world.  Maybe I wised up enough to be part of a solution, not a problem.

That said:  I'll just get more and more fit.  Simple. 

Hats off to a race that breaks me in half and gets nothing but praise.

I'm going to leave things at that for now and will revisit as my mental faculties return.

For now just be sure to keep an eye out for Kelly, the woman who left every man in the dust and won the event.  Chick'd power right there.  Mad props and love to her.  I'll spend my career trying not to get Chick'd if she's in the race.  Love it!

Travel the world to get back to your front porch.  Sometimes a DNF makes a journey out of what would just be a race.