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Showing posts from 2018

Thankfulness

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It's Thanksgiving! Most of us have so much to be grateful for. Just to sum up a few, we get to live in this great land. We have jobs available. We get to live in the Northwest where the climate is mostly friendly to outdoor adventures of a large variety of things to do from snow to salt water. Hopefully your list of things you are grateful for is extensive. If you can't rattle off at least 10 things right now in your head, you should stop, grab pen and paper, and count your blessings. One thing I am certainly grateful for is you and RTB and it's associates. Because of you all, I get to swim, bike, run, travel, and heckle people while on the race course. And without you, I likely would be sleeping in most every day. But no, people show up at my door and make me go out and do stuff that is good for me even when I do not feel like it. When is the last time you were totally grateful for your health and the things it does allow you to do? Here is a list of points for ...

Most People Don't Realize What They Are Capable Of

Over the years I have seen some people do some pretty amazing things that were at one time considered impossible. Examples are weight loss over 150 pounds resulting in running over 150 marathons in less than 3:30. Lance Armstrong (even if he was doping). Soldiers with one leg blown off qualifying and running the Boston Marathon with a prosthetic. After witnessing feats like that, I look at myself and shake my head in self pity...Then realize if others can do it, you can if you decide to do so. A few years ago I was asked by an elderly gentleman if he thought it was possible to ride STP in one day. My reply was my opinion had little to do with it. His did. Adaptability: Our bodies have a built in adaptability. Our bodies can tolerate changes in pressure, temperature, humidity without having to change a dial. Our bodies adapt to the pressures applied to it. For that reason, someone can change and adapt from sitting on the couch eating Cheetos to racing an event. Or, in 20 weeks, go ...

Everybody Has a Story

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Monday, April 16 was the Boston Marathon. Many were monitoring or watching the race on the athlete tracker or other social media, and keeping up with the weather conditions. It sounded like the weather made the race a challenge to say the least. Qualifying and running the Boston Marathon is a unique challenge. Once you have ran the Boston Marathon, you are part of a club of sorts and will always remember it and probably compare the current race to your past experience. The day after the race I was talking with a famed Boston Marathon veteran, Michael LaCombe. He recalled his experience back to 1975 when he ran it without mile markers (I guess they had not invented them yet). Heidi chimed in saying "Last year was the toughest for me. It was almost 80. I started cramping at mile 14. All I could do was smile and gut it out for the rest of the day". I got to run the race for the first time in 2007, when they had a nor'easter blowing really hard and they almost cancelled...

Heartbreak

“That’s why we do what we do” I love my adventures to the cross fit gym. For me it is fun to learn new skills and build my mental and physical fitness. A few weeks ago I witnessed a very impressive episode of heartbreak.  The Crossfit games are in full swing. One of the competitors needed to do the recommended workout of the day knowing he would have to complete the whole workout to remain competitive. The workout was hard. It was similar to compressing all the uncomfortableness of a 70.3 race into 12 minutes. This nice man started to struggle about 9 minutes into the workout, and with a few seconds remaining had to do a single heavy lift.  The clock ticked down to 20 seconds remaining and he started the lift. He almost made the first lift but failed. He tried it again and was not even close! The third time he went as hard as he could and almost had the weight up..struggling...and the clock strikes zero. Game over. No completed lift. Ouch! That was painful to ...

It’s next year now

A little sleep, a little slumber, and your unfitness will come on you faster than you can eat the next doughnut! If you are like most, over the holidays you had some downtime. Less working out, more time with friends and family and more eating. Now it is the middle of January. It is now time to take our hands out of the cookie jar and get back to work. No more snooze alarms! For me, if I have no race plans, I stagnate and just go through the motions. That is OK for a while. We all need that downtime. I also know if I have events scheduled, something clicks in my head and I go do what I have to do to get ready. So, now (if you have not already) it is time to make plans and sign up. And, if you are happy with your results from last year, good for you! Carry on! But if you are like most, you realize there is always room for improvement. Here are a few tips to make next year the most fun, enjoyable and safe year you have had. • Set realistic goals and expectations. Doing the ...