Checkin’ IN!!!
So, Getting this out. Last week started with an emotional discord. Our family lost a 14-year-old + friend in Keoki – our trusty and feisty housecat. Then, after the dealings required with respecting And giving a good friend an exit requisite to the place in our hearts. I then had an issue with the actual Wounds. At initial take, all was well. Liz asked to look at it, that was when things began to go sideways. SO, learning about the communicable disease bite protocol. When I went to Instacare, they by law report the bite wound, even though we had already turned over Keoki to the vet to be cremated. What’s more, I then got visits from local law to identify if Animal control is needed and then I got a call and learned I am responsible for state-mandated testing. Well, add that to the bill. At least the vet was like, this is a pita, but here we are. The gal at least tried to preserve the nature of how we went to remember our friend.
Moving on. I was able to finally get a new pair of shoes. I found a deal I couldn’t pass on for the brand On. The Cloud Flow is the shoe. I went with what was there and I wasn’t too thrilled, but they do look good Once they are on feet. This shoe is awesome for me. Light, yet durable. It’s nimble but rigid where it needs to be to help me preserve form, stress and more. So, once received, I was able to transfer out laces.
So, the DIY projects. Liz and I located a place and we got a split nut for the failing pump union.
Once I finally got that snug, that leak went away, but there was another one down the line. But that one must wait. Why? Well, I noticed some water by the fridge. I chalked this up to either Juniper or Astrid adventures in being independent. Upon closer look, how wrong I was about this puddle. I could feel a squish underfoot, and that is when the realization of what was to come next. To that end, I got to work and started the water abatement, counted the boxes of extra flooring that we had remaining and hoped that it would be enough. After a few hours work, the water source was identified and closed. The floor was pulled back and discarded. I am unclear how long this failure existed but about 20-is square feet of flooring was affected.
So, lessons learned. There is ALWAYS something. The issue isn’t always about the how or the why but controlling what I can control in the moment and at first it was just my attitude. Once I was able to stay in front of that, I was able to help with Liz. Sure, there were still a few critical mistakes and frustrations that manifested from me and from the fringes of both my mood and logic, but overall, I think my wife still loves me. I was hoping that I could concentrate on the leak and splice it back, but I am going to have to deal with that upon my return to home. I am currently sitting in a chair in the air.
A chair in the air. Where did I get that phrase? I recall watching Louis CK, before he made his public human mistakes, and he was on a talk show working a bit.
In that bit, he was sharing with Conan O’Brien I think it was, a few thoughts about entitled travellers. It struck a chord with me. I was one of those whom he ridiculed, and I thank him for doing so. From that point on, I truly saw that the idea of flight is a miracle. Think about it. A few hundred years ago, it was something only stories and myths were built on. A bit further back, and it was a godly behavior to be able to fly. In the bit, Louis went on to tell about how this selfish and negative, nay, destructive behavior and thought was ludicrous. I mean, Wi-Fi in the air, from a plane to be able to be connected everywhere, when just a few short years ago it was deemed untenable if not impossible.
So, one of the phrases in the bit was a ‘chair in the air’. That began a change in my point of views. It began to transfer to the water and in the pool. I began to reduce everything in the pool to 3 simple things.
- Remove all thought and let everything that is not essential to wash away in the swim, and the remaining essential things to be put in a place in my mind where I acknowledge their existence but not necessarily giving it proper attention yet
- As the above is occurring, concentrate on not drowning. This is mainly about my stroke, cadence the type of swim and its overall purpose in the grand scheme of the current training journey or set of goals (if any)
- The only tool I need is a pull buoy
I have found a way to develop healthy and productive patterns that are transferable across disciplines and life circumstances as they present themselves. Life tends to identify my weakest points before I am either aware of them or determined that I am humble enough to accept those weaknesses and they need my attention to become potential strengths.
So, amid all of this. I got out early Saturday at twilight hours for my first activity after a 10-15-day break from all training. See my last post (CLICK HERE). It was clear that I was about to pop, and it needed my attention. That attention, recovery, space and rest were necessary.
I observe many that are in the cult of speed. They enter a space, and the driving force is almost always derived from a driver known as ‘time’. That pesky 4 letter word that is a great tool, but like many tools, misused or mishandled or respected without propriety, then disaster sits at rest patient and waiting to strike and deliver disruption. I was in these crosshairs and my wife and son were my unsuspecting targets. Anyway, the diversion of the floor was good, but not what any of us expected, anticipated or wanted.
Back to the run. I went for a simple 30-minute run. A route I have run many times. A route that alerts me to a few things. What did I learn on this run? First – I need to respect where I currently am at – far from 2017. To that end, I did not let myself go too fast, over look at my watch. Instead, I stopped, listened to my breathing and paid attention to the little things like posture, feeling and trying to identify niggles in my quads, hip flexors etc. The socks I was wearing for the run are over worn and need to be addressed. I was able to stop; look and take some pictures. I was able to be still- or otherwise stated, ‘be present and in the moment’. Some call it carpe diem, others being self-aware, but I am liking the connotation of being still.
My little sister had her birthday on Nov 16 and she mentioned something along the lines of what the correct definition of being at rest, or finding rest meant. The idea of being still is just that and in those lines. It will mean something a little bit different to each person that encounters it, but it is also erringly similar, also. So, to that end, I was able to run along a ridgeline and look across the valley at the majestic Wellsville mountains. They are beginning to turn covered with the coming snows that haven’t yet unleash3ed their furies on our wonderful Cache Valley.
I was able to stop on the way home, and I was pulled aside by a good local mentor. Gustavo. He was the one that helped coordinate the Open Water Swims (OWS) that we coordinated during the summer at both Hyrum Lake and Porcupine. I need to take more time and listen to this connoisseur of endurance sports. He has participated and completed many in the swim, bike and run disciplines including the Full Ironman distance. Note taken, thanks universe.
So, here I sit trying to determine how to accomplish over the next 23-24 weeks an attempt to become Full iron ready. St George will come on May 2nd. Whether Liz’ due date remains the same, changes or requires me to defer to another event, I still need to get iron ready. So, I guess what I am realizing is that I have removed the cerebral approach that I had come to love and use to my advantage, not as a hack, but as a discipline that allows me to not sacrifice my wife and family needs.
So, other things.
I’m shipping to Boston (see video above) and I am looking forward to making time to swim and to run. The runs do not have to be long, but purposeful and 30 minutes or so. My swims will be check-ins and de-stressors like I mentioned above. If I can achieve that, fitness will return, and I will be fresh enough and ready to go peak as needed based on decisions in March. I think as I tend to, I get lost between a few things. The short term and the long term. When I get caught between the two, I slip. This is where a mentor or coach would be good, but it’s not in the cards and Liz’s plate is also too full to help beyond simple things. Being prego with number four is quite different and difficult for her in a different and more mental way, and I anticipate the physical to not be too far behind.
I was able to run into my friend Cevan in the airport today, pre-flight. It was good to run into a kindred soul. In all honesty, something felt a bit off and I feel I fumbled. So, Cevan, if you come across this, my apologies. Yes, I am excited about the OHANA and team zoot, but I also must be honest and determine by the end of this week if I can do it. I think I can, but $$$ is still money and it is a requirement for the ambassadorship to kick off. The deadline is rigid, and I will have to determine that this week.
Well, that is a good check in. Like my friends over at C26, I am realizing separating life, from triathlon, when done in a healthy relationship especially as a hobbyist like me, it is extremely difficult to keep the headspace separate and distinct. Life and family are first, and that dynamic has been seeing very needed attention. I am hoping that I can also add in purposeful activities to re-kindle my base and help me get out of my fat-slide. I am fluffy, it’s not good, and I need to be disciplined. Yes, it is life, but it is still me and I still have a newborn coming in May of 2020 and s/he will expect me to see them well into their 20’s. I do not know if I will be doing triathlon and endurance sports then, but I will and should at least be available to them to be called their Dad. If I can remember that, life will be good.
Again, many thanks to my beautiful life partner, wife, and best friend – Thanks to you Liz!
Activities –
I use the following trackers:
- Garmin Connect (which pushes the files to the following services):
- Training Peaks
- Strava
- and the ones I don’t remember (Map my stuff via Under Armour and things like the Great Bicycle ride initiative stuff)
Honestly, I mainly use Training Peaks as I pay for an annual subscription on it now, and it is the most detailed in data and other helpful information to keep me where I want to go. Use the ‘Links’, then ‘Track me’ section to find and stalk me if that’s your thing.
Relevant Pics
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