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29-October-2109 \u2013 Logan, Utah Old Man Winter and Mother Nature are bedfellows again!<\/p>\n\n
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29-October-2109 \u2013 Logan, Utah Old Man Winter and Mother Nature are bedfellows again!<\/p>\n
External Resource (Click Here) <\/a> Smart Trainers and Cycling Apps reviewed<\/p>\n Well, If you look at the pic above, you will see that seasons are in conflict and things are definitely in flux here in Northern Utah. Which means the kiddos are full of excitement one moment, and ready to kill the adult and non-kidlets swifter than any manageable time frame. They are fickle, but our kids are generally great kids.<\/p>\n So, I think what I have been struggling with the most is being me. Personally who I am now, compared to who I have been before, and who I just may become. I have adopted the mantra of \u201cUnreasonable expectations are just future resentment\u201d \u2014 thanks to Robbie and Mike. I am also questioning the delivery of this phrasing in workplace philosophies<\/p>\n Work \u2013 Life \u2013 Balance!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I vehemently disagree with how we speak about the topic of work, life, balance and its equation as it pertains to mindfulness or any other context. It is my feeling that we need to \u2018flip the shark\u2019 and address it from a different perspective \u2014 it should be referred to as Life, then \u2018family or your versioning of this context\u2019, then work. Until we transform the context, we will always be a servant to the Master of work and not \u2018life\u2019. Here are two videos to consider:<\/p>\n \n I was interested in this one because it was released in 2015. I guess I am slow to my own party, but I was a bit busy working on me, and aligning myself with life and family!<\/p>\n \n \nThis one is complementary to the previous and takes it a bit further flirting with the context of death and using visual triggers associated to hospital type scenario\u2019s to make the message bite a bit more into the failing hearts of those in comas and not awakened to this need.<\/p>\n I do think the small shift in focus, is really what I have been missing. Liz has been tugging at me in gentle ways to help concentrate on family things well before the arrival of the announcement of kidlet number 4 being inbound. To that end, I began waking up in 2013\/2014 when I was primarily inactive and dulling out to all the beauties of life. Luckily in my travels and working in Europe a series of engagements and events helped me be ready for the adventures of the last few years. I have shared my Transformation Tuesday<\/a> stories a bit and how those events led to many diverse awakenings both life-related and family-related. The least of which, the work-related ones, became frustrating enough that I was no longer willing to allow my boundaries to be compromised.<\/p>\n I was asked this last week how do I do certain things. I had to reflect. I didn\u2019t have any epic response but I gave two answers \u2013 <\/p>\n Look, I\u2019m 45 and still haven\u2019t got things all figured out. I\u2019m building the plane as I fly it, so-to-speak when it comes to parenting and keeping my wife and family at the forefront. I am nowhere near perfect, but I hope I have come to learn and know when to allow growth to happen. At times, I still miss it, and am grateful for the kindness and grace offered to me by those who support me most (wife and close family and friends).<\/p>\n That being said, I have had a few good swims lately. Again, they aren\u2019t epic, and I am looking to rediscover my swim fitness. I got to swim next to a local friend on Saturday, Louise. She reminds me of what community is all about. She\u2019s a retired police officer and has always been a great example to me despite whatever things, challenges, etc she is going through. She is a great swimmer and offers me a humbling view of how much better I could be, not that I am comparing, but despite the gap in our abilities, she is kind and encouraging and offers advice when asked.<\/p>\n I am learning that \u2018free advice\u2019 is truly worth just that. I joke with folks to take what they need and discard the rest, even though I often witness what they discard is often the most valuable. I am learning over time that they will get there, and hope that what they discarded is still available on the roadside of life when they circle back. What do I mean? <\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n So, looking at my swims, my annual numbers are as follows (in yards)<\/p>\n Now, to an off-the-street eye, the annual totals don\u2019t mean much. But what you don\u2019t see is the focus of my swim time is actually heading toward an event in the first 2 weeks in March. I started tracking my swims in March 2015. I got a watch that could do that. So the actual begin point isn\u2019t January 1, rather it is more like June 1. Bottom line. I discovered a group that was healthy for me. The Crushing Iron guys, Mike and Robbie had just started podcasting and took on a topic they referred to as \u201cHow to not suck at swimming\u201d \u2014 find the series here:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Then after listening to I think the first two episodes above, Mike and Robbie put together this video:<\/p>\n \n What I really needed was a \u2018shift\u2019 in focus about this thing known as swimming. As an older swimmer, well, an older person trying to not drown, I had a lot of \u2018bad\u2019 and a lot of things that drills wouldn\u2019t correct quick enough. So, I took the advice, and started to use this little thing known as a \u2018pull buoy\u2019\n<\/p>\n I will tell you, I don\u2019t use any other tool, I just swim with this and do check-ins with swimming 25\u2019s, 50\u2019s and 100\u2019s without this thing. At first, I swam faster with the P\/B compared to without. Last night though as an example after swimming 3 x 500\u2019s I swam 2 80 percent effort 100\u2019s without at 45 seconds per 50 yards. I was warmed up but a bit tired and able to swim a strong 1:30 min per 100 even after swimming the better part of a mile, and this was without the P\/B.<\/p>\n I focus on the swimming because what I need was to stop, to be still, to minimize and just listen to some simple \u2018free advice\u2019. I was able to tune out all the other noise and distractions. A few folks here and there ask me why do you only use the p\/b, all the other tools have a purpose too \u2014 they are not WRONG! I also saw, that first, I could use a p\/b at the pool \u2013 most pools have them on hand \u2014 say what? A no-cost option \u2013 I was in. Second, I didn\u2019t have all the distractions I see a lot of others that don\u2019t swim trying to make paddles, fins, masks, etc work. With family, I don\u2019t have a lot of time to waste and mess with tools, nor talking with everyone at various times. I enjoy the social nature of the activity at times, but sometimes I just want to concentrate.<\/p>\n So, with all the things of life, kidlet 4 on the way, parenting a wild nest of 3 other kidlets (don\u2019t get me wrong they are awesome and I love each of \u2019em) \u2013 I guess I was getting a bit lost. So last night (Tuesday, October 29), I just got in the pool and swam. It was about 14 degrees outside. Inside the pool, it was great, started chilly and then I was cozy warm about 700 or so yards in.<\/p>\n And then I added a new torture device:<\/p>\n I am surprised at the whole rowing machine efforts. So for the next little bit, I can control swims and rowing. That will be my focus. I am feeling a bit \u2018fluffy\u2019 for me. I have wandered and grown to about 215 -ish and I don\u2019t like how I feel, but I have been struggling to stay active enough to keep it in control. I also don\u2019t have the budget to find help at this time. Liz and I have been focusing on what is most important to us and that is family and being financially sound. It\u2019s not to say we are perfect in the least, but we are trying to stay ahead of disasters.<\/p>\n So last week while I was in Boston, I was so frustrated because I went to a running store that I thought would definitely have the running shoes I preferred. I mean Boston is like a runner\u2019s mecca right? I mean nearly EVERY runner I know is dreaming to BQ (Boston Qualify), well my expectations were a bit unrealistic. So, what do I tend to run in? I have two preferred shoes I tend to gravitate towards currently. Most recently I used these:<\/p>\n And<\/p>\n I have used the on cloud flow for a bit more than 1200 multipurpose miles and the creations I tend to get 750 hard running road miles. I like them both for different reasons, but they each help protect my body from the rigors of training. The last few runs have torn me up and left me quite fatigued and beat up. But, fatigue and stress is all a part of long course endurance sports and hobbies.<\/p>\n Ok, losing sight of my original thoughts. See, focus. Reducing things down so that the elements of controlling stressors, and disruptors is a lost art.<\/p>\n Well, Let\u2019s get this dis-jointed blog post out the door, and I will try and put together something when flying Monday on my way out to Boston again. We had grandma come over for Halloween activities and the kiddos loved the time with grandma. It was super duper cold. I went lightweight and put on some cycling running gear and wore my noxgear vest. A lot of fun was had, a lot of candy received and overall it was a success as Liz met a new neighborhood friend whom we were able to have good times as families. see, Life, Family balance, then work. Yup.<\/p>\n Click Here to see my last post on swimming topics<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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