Thankful Thursday 12/17/15

These are the things that make me thankful today. 

1. Learning how to lower the stress/anxiety in my body through deep breathing and concentration on the stress itself. My measuring tool is HR Variability, I can feel the stress leaving my body and go back after I'm done and watch the HR Variability as it rises. As an example yesterday I started in to deep breathing. I took me a minute or so to get to the stress and actually feel it wash away and for the next 5 minutes it was pure peace. When I looked at the results HRV went right with the feeling. HRV at the start was in the 40's or just higher than my resting HR. But as the stress left the body it rose to 89 and stayed there the rest of the time. 
2. Listening to Joe Rogan interview Lance Armstrong. I've stood behind Lance forever. That doesn't mean I agree with his idiocy. It simply means I get what he did to the people around him and can still appreciate what he did when on the bike. I'm thankful that I got to see that kind of cycling. The best thought was when the interview was done and Joe Rogan was simply talking about the interview. He said something that I wrote about a few years ago. He said "He's Just a Guy". 
3. Cool morning air - It's quite cool in the mornings now. Much cooler than we've seen in the last 2 years. I love walking the dog in the morning and seeing my breath. It's a nice way to wake up. 
4. Uptight people - I've never been one on social media to leave a comment like "This is a load of crap". Look I'm thankful to understand your point of view and not get to upset by it. Please feel free to call bullshit when ever you want. 
5. The Avocado - It's like the perfect food. I'm thankful that I live in a place where they grow. It's so great to have fresh Avocados. I eat one every day. 

It's a good life....

Breath Deep and Positive Self Talk

These are the things I am working on to remove the stress and anxiety of life.

Mark Devine of Seal Fit  had a great podcast on dealing with the emotion of anxiety. If you are dealing with some as I have it's totally worth listening to. It's 90 days of daily practice and it's worked wonders for me.

It's a good life....

Top 7 Running Shoes

It's a good life...

Thankful Thursday 12/10/15

These are the things that make me smile this week and say thanks:

1. Masters Swimming didn't kill me today. I toughened up and was in the pool at 6:00am 3500 yards later and a few hours and I'm still cold. 
2. The high of the run on Tuesday with Marco. Nothing better than that! 
   
3. A world view. The headlines are troubling. If you just read the headlines it would appear that this country that I love so much is falling apart. Traveling around the world and seeing the struggles first hand of the people of the world makes me so thankful to be an American. We are lucky to have this country even with all of its faults. 
4. Tim Ferris and his podcast - His interview with Jamie Fox was simply outstanding. Funny, heartwarming and the ultimate in living the American dream. 
5. The local community. At every turn there is support. I ran into a long time swimming friend. She and I swam masters at Carlsbad, Solana Beach and now at the YMCA. Her oldest son joined the Army after a year in college and is now a Special Operator. She doesn't know my wife but offered full support for Mary as we enter the world of the US Military. 

It's a good life....

Doing the Unexpected

I wrote down in my journal. Do something unexpected today. I had no idea it would only take 10 minutes.

It's a good life...

How to Make Your Day Great

Yesterday I got the chance to listen to Joe Desena talk. Joe is the creator of the Spartan Race series. Joe is a motivating guy but not in the rah rah sense. He's gets straight to the point and says things very matter of fact like.

His Quote "I get up most morning do 200-300 Burpees and then take a cold shower. There is nothing pleasant about 200 burpees in fact they suck and a cold shower is simply terrible. When I do that though I know my day can't possibly be worse but in fact I know my day is going to get better from there."

We often go out the door to make the run, ride or swim the best part of our day. I think getting up early to be in the pool by 6 am totally sucks. In fact it's one of the worst feelings I know. This is especially true in the winter, even in San Diego. Buy I do it because my days is always better knowing that crap is done with.

It's a good life...