Change and Radomness

One of my favorite songs when I was a kid was Roll with the Changes by REO Speedwagon. Yes I know I date myself all the way back to the heartland of the US but it’s a fact I was fan and can still play all their songs on the Guitar. The chorus of the song is Keep on Rolling with the Changes. I think it’s important right now to let changes roll right off you. If you don’t you could drive yourself crazy. Earlier this week I was told I wasn’t traveling to Boston in April. As part of the trip I was going to run the Boston Marathon. I hired a coach to help me get through Boston and then help me hit my triathlon goals for this year. Doing both was daunting. And then on Tuesday of this week my boss called me into his office and said travel budget cuts were handed down and my trip wasn’t going to happen. Does this mean I’m going to find another Marathon to run, no. I’ve adjusted my goals and am content with the decision. Boston will happen one day and it’s more important to me to keep an even head about this because guess what, more change is on the way. I don’t know that for fact but the Economy isn’t going to improve anytime soon so I expect more changes or challenges to be handed my way. So I will keep humming my song with a smile on my face and Roll with the Changes.





Let's go ride a bike. The best riders in the world are making their way through the greatest state in the US. If you get a chance get out their and cheer the riders on. This is a very hard sport. These guys are going to suffer their way through 8 days of early Spring California Rain. They finish on an epic day of climbing. I call myself lucky to have been able to ride all the climbs they are doing in one day. It's some hard riding and I certainly wasn't going the pace they were. In fact the picture to the right of me running is on Cole Grade their last climb. I believe it is this hill that will decide the race next Sunday and I'm going to be glued to the TV to watch. A great article on Floyd Landis on Friday in the San Diego Union Tribune. Guilty or not this guy lost everything, served his time and is back racing. It tells you just a litte of how tough these guys are.

Swim Test
I did another swim test today. 1500 meters at an Aerobic pace. In other words I could breath the entire way. I did it Long Course style so there were a few less turns and walls to push from. With all that said I swam more comfortably and faster than I did a Month ago in Salt Lake City. Today I Swam 25:00 and averaged 1:40 per hundred. One month ago I did 1000 yards at 1:36 per hundred. Believe me, today was faster. For those of you who have joined me in mutiple masters sessions this is slow for me but much more controlled. I'm working (because the coaching tells me to) on swimming fast with proper form. I'll be a better swimmer when I get there.

Is that a line?
Yesterday Marco and I went skiing at a local ski mountain. It's roughly 90 minutes from the house. Two lifts and two good long runs. We had a great day but had some trouble with the Lines. If you have ever been to this part of Europe there really are no lines. If a Cash register opens it's a mad dash to get their first. 90 year old women with one item don't stand a chance. So yesterday the lift "line" was a mess. At one of the lifts the wait was 40 minutes and there was not order to it. People just pushed their way in. Marco and I got seperated in the mob once. Nobody seemed to care that a 10 year old might want to be with his Dad. Some big old guy pushed littel Marco aside to move up one place in the mob. It was crazy. The easiest way to control it would be to limit the lift passes sold and extend the railings but that would not fit with area. This is the way it's been done so why change it.


Moonlight Beach - Encinitas California
I leave you today with a picture of a beach. It's a requirment of mine to look at beaches on a daily basis. Remember I'm try to Roll with the Changes. One of the Changes has been an extended Winter. This time last year I was riding outside. Right now it's even dangerous to run outside because of the accumulation of Ice on the trails. By my estimate there are 4 weeks left of tights, lon sleeve tops, jacket, hat and gloves. We'll see if I'm right.

It's a good life....
Dave

Change it Up

Remember that there is great comfort in our patterns – if you want a different outcome then you will need to change your approach. - Coach Gordo

Alright already! Could we please see the sun for more than 1 hour a week? You are reading the blog of a guy who loves the sunrise. The above sunrise courtesy of Montana. I can’t remember the last sunny day we had. Probably goes back to the first week of January when it was -17 C.

The above quote from Coach Gordo has a great deal of meaning. We as people and we as athletes get into a patterns. We eat the same food day after day. By the way I know a guy that if what he says is true, he eats a Burrito for dinner every night. We run the same pace on the same course at the same time on the same 3 days a week. We drive the same way to work. We swim in the same pool with the same group. We read the same book, just different authors, watch the same T.V. shows just different networks and probably talk to the same people over and over again.

Now don’t get me wrong, pattern is good. Going to bed at the same time every night is generally a good pattern to be in. Marco goes to bed every night at 8:00pm. He complains that his friends get to stay up until 10:00. Yet the parents of those kids tell us how hard the mornings are where Marco is up and ready to go minutes after we turn on his lights. There are countless other patterns that make sense.

The real point to this is that if you don’t change your patterns you have a better chance of going backwards then forwards. I hear this from the people I coach in running. I run 4 days a week for an hour every time but I don’t seem to get any faster or I don’t seem to lose any weight. The great coaching that I do, is this simple, I change their patterns on a regular basis to give them different stresses. They show the improvement they want. I can’t do that for myself and that’s why I pay Endurance Corner.

If you ever feel like you are in a rut, change one of your patterns. Sometimes just driving a different route to work can do it. Sometimes though, you have to dig a bit deeper to find that thing to change. Just look at us, we moved to Germany to change our pattern.

Some updates on My Goals.
My Mother – It seems more and more that it’s becoming time to move mom into a place that can take care of her. This may cause me to take another trip across the water soon to help my big sister. I really welcome the opportunity to go help.
First Quarter Relationship Building – I picked a guy at work for my relationship building. He and I have been rubbing each other raw for the last year. So I decided to change how I work with him to better our relationship. So far, so good.
Work – We are working on the responsibility thing right now at work. I’m ready to take on a new some new challenges. We are going through a bit of restructuring and that only gives opportunity.
Training – It’s all going well right now. I’m running faster today then I was 3 months ago and it’s on a great deal less than I would think I need to do. I can feel myself gliding better in the water. 1500 meter test coming up this week. The bike is where I really feel the difference. Two hours today on the trainer went by fast and felt ultra strong.
All the other goals are in progress but there isn’t much to report on. When the time is right I’ll report on all the other goals.

Books
We are a reading family. Mary and Marco a great deal more than me. The book I’m reading right now is called Delta Blues. It’s a historical look at the Blues Music from Mississippi. It’s a great book.

A bit more sun, please….
It’s a good life…..
Dave

Sometimes

Mary and Marco at the Munich Olympic Stadium - Site of the vamous Steve Prefontaine/Lasse Virren 5000 meter showdown. And so much more of course. Pre is a favorite in the eyes of Marco.

The Pool at the Olympic Park - Munich. Afteral the Olympics are really a big Swim Meet and Track meet.

The Wave at the English Garden - Munich. Yes, that is a surf board and yes, they surf the wave.

Sometimes it's just good to go. On Saturday the three of us drove to Munich. We toured the Olympic Park and then went to dinner at Tacos Y Tequila, the best mexican food in Germany. Sunday I ran with my friend Brian Enge who was in Munich (From Cardiff) for the ISPO trade show. We had a good long run and a good chat about life. Later in the morning the family visited one of the Art museums that had a display of Picaso. Then we watched the surfers in the English Garden.

It's just good to get away from the routine and do something different.

It's a good life....

Dave