Could it Be?

Spring is on the way. The birds are singing!

Poison

Poison Frogs

For some reason I thought I'd post these pictures. One is of a great adidas trail shoe called the Kanadia ($60) in the color referred to in the office as the Poison Frog. The picture on the right is of a kid in Panama holding a real poison frog. You can see where the shoe got it's color. By the way we did pay the kid for the picture. We Mary, Marco and I not we adidas.

The Poison Teacher

Today Marco and I went to the pool. He had some trouble in swim lessons when he was asked to swim across the deep end of the big pool. He freaked out. So he and I went to the pool today to try to correct the situation. I think it all broke down with that phrase correct the situation. I used all my swim lesson teaching skill to get him used to the water. He was doing great. Then I did the crazy thing and asked him to to swim to the other wall, accross the deep end. He freaked, I freaked we both freaked and the session ended. We've both come to the conclusion that I can't teach him and he can't take my teaching. Of course I'm the more responsible but it's true. I guess that's why I don't play golf too. I would never take lessons from my Dad. The only time I did play and play o.k. I had a teacher who wasn't my Dad. So it's back to my orginal goals for the year. Work on something new for both of us to enjoy. We did that skiing because I'm the last one to teach anyone how to ski. I'm interested in a future of ocean fishing with him too. I know it's a long way off due to our current life in land locked Germany but Ocean fishing will happen. I really know nothing about it so it would be cool to learn together. Oh and if he want's to become a runner, I'll hire a coach.

Poison in the Body

On the training front I have to listen to my body and head a little more. On Wednesday I headed out for a 105 minute run. I didn't feel great going out and it was cold. I was under dressed and it was cold (13F at the start and 10F at the finish). By the time I was done I was shivering but not the I'm cold shivering, the I've got a cold shivering. I should have paid attention. If I skip that run I probably avoid the cold. The cold did not give me the cold. The cold was there and I just helped it out by breaking my body down just enough to let it in. So that run basically killed my week. This is what a killed week looks like:

Monday - 45 minute ride on the turbo trainer.

Tuesday - 60 minutes swim with 3 X 400 meters. 45 minutes in the weightroom.

Wednesday - 105 minute stupid run in frozen shoes. 30 minutes on the turbo trainer stupid again.

Thursday - Day off because of cold

Friday - Day off because of cold.

Saturday - Swim 50% of workout because of cold. 45 minutes of weights

Sunday - 60 minutes on turbo trainer (workout called for 120 minutes) 30 minute run.

I'm feeling much better today Sunday than I did on Friday. I do really well once I have the cold, to shut down and get rid of it. Tea is my friend this week. I know that based on what I've seen going around the office mine was mild. I really believe it's because I eat well and pay attention. I do think I could have done better by not going out on Wednesday. Who knows maybe I wouldn't be writing this post if I hadn't gone.

As you can tell riding sucks right now. I haven't been outside on a bike since December. That includes the mountain bike. The air temperature right now is ridable but the roads are a mess of slush and ice patches. The trails are a total mess and have been for 6 weeks. Ice is the bugger here. No traction for the tires. Next winter I invest in studded winter tires.

No complaints though. Since I got the Power Meter last fall I can monitor things on the turbo. I can see I'm getting stronger.

It's a good life.....

Dave

PS. If you need a good trail shoe, look at the Kanadia. It rules!

Win The Day!

Stress makes us stupid – Coach Gordo Byrn

I have to admit that recently I’ve been struggling. Struggling to get excited about the day ahead and struggling to take that first step out the door and again that first step in the door. I could go into all the detail but I’m not here for you to feel sorry for. I’m certainly done feeling sorry for myself so there is no point to drag you into it. It’s taken me longer to fully recognize it this time (read the quote above) and to me that mean’s drastic action. I’m really good at looking long term. I know what I want in 5 years but I am terrible at knowing what I want today. So it’s with this that I’ve laid out my plan to Win the Day. I’m going to ask you the reader to call me on it if you see me not winning. If you think my actions or attitude don’t match up with the below statements call me on it!

Winning the Day

1.Sleep – I know that my day is driven by my night. When I have good quality (not quantity) sleep I am happier.

2.Laugh Out Loud – We can’t be serious all the time.

3.Open honest fun with Marco – Sometimes I’m just being grumpy old Dad too much. Marco and I know how to have fun and he relies on me to do this daily.

4.Passionate interaction with Mary – She’s the love of my life and a huge part of who I am as a person. I feed off her love.

5.Be inspired – I’m at my best when I’m being inspired. Books, music Mary and Marco and ordinary people inspire me.

6.Execute the Workouts – Sometimes type “A” triathletes obsess about the next workout or the last workout just a bit too much. I signed on with a coaching platform to so I wouldn’t have to think about it. So now it’s time to JFT.

7.Play my Guitar or take time to really listen to music – The IPod while running doesn’t count.

8.Drive with Full Engagement at Work – The first part of this is Drive. I’m much better when I’m Driving and not waiting to be driven. The next part is Full Engagement. A great book The Power of Full Engagement taught me that deep focused attention combined with small breaks is the way to execute.

I know you ask because I do, how can you change your sleep or how can you get inspired every day. I don’t think this is cut and dried approach. I can’t check these off every night and call the day a victory or a loss. I think these are the things to work toward every day. If I can say at the end of the day “I can put my name to that” it means that I’ve driven towards these 8 things. I can honestly say that I haven’t put my name to many days in the last 10 months.

It’s a good life…
Dave