Subliminal progression

    When we start getting active there is an adaption time in which we face the discouragement of not being good at some thing, we get tired fast,  often compare ourselves to others and spend much time in mental conflict that leaves us to decide to quit or persevere. Yet this is the birth time of adventure and you are subliminally gaining progress when we decide to embrace the discomfort and continue.
    
     Unless you are a prodigy of some sort you will recognize the constant struggles, yet we are rarely mindful of the progress we make. In doing we gain experience, with mistakes we learn lessons, and with practice we come closer to mastering. So each training session is getting you to the better version of you. The time you spend to educate yourself is important, because you increase your sources of information available to apply. Learning what your body adapts to is an ongoing experiment that you are in control of. Be encouraged you are better than you were last week, last month and last year.

     The ability to recognize small progressions gives us the insight to add things that will help our journey to improvement. Daily choices will create our future, and we have endless options to get the most of our tomorrows. Adding time to your life for most rest is a sure way to see instant progress in anything. Investing time in breathing exercises a few minutes several times through out the day is a great example of some thing that will add up over time.

     Being mindful of our actions in day to day life can also lead us to look at things we may need to change.Things we do that are self destructive, or harmful to us. This can be the nutrition, sugary drinks, lack of proper hydration, or even our negative mindset in situations. The suffering we bring on ourselves by constantly comparing ourselves to others is popular in competitive athletes. We often rob the joy of the activity in the obsession to be better. If you find you dread training take a look at intentions, and get back to the simple love of what you do. We will be better at what we do, whether it is a good or bad thing for us.

     Some examples of things you can add to aid in any conditioning are the following;
       Breathing exercises in traffic
       Each day of the week pick a body weight exercise to do several times through out the day.
       Add in stretching
       Spend 10 mins a day walking as part of your morning or evening routine
       Pick a day of the month to challenge yourself in what you are doing.
      
     Remember that what you practice you will master, eventually. Never loose the joy of what you are doing.
    
      In my long journey of running I get setback over and over, yet I know I will eventually conquer an ultra because I have my mind made up and will rejoice in the smalls things. I think about the classic question and complaint of a child on a car trip, "are we there yet?". When I was young there was no GPS, so some times there was the scenic route instead and it was always better in the long run. The journey is the fun part, the people we meet along the way, the laughable mistakes we make, and priceless memories of progress we would never know if we quit when it is uncomfortable.

     
       

Five ways that five minutes can change your life

      We all have the same amount of time in a day, yet we often confuse being busy with being productive or meaningful. Time management is some thing we hear about, and it seems people just want to find ways to do more and then wonder why they are so tired, stressed, and worn out.
 
        Here is a short list of things we can do in 5 minutes that will yield short and long term benefits.

1. Five minutes of gratitude. Before you even get out of bed in the morning, you can start each day with focusing your mind on the good things you have in life. If you need help with that you can begin with being grateful for a bed to sleep in, a roof over your head, running water, electricity, being able to stand on two feet, and clean air to breath, and breath itself is also a plus.

2. Five minutes of traffic mantras.  On your way to work or any time during traffic you can spend time saying out load some of your favorite mantras or quotes. If you really want to get creative start singing them. Nothing like passing time rocking out to your own version of what gets you in a state of mind that is relaxed and able to not be swayed by what is going on around you. If you don't believe me just try beat boxing like a rapper, or singing them like an opera singer. You will laugh at yourself, then look in the mirror and say out loud, "yes, I alone am responsible for my happiness".

3. Five minutes to make some ones day. It doesn't take long to make some ones day, and it is usually simple things that can go along way to accomplish this. It can be simple as making a lunch for a coworker, thanking a person for their customer service, giving a few compliments a day. Endless options. Just start looking for easy ways to make some ones day, and think about the small things that would make yours as ideas for things to do for others.

4. Five minutes of stretching. Very few people spend any time thinking of the constant imbalance we put our body in on a daily basis, yet will invest money getting our car aligned and blow off our body daily. Of coarse I highly recommend more than 5 minutes, but this is a good start. Never stretch cold muscles. Simply walking in place or doing some arm circles is an easy way to get ready.

5. Five minutes of sun and silence. As we become an population attached to constant entertainment, news, and information we seldom take time to unplug and enjoy simplicity. Make a way to enjoy the sunrise or sunset with no noise or outside distraction. Focus on the beginning of day, or end of one. Realizing each is a gift.

How to use defeat and exhuastion to fuel your next challenge

  

  Defeat

    In 2013 I took on the Pikes Peak Ascent race in Manitou Springs, CO. This race is 13.32 miles up a mountain with 7,815ft of vertical gain, and this is also a 14,110ft mountain. I am pretty convinced I may have been the least experienced person there, only having done one half marathon to qualify just 3 days before the entry. I trained on trails, on high inclines on the treadmill, and with the elevation mask. I knew I was kind of in over my head, but that was the exciting part. This race is why I wanted to run in the first place. The end result of that day was missing a cut off time by a few minutes, and having to walk back down. It had never crossed my mind that this was an option. On the way down my feeling of defeat was short lived as I spent the time with a great group of ladies who had  more experience than I, and that was encouraging because we were all in the same spot. It was also a record year of DNF's.
    After returning home I spent a few months battling plantar fascists. I got in a few runs and decided to sign up for a half marathon with a three day notice, just to see what I could pull off in a day. It was a great race, and helped my outlook of continuing to run. Not long later, I had had a hip injury that lasted the better part of this year. My cardio conditioning had hit a low point.
   
   Exhaustion
 
      About 10 days ago I returned to Pikes Peak to hike it. Due to interrupted travel issues and weather we started at 3am with only a few hours of sleep. We have all had that feeling of being so exhausted and it feels like a battle to stay awake. That was the premise of the day, and it unfolded into a series of personal discomforts. We met a hiking buddy, Daniel, about 2 miles before tree line that continued with us. My pace was already slow, although I did have a bit of pick up energy that lasted above tree line and came to a crash when the combination of sleep deprivation and oxygen deprivation hit me lit a big wave. My heart rate was so high I could barely move 1mph as the temperature was rapidly dropping and we were being surrounded by clouds. Even if lightning had begun to strike I wasn't moving any faster. I just focused on each step that seemed to take everything out of me. I have never been this exhausted, and then the freezing rain started. I was fairly disoriented, but too tired to even complete many thoughts. I wondered how I was ready to race on this trail last year as I put on a poncho to not be soaking wet. Eventually that last step was done, and I made it slowly into the summit house to hear some one talking about it being 35 degrees. I couldn't even lift my arms to take off the poncho, I spent 3 minutes ripping it off and sat down. Not long after the park rangers ordered every one off the mountain because of a snow storm. Very thankful to that young soldier and his family that brought us back down, and pulling off for me to throw up.
      Does this sound like fun? It still beats a day at Disney to me, and although it was the most exhausting day of my life I went to bed with the affirmation that "I will last".

    Fuel

     The trip was not a surprising revelation of my lack of conditioning, but a reference point. So with  encouragement of my mental toughness I came home and signed up for a 50 mile race on Mar 28th. http://fortclinch100.com/  We are all capable of much more than we do, and I want to close the gap on wondering and achieving. I am far from being ready to take that on, but there is a long time limit on a great coarse. I have access to amazing people to encourage and help me and look forward to sharing a victory that doesn't seem realistic at the moment.

 Just after sunrise.

 When it started getting colder.

The forgotten freedom

 Have you notice if you are on a walk, bike ride, hike, a boat, motorcycle, or a run that people seem to wave to each other. Happy to celebrate leisure with others. We certainly don't do that in traffic. Some thing about being outdoors seems to arise in us a sense of connection not only with nature, but with others and brings a happiness to surface that isn't always there as we do laundry, pay bills, and worry about house hold duties.
  Too often we stay in our normal routines and feel suffocated by daily stresses. A walk in the woods or on the beach can do more for your mindset than watching another movie or keeping up with facebook.