The $60 T-shirt that I will never wear.

A few weeks ago I picked up a t-shirt that I payed $60 dollars for, it was for a half marathon here in my home town, one that I had registered for months ago. Unfortunately I've been plagued by injury the past few months and my training has gone to the wayside. Instead of prepping to run 13.1 miles, I've been waiting for a date for surgery on an injured foot. Picking that shirt up, and subsequently seeing all of my training partners and friends complete that race was hard for me. While I was naturally enthused at their successes and genuinely happy for them, sitting on the sidelines isn't an easy place to be for me.

Two years ago I was a couch potato, to put it mildly. I've transformed myself from obese to athletic, competing in several triathlons, multiple 5Ks and a Tough Mudder along the way. My new life was less about being sedentary and more about sweating. It's funny that as much as "fat kid problems" used to be a mantra of my daily lifestyle, active living, pushing myself and becoming a better me each and every day has become equally as important to me. I've gone from 12 oz curls to building muscle, stamina and endurance. To say that my life took a 180 would be to minimize the impact that this change in lifestyle really had on me.

Along the way I started to enjoy it, the sweating, the hard work, pushing myself harder and accomplishing things that I previously thought I wouldn't be capable of. I was recognized by the #2 Fitness and Weight-loss Company in the world as a finalist for their "Active Couple" award, and was blown away by this. Activity and physical accomplishment became a part of my life.

It was about 3 months ago that I became sidelined by chronic foot issues and all of a sudden found myself unable to accomplish even simple physical tasks requiring me to be on my feet. I spent a few weeks bound to a wheelchair, unable to walk. Until finally I was able to see a doctor that was able to offer me a resolution, and a date for surgery. That surgery is scheduled for 3 days from now and there's finally a light at the end of the tunnel, a reprieve for my physically imposed hiatus from the sports and activity that I've grown to love.

So now I have a red shirt hanging in my closet, it doesn't represent failure to me, but rather a missed opportunity, a door that will open again, a motivation to be a better me once more. This injury has held me back, but it won't hold me down. I will be back on the pavement, I will be back on my bike, and I will be back in the pool and the gym.

I've managed to lose 13 pounds bound to this wheel chair with an activity level close to zero, and I won't stop when I get out of it. While I may not have earned the right to wear that $60 shirt this year, don't worry I'll be back for it next year!

I am not a Network Marketer!

My wife & I have gotten a lot of messages lately, a lot of folks talking about different companies, new "opportunities" out there, and while we appreciate our friends reaching out to us, we would both like to go on record to say that "We are NOT Network Marketers!" I know that a lot of people would point out that we are involved in a network marketing company with ViSalus, and while that's true and we do believe in the industry as a whole, we will not be involved with another company. We are not in ViSalus because of "positioning" or the comp plan, although being positioned as the #2 Weightloss company in the World after Weight Watchers & getting paid 11 different ways isn't a bad thing! We aren't involved because someone promised us a downline, or because there's some new super rare fruit in our product that's going to change the world and allow us to cover our driveway in gold. I say all that to say, take your new rare only harvested by the light of the leap year moon, using the left hand of a man that has never done another wrong, processed in the waters of the Egyptian sunlight underneath the largest of pyramids, going to grow my hair, paint my nails, lose my weight, and buy me a plane product, and share it with someone else. 

Rhonda & I are bottom line involved with ViSalus because we believe in our leaders, from the couple that introduced us to the business right on up to our companies founders. We believe in the vision of our company, to take weight off the world 10 pounds at a time until we end Obesity. We believe in our products because they have transformed our lives, & we believe in sharing the Challenge with others because we are passionate about affecting that same change in the lives of our friends and community. My wife & I are standing behind something that we believe in, and our beliefs will not be shaken as they are built on a strong foundation of love, respect, and personal results. I don't "sell milkshakes", I couldn't sell a hot chocolate to an eskimo, I simply tell my story and allow others to decide if it's time for them to make the same change that I decided to make 1 year ago. I will not be leaving ViSalus, I will not be quitting, and I will not chase the newest shiny on the block.   

#rantOVER

#VItillthedayIdie

#resultstrumpallelse

#Iamstickingaround

#GetONthetrainORgetoutoftheway

Goals. Or something like them?

Do you have goals?

Do you have goals?

I'll bet the majority of folks reading this would say emphatically "Yes, of course I have goals". My next question would be, does everything that you do in your life reflect those goals? Are you constantly and courageously striving towards them? Are you making waves with your goals? Changing lives? Challenging yourself or others? Are you advancing ever forward toward your goals with every fiber of your being?

Yes?!?! Awesome! You ROCK! You are one of the few, brave, resilient souls that will make a mark on this planet, leave it a better place and in doing so, gain more than you thought possible. You probably don't need this blog, heck you're probably not reading this blog because you're out affecting change in your world. Here's a hearty internet pat on the back for you, keep up the good work.

No? You're floundering? Struggling? Treading water? Maybe you're "in a holding pattern" or a "rebuilding phase". There's all sorts of names that you can assign to times when you're not chasing your goals, but the truth is, if you're not working on it, than it's NOT a goal, it's a dream.

Dreamers are great, god bless them, they dream up imaginative, creative things, some of which get given to doers that go out and create incredible works. Without dreamers our society would not be as enriched, I don't write this to drag down the dreamer, I applaud them. I write this to encourage you to be honest with yourself about which one you are.

Are you a dreamer, or are you working on your goals?

True goals can be birthed from dreams, many are. Many are also birthed from practicality, or a need for something not found in your current existence. Dreams have to turn a corner though, to become goals. It's the action, the effort, the simple fact that forward progress is being made that turns dreams into reality.

Life is full of seasons, I've heard that manny times and you can in your life be both a goal seeker and a dreamer at different times, but pretending that you're seeking a goal when you're simply dreaming is a sure way to set yourself up for frustration. Telling yourself that you are chasing a goal, when not putting in the action is the surest way to ensure that you will quit before you ever get any where close to that goal.

Today I was dreaming, literally laying in bed asleep, my alarm went off at the assigned time to wake me for an early morning cycling session, I made the conscious choice at that moment to go from being a true dreamer to truly seeking my goals. While this is a little bit of "literal hyperbole" it's that same sort of get up, get out of bed, and go sweat action that will take your dreams and make them a reality. Today I didn't reach my goals, my goals truth be told are pretty lofty, but today I made progress, today I advanced, and I know that today I'm one step closer to my goals, and that feels good.

Wait your way to success.

I spent a good time today talking to a good friend about waiting. About waiting in line, waiting with patience, about waiting with hope. Most people would tell you that you can't wait for success, that if you're waiting for success to happen then you don't quite "get it" and you may never realize that success, I however disagree. I think waiting, and waiting well is a stepping stone along the road of success. 

Think about times that you're waiting in your life, waiting in line at the grocery store, waiting for a new movie to come out, waiting on that special someone at home, who never seems to get ready quite as quickly as you think that they should. These are passive kinds of waiting, the waiting where you're checking your watch, the calendar, or tapping your foot. These are the kinds of waiting that you want to avoid on the path to success. Think about the time that you spend waiting over the course of the week whether it's in the pursuit of something mentioned above, or something else, like waiting in traffic during your morning commute, or waiting at the post office, think about those times, and think about how you could change the way that you wait. 

Most people will tell you that they "don't have any time", and while it's true that we live in a fast paced, "always-on-the-go" society, don't let people fool you, but more importantly don't fool yourself with the lie that you don't have any time. The truth is everyone, rich, poor, old, young, black, white, tall, or short, we all have the exact same amount of hours in the day, no matter how much money, power, prestige, or clout you ever gain, you will always and forever only have 24 hours in the day. The difference between those that achieve, and those that don't is how they use that 24 hours, and don't think that the successful don't wait, they simply wait differently than the rest of us. 

Instead of standing in the grocery line, thumbing through the tabloids, checking to see who Prince William is dating now, or how many legs the latest baby found at Roswell has, consider striking up a conversation with the people in line with you, reach out, make contact, make a new friend. You never know what may spring up from a conversation with a stranger, the possibilities are literally endless. If you're in traffic, why not take that time to listen to something that enriches your life, make phone calls that could advance your dream, or spend it in quiet meditation, something other than listening to the inane prattle of talk radio, or pop music.

Change some of these small things in your life and all of a sudden you'll find yourself "waiting" in an entirely different way, you'll be taking charge of your dreams, your goals, and making progress towards them, all the while "waiting" in the certainty that your success will be achieved, and it is that process of "waiting" actively that will help you achieve you success.

So next time your find yourself "in line" waiting on your success, strike up a conversation, reach out, and do something proactive. Wait for your success with a certainty of purpose, with a conviction that you will not be stopped, and console yourself in the fact that it's only through waiting that greatness is achieved. 

A Day off.

Today was a good day. I'm tempted to say that I didn't train today, but I did. Even though you won't see a Strava entry today, even though I wasn't in the pool, on my bike, out pounding the pavement running, or even cross training, I was training. I spent the majority of the day with my feet propped up, don't even think I broke a sweat. How does someone train for a triathlon without sweating? Well as my coach, is quick to remind me, we can't go full bore all the time, and not every training session is meant to create a PR.

Today if anything left me chomping at the bit, ready to rock, ready to get out there, and able to go out there and do more do better and do it all faster. Our bodies are incredible, amazing things, capable of much more than we might dream, but always capable of exactly what we think they are.

Rest days are the glue that hold your entire training plan together, they can keep you from injury, from burnout, and most importantly from quitting. I use my training days not only to rest my body but to nurture, cultivate and train my mind. I always focus just a little bit more on personal development. I take extra time to cultivate my spirituality, my mindset, or my focus on these days.

Today for me was "Still Waters Run Deep", a meditation technique that I learned about from one of my personal mentors, ex-Navy Commander Mark Divine in his book The Way of the SEAL: Think Like an Elite Warrior to Lead and Succeed. While I spent time focusing on sharpening my mind, my muscles have a chance to relax, heal, and get back in fighting shape.

While I understand that for some of us, taking a day off is hard, it might even be contrary to the competitive nature and obsessive personality that brought us into Triathlon in the first place, it's necessary and something that we must focus on and "train" just as hard as those ladder runs, interval bikes, and hard swims. Rest Day is important, and deserves our respect, and our concentration. So enjoy that next day off, but consider using it to better you mind, because as we all know, Triathlon is 90% physical and 95% mental!

Reflections on a struggle

Day 2 of my 90 day challenge started out early, I was down at Lake Hollingsworth (a local running and biking hotspot) with 7 other members of my local triathlon club, FR Racing (www.frracing.net). Getting out in the early morning hours, in this case before the sun had a chance to show its face, is a magical thing. There's something special about getting your workout done in the darkness, before the rest of the world has lifted their heads from the pillow, You feel a sense of accomplishment getting home before school traffic, before most people have even hit their snooze button for the first time.

Today was scheduled to be an hour and a half at an "uncomfortable pace" Well in the first 5 minutes I found my "uncomfortable pace" and that seemed to be simply pedaling. While I did best my last personal best for a lap around the lake by almost a minute, I couldn't sustain myself, even at a much slower pace. I was on a new bike, I was grabbing too big of a gear, I didn't get enough sleep, there's all sorts of excuses I could place on why I wasn't performing up to what I should, but the truth of the matter is, it was just one of those days.

Some days you go out and feel like you can't do any wrong, you run like the wind, or pedal like a Tour de France Winner, or maybe you glide through the water like Phelps. Those days are magical, those days are meant to be cherished.

Where there is light however, there is always shadow. The shadow is those days where you don't want to, those days when you don't feel like it, the days that you're already tired, worn down, or frustrated before you even start, the days that you just can't seem to get it going. These are the days that will haunt you, the days that will cause you to put your head down in shame, to rethink what you're doing, doubt your training, your nutrition, even your love of the sport. These are the days that really define you as an athlete, the down days, the days when you struggle.

Everyone remembers Phelps winning Golds, Meb triumphantly crossing the finish line, Ripken's 2,131st game. What people tend to forget is the days that Cal showed up not feeling great and went 0-5, or the long training days in heat or rain, with blisters or pain that Meb endured, the seemingly endless lengths of the pool that Phelps swam before the Olympic spotlight shone on him. We focus on others "highlights" and compare our everyday to that, we think about our personal bests, and wonder why we can't beat them every time. The truth is training is a struggle, winning is far less about the moment of achievement that is so visible, and far more about the hours, days, weeks, months, & years of preperation, sweat and hard work that led up to that moment.

While we all want to have that "Big Victory", our "Gold Medal Moment", we have to learn to look forward to, enjoy and even celebrate the hard days, because without their presence and our desire to push through them... our victories will never come. Next time you have a hard day, don't think about Ripken's 2,131st game, think about what it took for him to lace up for game 945 when he wasn't feeling well, think about Meb's endless training runs, and celebrate the fact that you are a doer, and only through that doing will true achievement ever be realized.

The real inspiration.

I recently finished a race, near the back of the pack, I went out and simply enjoyed myself, while pushing my 3 year-old son in a stroller. While there were some great stories in this race, some I knew (a friend winning her age group the first time), and many more I did not. The story that I saw though was one that I felt I had to share.

While running off my normal pace, I ran next to men out of breath, running their first 5k. I ran with women who were struggling to walk 3.1 miles. I ran with children with such incredible joy written across their faces. The people near the back of the pack might not call themselves runners, they certainly finished well behind the front of the pack, some of which were probably home by the time the last runner crossed the finish line. While there's no taking away from the accomplishment of the runner that wins the race, their hard work determination and effort are what got them there after all, but I'd like to take a moment and applaud those at the back of the pack, those that didn't win a spot on the podium, but that simply won a personal victory by showing up and putting in the work to finish. We'll never see these folks on the front of "Runner Magazine", you'll never see them in bright gleaming HD on coverage of your favorite race. Where you will see these folks is at the next race, at the gym, and at your office.

To those that are out there just to complete it, to whom running a 9 minute mile seems a Herculean effort, I salute you, I cheer for you, and I respect you. Those at the front of the pack are runners, this is true, but no more than those that stumble across the finish line 30 minutes later, with a smile on their face, a sweaty hug for their friends and family, and maybe even a bit of a limp. There might not be as many people at the finish line when you make it across, but don't let that lessen you sense of accomplishment. Take that race shirt, wear it proudly, and brag to everyone that will listen about your race! Congrats back of the pack, you're what truly inspires me.