on monday mornings I don't work. a small luxury for which I pay dearly in other ways: on call hours, late hours etc.
but, i prefer it that way. it is nice to be off on a monday morning. it cures the sunday night blues.
monday's are for hanging out with my baby girl a bit in the morning. they are for lunch at home with my family. they are for walking to work in the afternoon. nice.
of course, they are also for long runs.
speaking of which this past monday was a cool, but nice sunny day and quite perfect for a long run through the park system that dissects downtown toronto. which brings me to the point of this blog.
who else is out there on a frigid monday morning enjoying the sunshine? who else is exercising while everyone else is at their desk on the second cup of coffee? who is breathing in the fresh air? who is urinating and even defecating outside?(besides me, i mean). who is visiting with all their friends in the park???? who is having a freaking party in the park at 10 am on monday morning????
DOGS. THAT'S WHO.
Dogs really have the right idea about life. If you are nice to people, they are nice back to you. if you bark loud enough you can stop anyone in their tracks. If you let people believe they are in control you can get them to do all kinds of things for you; like even take you for long walks, bathe you, feed you, stroke your belly and pick up your poo.
dogs are master maniupulators. they are masters of the "sub is really the dom" formulation of life. that is why they are the only people walking in the park on a monday morning. they have life figured out.
I can't remember how many dogs i met on monday. 20 maybe? i remember all their faces. i don't remember the people tagging behind them. they were like the blah blah blah parents in peanuts. barely accessible to consciousness. the dogs, i remember.
some ran after me. some stopped me in my tracks. some didn't care. some were old and short.
i remember charlene: a baby doberman who was such a good girl cause she sat there and let me pass by; her mommy's voice reminded me of how i praise my baby girl for doing something good.
i met owen. a large black lab. he thought me tying my shoelaces was worthy of a sniff and a nice tail wag. we said hi. he sniffed tights. licked my hand. nice guy.
why is it that if you are running you are soooooo much more intersting to a dog than absolutely anything else?
dogs hold onto something that we lose as we grow out of infancy. i see it in my baby girl. a curiosity. a friendliness. a "joi-de-vive". an ability to laugh at stupid things and to repeat them over and over and laugh some more. dogs are like furry babies that never grow up.
why is their no religion with a dog diety? i mean we have cats, cows, dragons, all kinds of animal type dieties and supernatural beings, why not dogs?
and dogs are good swimmers and runners. if they could ride bikes then they would be the happiest and most entusiastic triathletes on the planet.
i was glad to share the trail with these happy, zen-like creatures.
i pledge to become more dog-like. more zen like.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
24 HOURS
time...
the last track of led zeppelin's album "presence" is a sultry blues number that begs the question "how come 24hours somtimes seems to slip into days?". great song. so, where does 24 hours go in the life of a triathlete?
how do my hours slip into days? why am I singing the blues???? again???
05:30: wake up, ninja/stealth breakfast so as not to wake the wife and baby.
06:00 drive to the pool
06:30 swim 2700 meters
07:30 drive back home, the sun is up, listen to slayer in the car "world painted blood; no sanctuary", feel awkward like i am too old for that kind of thing, but what the hell, switch to metallica. "obey your master"
07:50: shovel the snow (yes...snow...20 cm of it, in spring)
08:00: back in the house. stealth on some stale bike shorts and onto the trainer for a ride (gross)
09:00 work
12:45 eat in the car between offices (or else swim at lunch)
13:00-18:00 ENDLESS WORK ( or else sneak out for a mid-week lactate threshold workout)
18:00-30: errand on way home (drug store, hardware, grocery, gas, whatever)
18:30-19:30: play with baby, bathe baby, change baby, cook dinner, try to find time to change clothes, maybe even take a dump (if at all: learning to dump on demand)
19:30: eat
19:30-20:00 this is my quality time with my wife (assuming the baby fell asleep ok)
20:00 american idol/ trigger point roller on the coach, massage wife's neck (still multi-tasking); get ready for bed during commercials to save time. so, more up and down. i have sat still for maybe 5 minutes.
21:30 or 22:00 get ready for bed, dump, hopefully, and sleep in post dumping bliss.
of course their are variations like mondays: wake up, change baby, long run, make lunch, work, walk home, make dinner, bathe baby, off to night master's swim class, home at 9:30 and fight off post exercise insomnia and then bed.
or sundays: wake up, baby care, long brick, birthday party, shopping in the mall, home, cook dinner, bathe baby, eat, go to bed.
or else, on call overnight, so more work, sometimes even 50-60 hours of it in a week. run from work, shower in on call room, back to work, swim at lunch, work some more, go home, cook. etc.
but, generally, you get the picture.
if you played the video you no doubt heard robert plant groan " a minute seems like a lifetime, baby, when i feel this way"
i have the opposite problem. " a lifetime seems like a minute, when i live this way".
hence, i don't listen to led zeppelin too much these days. too slow. gimme some thrash.
there are 168 hours in a week.
i sometimes spend 50 hours working. 50 hours sleeping. more than half of my waking hours working.
if i sleep 8 hours per night (ya, right); then once my real ironman training kicks in, i will spend the equivalent of one full waking day per week training. it is already pretty close.
conclusion:
a)i should stop being a wimp.
b)24 hours is not enough
c)no-one really needs more than 4 hours of sleep.
d)all of the above
p.s.
tea for one really is a great song. and it speaks of a time when one could indulge 12 minute tracks whilst doing nothing on the couch. a time when a guitar solo lasted a full minute.
so, if you clicked, and you have more time than i do, give it a listen. you won't be sorry
the last track of led zeppelin's album "presence" is a sultry blues number that begs the question "how come 24hours somtimes seems to slip into days?". great song. so, where does 24 hours go in the life of a triathlete?
how do my hours slip into days? why am I singing the blues???? again???
05:30: wake up, ninja/stealth breakfast so as not to wake the wife and baby.
06:00 drive to the pool
06:30 swim 2700 meters
07:30 drive back home, the sun is up, listen to slayer in the car "world painted blood; no sanctuary", feel awkward like i am too old for that kind of thing, but what the hell, switch to metallica. "obey your master"
07:50: shovel the snow (yes...snow...20 cm of it, in spring)
08:00: back in the house. stealth on some stale bike shorts and onto the trainer for a ride (gross)
09:00 work
12:45 eat in the car between offices (or else swim at lunch)
13:00-18:00 ENDLESS WORK ( or else sneak out for a mid-week lactate threshold workout)
18:00-30: errand on way home (drug store, hardware, grocery, gas, whatever)
18:30-19:30: play with baby, bathe baby, change baby, cook dinner, try to find time to change clothes, maybe even take a dump (if at all: learning to dump on demand)
19:30: eat
19:30-20:00 this is my quality time with my wife (assuming the baby fell asleep ok)
20:00 american idol/ trigger point roller on the coach, massage wife's neck (still multi-tasking); get ready for bed during commercials to save time. so, more up and down. i have sat still for maybe 5 minutes.
21:30 or 22:00 get ready for bed, dump, hopefully, and sleep in post dumping bliss.
of course their are variations like mondays: wake up, change baby, long run, make lunch, work, walk home, make dinner, bathe baby, off to night master's swim class, home at 9:30 and fight off post exercise insomnia and then bed.
or sundays: wake up, baby care, long brick, birthday party, shopping in the mall, home, cook dinner, bathe baby, eat, go to bed.
or else, on call overnight, so more work, sometimes even 50-60 hours of it in a week. run from work, shower in on call room, back to work, swim at lunch, work some more, go home, cook. etc.
but, generally, you get the picture.
if you played the video you no doubt heard robert plant groan " a minute seems like a lifetime, baby, when i feel this way"
i have the opposite problem. " a lifetime seems like a minute, when i live this way".
hence, i don't listen to led zeppelin too much these days. too slow. gimme some thrash.
there are 168 hours in a week.
i sometimes spend 50 hours working. 50 hours sleeping. more than half of my waking hours working.
if i sleep 8 hours per night (ya, right); then once my real ironman training kicks in, i will spend the equivalent of one full waking day per week training. it is already pretty close.
conclusion:
a)i should stop being a wimp.
b)24 hours is not enough
c)no-one really needs more than 4 hours of sleep.
d)all of the above
p.s.
tea for one really is a great song. and it speaks of a time when one could indulge 12 minute tracks whilst doing nothing on the couch. a time when a guitar solo lasted a full minute.
so, if you clicked, and you have more time than i do, give it a listen. you won't be sorry
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Self Indulgence Part Two:
12 hours later.
i slept for 9 hours...need i say more?
i must have watched too many Rocky movies growing up because now i want to follow up last night's rock bottom pit of pseudo free associative negative self talk with a montage.
"Eye of the Tiger" is playing in my head right now as i write this.
click below and then read to get the full almost montage effect:
i have rallied. i believe. i am mobile.
if i was more techno-savy and i didn't work, you would have your montage. lord knows that anyone who actually read yesterday's blog deserves one.
but instead, here is what the montage would be; sort of like a movie script:
sunrise, penticton, mountains, arid warm air, me training, runnig stong on gravel in summer
emerging from lake okanagan looking like a radiant G-d.
dave scott; just him, being dave scott.
the pool. no-one is coughing or sick the water is till at 6 am and warm and nice
the richter pass in b.c. i am on top of the mountain. i put out 240 watts avgerage. i feel like a speed demon, i am cruising down the mountain like schlek, like contador...
doing push ups
crunches
julie moss crawling across the finish line in hawaii.
changing a diaper and laughing.
the baby cheering me on as i ride on the trainer, admiration in her eyes.
my wife cheering me on as i run on the treadmill.
my wife meeting me on the porch after a 7 hour brick with a fresh lemonade. she is smiling.
me, running 3:45's in the taylor creek trail. floating on my racing flats. no pain. perfect minimalist running form!
dave scott.
rick and dick hoyt out on the queen k
normann stadler.
macca.
no, this one:
yes, i like that one, macca running with his daughter...i can't wait.
my heroes, juxtaposed with images of me training so i can be like them
me, my wife, my baby. all smiling at the finish line.
my, my wife, my baby, all smiling as i sip my lemonade on the porch after a 7 hour brick.
ok, make that a protein shake with extra glutamine.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
FREE ASSOCIATION...
is a psychoanalytic term, generally used to refer to a technique whereby the subject/patient says whatever comes to mind. the concept is to become free of the usual restrictions that surround our desire to be liked, seen a certain way, make sense, etc.
the idea is to thereby reveal the contents of the unconscious mind...the unconscious mind, so it is believed, is the source of real data about the self. everything else is smoke and mirrors erected by the ego.
well, my ego has sustained enough damage lately that i thought i would try my hand at free associating here. enough of smoke and mirrors. lets find the real person under this road to where??? penticton, oh ya. self indulgent? yes, but what is more self-indulgent than blogging in the first place? oh, i know, DOING AN IRONMAN:
here it goes:
in the past week is the fist time it has occurred to me that i won't be able to do this.
i am exhausted
it is very very hard to juggle huge work stress, being a new dad, a husband and training for an ironman
i am exhausted
my body doesn't feel right
my immune system is fucked
i won't do as well as i could
i hate people who have upbeat blogs bragging about how much training they do and what equipment they use, who cares?
who cares about my negativity?
it is real. that is why people read blogs.
what,they don't have enough of real?
i will lose all my sponsors if i am too negative.
wait, i don't really have too many sponsors anyways.
i was mad at that guy who came to the pool when he was sick. i mean, stay home buddy, we are all trying to get healthy here.
i don't want to swim in someone else's germs
i need to give up on having a good race. april is too soon, i won't be ready.
august is too soon. i won't be ready
i am a bad father because i want to work out
i am a bad husband because i am rigid about working out
my priorities are fucked
i haven't run outside enough, this winter sucked, my shins hurt, my heel hurts
i am bored with myself
triathletes are mostly assholes
so is everyone else
usually everyone who is not suffering in some way is an asshole in some way
people who suffer are usually nicer until their suffering ends, then they become assholes again
if i am suffering then why am i not a nicer person?
most of my suffering is self induced
so what does that make me?
oh my, none of this would inspire me. i need to be inspiring. don't I???
it is supposed to be inspiring when someone overcomes previous tragedy to live out their fantasies of omnipotence at an ironman finish line, isn't it?
i will never fit in
i am not going to give up.
my dreams do matter
i am important
it will be ok.
maybe i need to compromise....
sorry about that. if you want inspiration, look at last week's blog.
too much thrash metal in the car.
that is my excuse
and i am not so sure that last line was my unconscious, i think that was my ego talking.
good thing he is the one in control most of the time...
the idea is to thereby reveal the contents of the unconscious mind...the unconscious mind, so it is believed, is the source of real data about the self. everything else is smoke and mirrors erected by the ego.
well, my ego has sustained enough damage lately that i thought i would try my hand at free associating here. enough of smoke and mirrors. lets find the real person under this road to where??? penticton, oh ya. self indulgent? yes, but what is more self-indulgent than blogging in the first place? oh, i know, DOING AN IRONMAN:
here it goes:
in the past week is the fist time it has occurred to me that i won't be able to do this.
i am exhausted
it is very very hard to juggle huge work stress, being a new dad, a husband and training for an ironman
i am exhausted
my body doesn't feel right
my immune system is fucked
i won't do as well as i could
i hate people who have upbeat blogs bragging about how much training they do and what equipment they use, who cares?
who cares about my negativity?
it is real. that is why people read blogs.
what,they don't have enough of real?
i will lose all my sponsors if i am too negative.
wait, i don't really have too many sponsors anyways.
i was mad at that guy who came to the pool when he was sick. i mean, stay home buddy, we are all trying to get healthy here.
i don't want to swim in someone else's germs
i need to give up on having a good race. april is too soon, i won't be ready.
august is too soon. i won't be ready
i am a bad father because i want to work out
i am a bad husband because i am rigid about working out
my priorities are fucked
i haven't run outside enough, this winter sucked, my shins hurt, my heel hurts
i am bored with myself
triathletes are mostly assholes
so is everyone else
usually everyone who is not suffering in some way is an asshole in some way
people who suffer are usually nicer until their suffering ends, then they become assholes again
if i am suffering then why am i not a nicer person?
most of my suffering is self induced
so what does that make me?
oh my, none of this would inspire me. i need to be inspiring. don't I???
it is supposed to be inspiring when someone overcomes previous tragedy to live out their fantasies of omnipotence at an ironman finish line, isn't it?
i will never fit in
i am not going to give up.
my dreams do matter
i am important
it will be ok.
maybe i need to compromise....
sorry about that. if you want inspiration, look at last week's blog.
too much thrash metal in the car.
that is my excuse
and i am not so sure that last line was my unconscious, i think that was my ego talking.
good thing he is the one in control most of the time...
Monday, March 7, 2011
ROUGH PATCH
very few words this week.
instead, a picture that says quite a few things, and maybe different things to each of us, depending on who we are...
this is aron ralston. after he cut off his own arm with a dull knife in order to survive being pinned by a boulder during a solo canyon hike. he kept climbing afterwards. he became a father. he broke a record by being the first person to ever climb every colorado mountain over 14 thousand feet, solo, during winter, after losing his arm.
lately, i feel i have hit a rough patch.
i guess i better think again...
instead, a picture that says quite a few things, and maybe different things to each of us, depending on who we are...
this is aron ralston. after he cut off his own arm with a dull knife in order to survive being pinned by a boulder during a solo canyon hike. he kept climbing afterwards. he became a father. he broke a record by being the first person to ever climb every colorado mountain over 14 thousand feet, solo, during winter, after losing his arm.
lately, i feel i have hit a rough patch.
i guess i better think again...
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