A little about me............
This blog is for many reasons. First off it's for me, holding myself accountable for my own actions. No one will ever judge me like me. Second, it's to prove to myself that high intensity can prepare me for long duration activities. Finally, it is to show progression and tracking of training, nutrition and mental states.
An added bonus is for me to write about specific equipment I am using for racing. I am a gear weenie for sure. I love testing and trying out new gear. Not sure when it started but it is something that I enjoy doing. I think it also helps me plan new ways to challenge myself by thinking outside the box so to speak.
I think the hardest part is acceptance. Why is it we accept long slow distance training (LSD)????? An old boss of mine said something that I will stick with me forever. During a random meeting we were discussing changes within the curriculum we were teaching. When we said that's the way it's always been done he responded, "Just because it's the way it has always been done doesn't make it the right way."
To this day it still kills me that such a simple idea can carry over to nearly every aspect of my life. In terms of training for long distance we have ALWAYS done slow training for long durations. Does this make it right? We will find out............
One of the biggest things I have learned from this thus far is support. I truly couldn't have attempted this endeavor without the help of other. Especially my wife who let's face it will be taking the biggest loss. Without her support none of this would be possible. For that I will be forever great full. When I first decided to give this a shot I sat down and made sure she was ok with it. I wasn't sure how she was going to take it but I have learned that it's better to ask than to not. She obviously said yes which I appreciate immensely. I have been gone a lot since the beginning of our relationship for work and racing and I really wanted to make a commitment to spending time with her like I wasn't able to in the past. She is taking on more than me when it comes to all of this. It's easy to be gone, harder to be waiting at home.
Thanks babe, I love you.
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Being who I am and doing the things that I have done have given me a lot of opportunities to learn and better myself in many ways. A few years ago the group I was working for gave a grant to a university to study human performance within the special forces community. I immediately signed up after returning from a trip. Not thinking I would really learn a lot about my deficiencies, instead I figured I could only look at my strengths. Of course this became a competition amongst our co workers. Since then I have done a few more over the course of a year and a half. Good part is my strengths have increased, bad part is that most of my weaknesses have not. What I am beginning now is to work on those deficiencies, to create a better balance throughout the spectrum of upper/lower body and strength/flexibility.
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So to some this will be blasphemous to other who can ignore certain parts it will make sense. A good friend of mine and fellow racer sent me an email with a link. This took me to Mark Twight's site, yes I said Mark Twight. For the hardcore Crossfitters who are unable to cross boundaries and read anything other than what senior Crossfit leadership puts out go ahead and stop reading. For the rest of us who would prefer to remain drama free and are more concerned about fitness please continue. Twight writes an article about mental toughness and the difference between racing and training. Yes it is true we all consider ourselves to be racing the clock or in many cases each other. Twight indicates there is still a difference than racing. The more I thought about this I really looked back into my life and past. I had to admit that I agreed with him. This doesn't mean we should jump at every chance and sign up for ever race but instead realize that there is an inherent difference between the two. Racing your buddy in the gym is quite different than racing a 10k or marathon against competitors to which you don't know. It does make sense to me and I think from now on if I can find a TT race I will instead of going out and running my own thing.
