Half Marathon Preparation - Taking Inventory

"You must purge yourself of all thoughts of self-importance and all inclination to judge yourself or others. You must go to power with humility and deep respect."
- Mike Livingston as quoted by Brad Alan Lewis in Assault on Lake Casitas

Four weeks from today I will be competing in the PF Chang's Rock 'n Roll half marathon. For me, one of the real tests of how well I will do in the actual event is to honestly evaluate my progress/status a month before the event. I did a pretty good 5 mile run today, imagined what the conditions will be like come race day. I'd like to talk a little about where I am at in my preparation, and talk about some of the critical factors of my ongoing preparation.

On the positive side, I have a pretty solid cardio base. My lungs and legs are pretty solid. I'm not at a race day peak right now which is good. I have a month really refine this base, and be in fighting shape come January 13, 2008. Overall, I'm happy with where I am right now.

One of the things that I have noticed is that Phoenix is starting to get cold. The Phoenix cold is a very dry cold. As a result, it was hard to breath this morning. I didn't really feel like I could take in the oxygen that I needed to really move. Race day has been the coldest day of the year for the past two years. In order to really steel myself for this, I'll need to do some early morning runs over the next few weeks. Getting up super early and running in cold, dry weather is going to absolutely suck, but I know that this sort of preparation will make a big difference come race day.

Additionally, the race is run on hard pavement. I usually do most of my running on dirt. I'll need to a couple runs each week on pavement to prepare my joints for the pounding that comes with racing on city streets.

Maybe the most important thing that over the next few weeks I'll need to walk a fine balance. I'll need to consistently run, do consistent roadwork on hard surfaces, but avoid injury. The upcoming Christmas break will be very important in this respect. This down time from work should allow me to focus on running while taking deep rest. I have a good window of time to work with here. The truly meaningful thing is that I need to take full advantage of this.

Reimagining the Birth of Jesus - Part II

“For certain is death for the born and certain is birth for the dead; Therefore over the Thou shouldst not grieve.”
- The Bhagavad Gita

"For every beginning, there is an end."
- The Matrix: Revolutions

From what I have been told by my teachers in Catholic high school, Jesus wasn't born in December. Rather, he was born in the Spring. As part of Christianity's great marketing campaign, or mixture with other cultures, Christmas took over a Roman holiday that took place at the end of the calendar year. When you step back and thingk about this holiday, it's pretty poetic: at the very end of the year we celebrate and remember the birth of a child. As something comes to an end, something else starts.

Earlier this year MAD welcomed his first born into the world. With her birth, I was thinking about the limitless possibility that this little life has in front of her. There are no big screw ups, or great victories for this little one, just a big blank slate for her to do anything that she wants. I think that's what this holiday is a true marker of: People can always start over again, regardless, of what one has done previously.

When Life beats you down--and this is a matter of when and not if--you have to remember that you can start over. Regardless of what people may tell you, or what you may think, there is always a new beginning waiting for you. It may be a matter of changing professions, doing some heavy duty therapy, or a number of things, but there is always a way to turn things around.

I think I'm more aware of this idea more this year because of what I have gone through with my family this year. My dad--who was a recovering alcoholic--is now a full blown drunk. I understand that there is a physical component to addiction--I will acknowledge that it is a disease--but he has continually chosen alcohol over his family. He can start to choose a better life for himself any time he wants to. It's strange to watch a family member choose to kill themself and say no to having a relationship with their family. The brutal truth though--as Aunt Shelly said so poignantly earlier this week--is that it is impossible to have a genuine relationship with an addict as they are exquisitely self-involved.

My hope for 2008 is that my dad chooses to say "yes" to our family, and "no" to a life of addiction. But until he makes that choice, I'm just going to be waiting....and hoping.....

Namaste

Reimagining the Birth of Jesus - Part I

"For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a Stranger and you Welcomed me,I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. Truly, I say to you,
as you did it to one of the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me."
- Matthew 25: 35-40

Christmas is just around the corner. In two weeks or so families around the world will get together, eat more food than they should, and then open gifts that have been sitting under a tree for a good while. Seems kind of strange that we celebrate the birth of Jesus this way, but this is what we do. We do it as much out of tradition as we do it to see the children and close family smile when they get something they really like.

For better or worse, I am usually not into Christmas. I could get into the details, talk about my childhood, and bizarre family; but I'll save that for a good decade or so when I am laying down on a leather sofa and paying some person I don't know a lot of money to let me talk about myself. Anyway, this sort of "Scrooge" thing got me thinking about the birth of Jesus. I've had some thoughts on this matter and want to use this site to talk about them a little bit.

If Jesus were to be born today, he would be born in a really shady part of town, something like an alley behind a Motel 6. As Mary and Joseph were traveling, maybe it would be better to say he would be born in parking lot outside the Motel 6. The shepherds--who spent a lot of time alone and with animals who stand about hip heighth--would be something like homeless people. Both are looked down upon in society because they are "unclean." Even though the story says that Joseph was a carpenter, I still would guess that he could have figured something out if he had enough cash; but he didn't. So maybe Joseph and Mary would have been collecting Welfare, or government aid. These are the conditions that Jesus was born into. These conditions aren't unlike what's going on today. They are two people with real life problems who don't know what's going to happen, and they are having a kid on top of it.

He was basically born surrounded by dirty, smelly people that were not accepted by society. Later on in his life, Jesus would spend most of the time we know about with tax collectors, fisherman, random strangers, a Roman centurion, a woman who had many husbands, and a woman who may or may not have been a prostitute. More importantly, he would spend a lot of time getting pissed off at the Pharisees for making these type of people feel bad, or less than human. I would guess that one of the main reasons why Jesus felt comfortable with these people is because he was ushered into the world in close proximity to such "unclean" people. I'm sure that when Jesus and family went back to Joseph's home town, they said hi and spent some time with the people who were there for the birth of Jesus. As a child he probably saw these people as genuine and nice instead of "unclean" or "foresaken."

This holiday season I have been thinking about this message: Love, compassion, kindness are for everyone, not just the pretty, educated people. All human beings deserve these things, but just as in the time of Christ, these are the things that are so rare in this world of ours.

I really think when Jesus said, "Rejoice, for the Kingdom of God is at hand," he is saying that we have everything he we need to right our problems. I don't think this line is about going to Heaven when a person dies. I think it means that we have what is needed to take care of one another.

Not trying to get preachy here, but I'd like to give all those reading this a homework assignment. Do something small and genuine for a random person who is in need. This could mean a donation, or something like that. For a few small seconds, have some genuine, human interaction with a person who has been regarded as "unclean" or shunned by society. It's probably going to be uncomfortable, but do it anyway and see what happens. Maybe they will feel better, maybe you will. Regardless, many small actions like this will bring about the Kingdom of God.

The Never Ending Quest for Material

"It's really a lot easier to write about things that are problematic. Who wants to hear how happy you are?"
- Lyle Lovett

From time to time I will look back at what I have written over the past year or so. When I started this thing there was so much mental turmoil going on. Am I a "fixed" man? No, not by any stretch of the imagination; but my mind is a lot nicer place to stay now, thus sometimes there is not great puzzle to pick a part or some terrible problem that needs to be solved.

When I look at the lives of the great artists and writers, most of them had pretty tumultous lives. I wonder if they did it because they needed turmoil, and the torture to get their creative juices flowing. Steven King once said that Hemingway was a great writer who happened to be a raging alcoholic. So, it looks like there are two schools of thoughts in this matter. Maybe great artists can get away with leading crazy lives because that's what people expect out of great minds: torture.

Had a lesson with Coach Kevin today. He's probably the best technical coach I have ever worked with. Some coaches will tell you that you are doing something right, when you are not to spare your ego. Not Kevin. He's Mr. Do It again. Maybe most importantly, he's focused on building a set of skills that allow a swimmer to swim heavy volume without destroying their body. Skills first, volume second. Sounds simple but a lot of coaches will let their swimmers tear up their body unneccessarily.

The pieces of the stroke came together today. I don't have the stroke mastered, but the individual pieces were all demonstrated today. I'll keep swimming 25s until I can hold it together like it's my job. That may be a month or so off, or it could all come together next week. We'll see. My mind is open to the possibilities here. There are no heavy deadlines for mastery in this area.

That's all I got right now. Nothing major. Just needed to stretch the writing muscles tonight.

Namaste..

Off the Reservation...Again

"I don't think life is absurd. I think we are all here for a huge purpose. I think we shrink from the immensity of the purpose we are here for."
- Norman Mailer

I've always love saying that I am "off the reservation" any time I travel. My cousin is in the military and I've heard him say it once or twice. Also, I've heard actors portraying military operatives use this expression as well. If the people in Hollywood use it, then it must be true to life.

This past week I have been off the reservation as my cell phone broke. One one hand it was odd not to be able to call friends and family members while driving--yes, I am guilty--but it was also nice not to be able to make calls while driving. I took the cd face off the stereo and have been driving in silence. It's made the commute much more serene.

Anyway, this weekend I received four separate emails from family members wondering if I was still alive. Yes, I am, just unable to be reached by phone. I'll leave the house here in a few minutes and go purchase a new phone. Nothing monumental or prosaic to say about the experience except it was different than having a phone all the time. Some times the quiet was great. Other times it was a touch unsettling. You can't have one without the other.

Right now things are on a plateau on all fronts of my life. Work is stable right now; we aren't absolutely cranking right now, but we aren't slow by any means. There are things to do and things to reimagine. But secretly I am hoping that we can slammed soon. There is something wonderful about having a lot of work to do and having a whole team cranking to get it done. You can't stay at 100% all the time, but it's nice to go back there once in a while and brush off the dust.

Still working on the freestyle with Coach Kevin. We are getting closer to having a much more effecient stroke developed. I've been swimming each day for at least 30 minutes and working solely on technique. Again, I've talked about letting go bad habits and "undoing" things a few weeks ago. I'm still in this phase. I'll stay here as long as I have to, but I'm looking forward to being able to do heavy volume. The pain of swimming is so deep that you can't think of anything else when you are in a nasty set. It is the most cleansing, in the moment experience that I have experienced. So, I have that to look forward to in coming year. It might sound odd to look forward to pain, but I haven't been there in awhile.

Time to go on a field trip to the cell phone store. It should be a quick one.

Namaste