Thursday, December 01, 2005

Today's Workouts

9:40AM Abs/core 30'

1:17PM Bike 1:15 as WU: 15', Spinups 3', 3x(2'Z3, 1'cd), 4x(10'FT, 2'cd). I was smart today and drank some Ultra Violence while I worked out. Coach said I don't have to do 2x(20'FT, 2'cd) on Tuesdays and Thursdays, that I can mix up whatever intervals I like. So I made things a little easier today by doing 4x10'FT. Don't get me wrong, FT intervals SUCK THE BIG ONE, but doing 2x20'FT twice in one week did seem a little extreme, even for a Crackhead. I will still keep either Tuesday or Thursday as 2x20', though. Just to keep myself honest and have a good baseline test for my CP60.

Today's thought: Silence is a wonderful thing. I have recently learned the fine art of silence. It doesn't feel awkward to me to be in a conversation with someone and just go silent. Sometimes it's because the other person is talking too much while not really saying anything. Sometimes it's so I can really collect my own thoughts in preparation for what I want to say next. Sometimes silence can be a way of honoring what you just heard. Silence can also register your refusal to buy in to what you just heard. If you are constantly talking, you sure can't be listening! We are programmed to feel we have to respond and react to everything. It's a good habit to unlearn! This can be part of your self-observation practice, which should be incorporated into your mental training for sport and life. Instead of listening with an ear towards how you will respond, really just listen and observe how you are already preparing a counterargument, a clever response, an acknowledgment, an opinion. If you can quiet the desire to do those things, only then can you truly listen, which is truly being in the moment. Try the same thing when you read an email or read someone else's blog posting. Are you preparing a response before you've finished reading? Or do you take a moment to think about what you just read and then decide whether 1) a response is needed, and if so 2) what is most appropriate?

As I write this, many of you reading are deciding whether to make a comment on it. When you decide to comment, is it because you think I need to be validated? I do not. Do you think making a comment makes you look good because it shows you are reading others' blogs in an effort to gain knowledge and perspective? You shouldn't care. There are plenty of other reasons to comment, for example to thank a person or provide your opinion or expand on what you just read. I just wanted to let you all know that I know how precious your own time is and that if you choose to read what I write, great, but don't feel compelled to spend extra time to comment. I know most people are really good and here we are talking about finding all this extra time to do our sports and become better people, so I will be most happy knowing that you are spending as much time as you can doing that!

Have a great rest of your day!

3 comments:

Bolder said...

No, I didn't take a moment, but I took a shower. I needed the shower anyway, and the sensory deprivation of a shower stall helps me collect my thoughts.

First order of business, does anyone beside me NOT understand your workout shorthand? I can guess WU (warmups), but, like you said 'time is precious', and I'm not much at guessing.

With that said, I'd like to thank you again for sharing your workout, I know it takes time, and I would like to expand on your point on comments left on blogs.

When I first came to blogland, and specifically the TRIbloggin' Alliance, which consisted of about four people (Kahuna, Commodore, Wil, Flatman) and me lurking -- I thought, what a bunch of fucking loons.

But, over time, I changed my analogy from loons, to geese. I visualize the TRIblogger community as a flock of geese flying in a V. Someone takes the lead, and the others honk encouragement, regardless of the leader's direction. Sometimes, the leader in the V changes based on new directions, information, or results. Geese often fall out of the formation. Many times geese falling out of the formation get honked back in, which many geese find helpful because the migration is long and hard.

Rarely, but I've seen it happen, a goose gets out of hand and gets bit in the ass -- usually for not participating, or sometimes for getting too far out of formation, or just pissing another goose off.

What's interesting in this formation is that it is all voluntary, and although some may lay claim to being the lead goose, the members of the flock fly wherever they god damn want based on what the lead goose has done for them lately.

Finally, all of these geese have fairly similar goals, with various motivation levels, various ultimate destinations, different personalites, and some loosely defined ideas about flapping around all the hell over the country.

So, I pesonally tend to step back, in silence, and think about the goose before me, and decide what to do with that goose -- since it is all voluntary, and I'm a big boy that can do whatever the fuck he wants to do. It gets interesting.

TriZilla said...

What about commenting to a comment? Nice one, Bolder. Honk, honk.

Brett said...

No comment. :)