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To get an idea of what I'm trying to do and why I think it's possible, check out the following entries, they'll help get you up to speed.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Perspective

My weakened immune system succumbed to the pathogens floating around my house from a sick three year old.  I don't feel horrible, but i can tell when i cough that its not just a seasonal thing - big chunks of phlegm come up and i've got that unmistakable sick breath.  Its my own fault of course, and i half expected it as my confidence gets the best of me sometimes.... i long ago decided not to try to avoid sharing stuff with my kids, even when they are ill - simply because it is too hard -  they never quite finish their dinners, i'm always hungry, and i hate throwing away food.

I like to believe that i've got a super immune system and won't get sick.  I'm the eternal optimist - its how i plan my adventures and, apparently, also how i approach illness.  So be it.

Problem is that i'm terrible at actually being sick - much worse than i am when things my optimism lands me in hot water on an expedition, where i actually tend to thrive.  I'm also bad at recovering after long events (although i'm getting better), always wanting to get right back at it.  Double whammy.  But it gives me a chance to think a bit and realize that all the importance i attach to all this fitness and racing and ultra endurance stuff is fine and dandy, but it's also completely arbitrary.  Of course most of the things we attach importance to in life are arbitrarily decided, with a few exceptions.  One of those - at least in my book - is family.  So today instead of being bummed that its been a week since i've got any good training in and that i might have to wait a few more days, i'll let my focus shift to the wonderful little boy that gave me this cough but then spent the morning curled up on my lap - and how that was  pretty important, too.

4 comments:

  1. Love your blog and great that you can keep life in perspective as well. Currently focusing on improving my fitness by focusing on shorter duration/higher intensity workouts - Keep up the posts. Carl. 36. Sydney, Australia.

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    1. thanks for commenting Carl. Keep me posted on how things are going with your efforts!

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  2. Dude, I just randomly stumbled upon your blog while googling aound. I totally share the same philosophy and have even given presentations based on that premise - The idea of yielding the best possible return on one's investment of time and resources. Much like yourself, I'm able to compete at a pretty high level on minimal training (probably 4-5 hours/week). However, I've managed to win several small triathons, half marathons, and mountain bike races throughout MN. I was actually the #1 ranked Sport Class rider in the state this past Summer. I live in Fergus Falls but am considering coming up to GF for one of those Winter Series races. Keep up the good work !

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  3. Dave - how have you found the reception to the ideas you've presented? I find that there is a lot of conventional wisdom out there that needs to be overcome... always a challenge. Its funny, i think that particularly for shorter events (sprint tris for example), you can even be closer to the top with minimal training than most people believe. For me its a function of wanting all the time i invest to yield maximum gains and the most i can keep my focus on either real high intensity work or race pace tempo type stuff is about two hours, give or take. Anything i add to that ends up being in lower training zones. so this is one of the reasons why i've drawn the line as i have. i can up things temporarily but when i was doing 3 hours a week after a few weeks of nothing but consistently hard workouts i started to have a hard time mentally committing to each effort.

    you should totally come up for one of the winter series races... the one i'm directing is the iceman triathlon so i'm partial to that one (and i think we give the most bang for the buck too!), but they are all great events. make sure to let me know if you make the trip, would love to meet you. my inlaws have a cabin outside vergas so i do some training in the area once in a while.... lots of hills there compared to GF....

    cheers

    andy

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