2016 - December - Podcast you should pay attention to post

#zentriathlete #familybalancetri

Every once in awhile, a diamond in the rough is exposed

So here I am a week into mandatory 'no activity', well really 8 days and I am still doing simple knee exercises (body load only) and 22 push ups a few times a day, after lasik eye surgery. It gets one to think about training and running and the why I do what I do, and collectively we.

So, this podcast link, from minute 56 to the close is quite intuitive, empowering, and maybe for some a gut wrenching check -

PODCAST LINK - Endurance Planet -

The other topics are great too, about gu's and maltodextrin etc and more. But, I have taken a #familybalancetri oriented approach lately. I hate paying for events, b/c the journey is more important to me then some payment to a medal - let's be real as a highly competitive high school athlete until I burned out trying through injury in college and then just snowboarding into recovery - another story.....anyway. This no activity stuff sucks, but is soo empowering to the mind and the overall health I am seeking to maintain. i wanted to share this goodie I listened to as 'food for thought'.

My mantra is "free advice is what it's worth, take what you need, discard the rest." So, if it doesn't fit for you, my apologies, please do you, but if it does fit, leverage it to your 'best fit'.

So My Personal Thoughts On Races, The Journey, etc

Well I am really liking the journey these days. After finally listening and hearing my wife, I have been able to balance a hole that had been missing for some time. However, it is an investment in training, through any given week. Family is first, and although this stuff is awesome, I need to refocus a bit. If I can fit a Full Ironman in 2018, I will let it happen. This year my A race or task is to really dial in at 70.3 IM St. George and try to get sub 6 hours. 6 hours 30 will still be fantastic from my initial 9 hour 20-ish bonking and welcome to this crap outcome. So, maybe it will happen may it won't for the full. I enjoy the journey, and kinda hate the 'race'. I do enjoy the whole experience of the event though - expo, meetups with friends and others int he journey, wondering why we didn't leave the debit/credit card at home on expo days - children events, etc.

2017 Tasks to Goals and/or Objectives

The short list --

70.3 IM St George

May event

Sub 6 hour 30 - incredible is sub 6 hours

1 -Century (100 miles) bike event

undecided - probably Gran Fondo Cache valley in July

1 - 26.2 full Marathon distance

To be honest, I don't care if I do it at an event, iI just need this distance

1 - 2.4 mile pool or OWS swim within the time parameters of 140.6 IM cutoffs for the swim
December 2017 - determine if IMAZ or another is an option based on the above minimums
Run at least 1000 miles again, bike a lot and swim a lot
Enjoy this year as a family and our adventures
Support Liz at her events
Become a brand ambassador
Grow the #zentriathlete persona

I competed at a good level years ago as a High School athlete (I have a couple of varsity Letters even :P). I had a good drive but burnt out and lost sight of objectives because injury took some of those opportunities away going into college years. However, even while sitting on a chair lift at Alta ski resort in Utah thinking I had achieved all my goals, I was so naive as a freshman in college at 18. Life was just beginning. Foolish was I, and at times I still am. I know I am not a goal oriented person b/c 'the journey' is task completion, and goals should be adapted as tasks are achieved. I mean what if the goal I thought I was shooting for is altered in the task completion process and there is something better or even best compared to the original goal? hmmmmm?

So, maybe I solo a lot in my training, maybe others will join me in a few one-offs to engage in good pleasantries as friends and acquaintances. I think this is Liz's year for events, not mine. I think we see how involved Dennis wants to be in events and volunteering. Maybe I pace a 13.1 or 3 and try to get Liz's time range so we can do it together (yes, brownie points). I dunno.

I like what I have achieved thus far. I like who I am, I love our family. I know I am not perfect in the slightest, but I am trying to get this #familybalancetri thing dialed in for us. In the podcast, Tawnee and Lucho joke about being OCD about not being OCD -- this is me.

To the universe that finds this, hope you enjoy, please do you. Please find you. In so doing, love the journey as the outcome will take care of itself. I find the world is too focused on supposed goals and gets narcissistic about it, when the whole definition and scoping of the goal is so flawed without adaptation and adjustments. I mean 'no new things on race day' - risk vs reward - you as an individual or family group should know what is best for you. Is the risk worth it or not.? That small adjustment or 'new' may be the breakthrough or even failure waiting to happen. But either way - an opportunity for growth, and that part of the journey is AMAZING!!!

Sorry so long, forgive the indulgence. #zentriathlete