Built for Comfort, Not Speed...

I know Coach Wooden is referring to athletic training and practice; a little each day and you’ll see small improvements…..and those add up to big positive changes as the athlete deposits his / her coins in the training piggy bank.

HOWEVER….

This very detailed, very brilliant quote can be translated to most anything a human wants to work toward as a goal. I’m applying it to the topics I mentioned yesterday: I’m working on being more consistent training for my upcoming race schedule, I’m working on broadening my knowledge base overall (as I feel I’ve allowed myself to become a bit….stale), and I’m working on my emotional side through means that I’ll possibly discuss further at some later date.

Take today for example: I got some work in on the bike, and I did some high repetition / low weight upper body strength training this evening. That fed the athletic DNA inside of me. I also finished Matt Warshaw’s book on the history of surfing (so – cowabunga, dude), I learned a bit about the FCC’s Fairness Doctrine of 1949 (oh I’m going to rant about this one in the coming days) – so my brain got a workout too. And as for my emotional issues – I’m learning that a combination of breathing exercises during the day and some quiet meditation helps to clear my head and helps me focus.

Also – and I can’t stress this strongly enough – I deleted my social media apps from my Iphone and Ipad, bringing an immediate sense of peace. I’m no longer reading tons of anger-laden tweet storms, posts lacking any whiff of factual evidence or truth and the corresponding comments they birth that evidences the how fractured of a unit we’ve become. This has resulted in lower blood pressure, the ability to ingest a good arrabbiata sauce without an immediate craving of Tums, enhanced focus during office hours and more time to be productive overall. In short: I’m a far less cranky version of myself.

It’s funny how different aspects of your life are intertwined. Emotional issues and a feeling of “becoming stale” distracted me enough to affect my focus athletically. I’m glad I’m figuring this out. Now I can continue to address it, a little at a time, each day.

July 8th, 2020

I finally got back in to the pool this afternoon. I needed the feeling of doing laps again – it’s been sorely missed since COVID decided to rear its ugly head. I also got some strength training in, focusing on the core and legs. I’ve been incredibly inconsistent and have failed to maintain any semblance of a stable training routine lately. That needs to change.

So the endorphins that come with a daily workout should raise my spirits a bit, and pull me out of the doldrums that I’ve felt for a while. But I need to feed my mind as well – so I’ve taken a couple of Master Classes – one hosted by Bob Iger on the topic of leadership, and another given by James Suckling on wine. Next up: I’m going to learn about how to grow plants & flowers without committing the local equivalent of scorched earth through a master class offered by Ron Finley, the Gansta Gardener of LA.

I also need to read a bit more, in an effort to work on my inner frackin’ zen. Living in Orange County, California, I’m pretty lucky to have access to the Pacific Ocean, some gorgeous beaches and a fairly exquisite sunset or two….

So I began reading Matt Warshaw’s A Brief History of Surfing. I feel like surfing is engrained in the southern California lifestyle, and I don’t know jack spit about it. So that’s going to change too.