stairs?

The legs are pretty sore today...make that very sore. I feel like my calves are permanently flexed and my quads are pretty trashed - best trashing I remember since Corpus and the infamous leg press "rep-off" with Ty and Dave. I'll be better by tomorrow, though, no worries...

Got the Core I circuit in this morning - felt great. I've got six small circuits mapped out...one for each morning, outside of Sunday, which I may end up doing some yoga on anyways.

I really like Mitch's idea on training - fun days and race prep days. Fun days to stay interested, excited, committed, may or may not be integral training. Race prep days for serious, determined, disciplined workouts. I don't know if I have the patience (that may not be the right word) to hit big workouts without a direct focus, but it is an interesting concept.

Personal excellence...this is a long piece from gordo's blog about personal excellence that echoes in my life...

"One of my greatest lessons of athletics is that we have no idea of our highest potential. Specifically, we have NO clue what we can achieve over a five, ten or twenty year time horizon.

Some personal examples...

Eighteen months after I started training for triathlons, I qualified for Hawaii at the Half Vineman (July 2000). That FAR exceeded my 1998 perception of my highest athletic potential.

Three years after qualifying at Vineman, I ran 2:49 off the bike at IMC, posting the fastest run split on the day, finishing third and passing a future World Champion in the last 10K. That FAR exceeded my 2000 perception of my highest athletic potential.

In 2004, I ran 2:46 off the bike and finished in 8:29 -- the guy that won that day posted one of the fastest winning times in the history of the event -- I was 107 seconds behind him on a day where I had a flat tire. That FAR exceed my wildest perception of my highest athletic potential.

So, my experience is that aiming for our highest potential will ALWAYS sell ourselves short, because we sell ourselves short. Our limited perception of what we can achieve is our single greatest obstacle.

What to do?

Rather than trying to "achieve" -- what I do is focus on personal excellence in areas of my life that provide me with satisfaction, support and meaning.

Personal excellence is about how I handle the little things. Some examples:

Monica -- experience love, hold hands, kindness
Winning an Ironman -- live sober, train regularly, limit travel, wake up early
Swimming -- breathe second stroke off the wall, three stroke breathing, push straight back, hip over
Cycling -- smooth circles, hold position, commit to cadence
Running -- ribs down, toe through, thumbs up, spine long
Nutrition -- real food, slower eating, frequent meals, internal healing
Personal Finance -- cover overheads, always save
Personal Investing -- preserve capital, trustworthy partners

Now all that sounds pretty simple but, I assure you that it is FAR from easy. In fact, to achieve success requires the support of many people and these people will very quickly see through hoax-commitment to excellence.

When I feel pain, it is most often due to knowing that I am not measuring up in terms of the simple things required for personal excellence. Real pain comes from knowing that we are not measuring up to our highest potential....and that explains a lot of angst in the world."

My own personal excellence, my own little things to focus on...

Adrienne - encouragement, love, companionship
Spiritual truth - read the Word, pray, meditate, search for truth, good, and beauty in every situation
Winning the IM World Championship - train consistently (AM especially), recover appropriately (nutrition, sleep, stress)
Swimming - long powerful strokes, relaxed breathing, like a shark
Cycling - good power, pacing, stay aero
Running - comfortably fast, land on the ball, like a gazelle
Nutrition - eat real foods, i.e. (once again, from gordo's blog):

" ***Other than sleep, no long periods without food -- I find that I do best with something every three to four hours.

***Eating the least processed, highest quality foods available to me -- that means wild and/or organic "real" food. "Real Food" is food that comes without an ingredients list -- an apple, a steak, a carrot, a bag of quinoa...

***Protein with every meal and readily accessed protein during all long training sessions. We need to minimize the catabolic effects of endurance training.

***Complete elimination of hydrogenated oils and trans fats.

***Reduction of refined sugar and processed carbohydrates.

***Take the majority of my intake in the form of lean protein, fruits, veggies, unrefined carbs and good fats."

and, Finance - give, save, enjoy