Modified from original written for the USC Triathlon Newsletter 12-16-06:
We hope you're all having fun as you head off for the winter break. We know...it may be hard. Airport lines, traffic jams, shopping chaos. Irate air travel, boiling road rage, seething mall crawls. And the obligatory stare-downs, shoulder jostles, and muttered cursing. It's enough to ruin a holiday meant for good spirits and relaxation. It's a wonder you don't spend your days wishing everyone the Hawaiian good luck sign (you know, the one known to the ancient Romans as digitus impudicus).
As tempting as it may be to show everyone your personal expression of the holiday aloha spirit, you should know that it probably won't change anything--or make anything better. Sure, it'll make you feel better NOW...up until the point the confrontation escalates and you find yourself in a fistfight for a parking spot at the Glendale Galleria (Editor's Note: this was seen between 2 women on the 2nd level off the Brand Blvd. entrance, one a driver of a Mercedes, the other the driver of a Lexus...go figure...).
Truth of the matter is, you have little ability to control the actions of strangers, particularly ones you only see in passing. The only thing you can really do is control yourself. You can control your own behavior; you can control your actions--hopefully in ways that better the lives of the people around you, particularly those closest to your life.
And in part, this is probably what this time of year is supposed to be about. Bringing the spirit of ohana to strengthen and tie together our respective families, sharing our hearts so that we confirm the relationships that mean the most to us, and never forgetting the things that are most important in this universe. In furtherance of these goals, we take stock of things at the end of one year as we face another, take quiet time to reflect in the long darkness of the winter nights, take remembrance of the souls most dear to us, and take once more our commitment to make a better world... even if it is just our own.
In the spirit of the holiday season, check out some links:
Baby, It's Cold Outside: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyfFFxe27j4
My Best Friend: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_SonJUI8Gc
Auld Lang Syne: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muYWhLuFN14
Love Train: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEUKW99ohuw
My Heart Will Go On: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-9WPp4_IRs
Burning Love: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wosRsbJFVqU
My Name is Inigo Montoya: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDvKtF_h8Fc
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Saturday, December 16, 2006
training round-up, week ending 12-16-06
this week was continuing the build into the winter break. i skipped the long weekend run to fit in a long swim. thank god, they had the olympic pool set up to 50 meter long-course (you have no idea how mind-numbingly insane it is to crank out long swim sets in a 25 yard pool).
my legs were still a little sore from the prior week. i'm having to manage this situation, since i have some pretty big breakthrough workouts planned for next week.
there were 2 issues this week:
my legs were still a little sore from the prior week. i'm having to manage this situation, since i have some pretty big breakthrough workouts planned for next week.
there were 2 issues this week:
- reduced hours at the lyons center for winter break (opening at 7am instead of 6am), which eliminated an hour's worth of training time each morning. that's a lot. but since the semester was over, i was able to finish later without having to worry too much about getting anywhere in the mornings
- the closing of the track, which eliminated the track workouts i'd been hoping to get in. this was somewhat manageable, since i didn't really have a track workout scheduled, and i was able to do a maintenance run on a treadmill, but it does make for some concerns regarding loss in conditioning
morning
- long swim (descending long intervals), 3600 meters, aerobic conditioning & muscular endurance (zone 3 & zone 4), macdonald's swim stadium, start time 11am
monday, dec. 11
morning
- elliptical trainer (recovery), 15 minutes, aerobic conditioning (zone 2), lyons center, start time 7am
- weight training (chest, abs), 45 minutes, immediately following
evening
- kung fu (active rest), 60 minutes, cromwell field, start time 5pm
tuesday, dec. 12
rest day
wednesday, dec. 13
morning
- stationary bike (build ride), 45 minutes, muscular endurance (zone 3 & zone 4), lyons center, start time 7am
- weight training (abs), 30 minutes, immediately following
- kung fu (cool-down), 30 minutes, immediately following
afternoon
- swim (intervals), 1200 yards, technique (zone 3 & zone 4), macdonald's swim stadium, start time 2:30pm
thursday, dec. 14
morning
- treadmill (intervals), 30 minutes, anaerobic conditioning (zone 3 & zone 4), lyons center, start time 7am
- weight training (legs, lower back), 60 minutes, immediately following
friday, dec. 15
morning
- elliptical trainer (recovery), 15 minutes, aerobic conditioning (zone 2), lyons center, start time 7am
- weight training (chest, shoulders, abs), 30 minutes, immediately following
saturday, dec. 16
morning
- kung fu (active rest, some anaerobic conditioning), casuda canyon park, start time 10:30 am
Monday, December 11, 2006
training round-up, week ending 12-09-06
so things continue to pick up. the trail run this week was a lot faster than i'd planned, and just about damn near killed me. joy.
there was a slight hitch with the pool being closed in the mornings. this put a rather sizable hole into my workout schedule, since i'd planning on this being a swim week...which means i'm going to have to make up for it later. joy.
sunday, dec. 3
there was a slight hitch with the pool being closed in the mornings. this put a rather sizable hole into my workout schedule, since i'd planning on this being a swim week...which means i'm going to have to make up for it later. joy.
sunday, dec. 3
morning
- trail run (weekly long run), 10 miles, muscular endurance (zone 3 & zone 4), rose bowl arroyo trail, start time 8:30 am
monday, dec. 4
morning
- stationary bike (recovery ride), 30 minutes, aerobic conditioning (zone 2), lyons center, start time 6am
- weight training (abs, back), 45 minutes, immediately following
evening
- kung fu (active rest), 60 minutes, cromwell field, start time 5pm
tuesday, dec. 5
rest day
wednesday, dec. 6
morning
- stationary bike (build ride), 60 minutes, aerobic conditioning (zone 2 & zone 3), lyons center, start time 6am
- weight training (abs), 30 minutes, immediately following
afternoon
- swim (continuous), 3000 yards, muscular endurance (zone 3 & zone 4), macdonald's swim stadium, start time 2:30pm
thursday, dec. 7
morning
- elliptical trainer (recovery), 30 minutes, aerobic conditioning (zone 2), lyons center, start time 6am
- weight training (chest, legs, lower back), 60 minutes, immediately following
friday, dec. 8
morning
- stationary bike (build ride), 100 minutes, aerobic conditioning (zone 2 & zone 3), lyons center, start time 6am
- weight training (abs), 30 minutes, immediately following
evening
- run (recovery), 15 minutes, aerobic conditioning (zone 2), cromwell field, start time 5pm
- kung fu (active rest), 30 minutes, aerobic conditioning (zone 2), immediately following
saturday, dec. 9
morning
- kung fu (active rest), casuda canyon park, start time 10:30 am
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Santa Lucia
Written for the USC Triathlon Newsletter 12-07-06:
We live in a world seemingly driven by competition. We compete for grades. We compete for jobs. We compete for pay. We compete on the road in rush hour traffic, we compete for dates for a night on the town. We compete to get benefits, entitlements, the attention of loved ones, recognition and rewards. We even compete in sports.
And with competition comes the primal emotions of the human struggle: aggression, ruthlessness, malice, rage, ferocity, pride, vanity, ambition, obsession, brutality. The darkest aspects of our psyche, evolved through the millenia in the ultimate competition for survival. And in the chaotic milieu of the human race, they often grow to consume us, until our lives seem to be nothing more than our most primitive selves.
The Vikings thought this way once. They lived it. For theirs was a worldview driven by the maxim: "The gods are doomed and the end is death." Given the promised apocalypse of Ragnarok, the only life was the life lived now, the only rewards were the rewards taken now, the only treasures were the treasures seized now. They lived their lives as the supreme competition for survival. And their brutality and ferocity were renowned.
Somewhere along the way, however, they changed. Sometime after their conversion to Christianity, their worldview gradually shifted to one of hope, and to a promise of better things. Part of this was the adoption of a peculiarly Sicilian tradition of Santa Lucia. In the Scandinavian permutation of Santa Lucia, girls dressed in white and wearing crowns of lit candles arose in the darkness on December 13 to deliver food to friends and families as well as the starving and the poor. In Sweden, the festival of Santa Lucia was (and still is) taken as an expression of charity and compassion. Symbolically, it is also meant to be the act of bringing light to the earth upon the darkest day of the year.
In many ways, on so many levels, Santa Lucia is entirely antithetical to the ancient Viking way. But this is perhaps by design. Because the Vikings realized that the only thing competition had gotten them was blood and death. They realized that life had to be more than just primal emotions and primitive psyche. They realized that it had to be about other things, like dignity and compassion. Because a life lived by words such as aggression, ruthlessness, or brutality is a life lived in darkness, and a life lived in darkness is pointless. Because what people need during the darkest times in our lives isn't more blood and death and promises of destruction, but a sense that things can get better--not to deny the reality of this world as it is, but to show the potential of the world as it can be. In short, what people need is hope.
Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Lucia_Day
http://www.newsweden.org/luciahistory.htm
http://www.internet-at-work.com/hos_mcgrane/holidays/nora.html
We live in a world seemingly driven by competition. We compete for grades. We compete for jobs. We compete for pay. We compete on the road in rush hour traffic, we compete for dates for a night on the town. We compete to get benefits, entitlements, the attention of loved ones, recognition and rewards. We even compete in sports.And with competition comes the primal emotions of the human struggle: aggression, ruthlessness, malice, rage, ferocity, pride, vanity, ambition, obsession, brutality. The darkest aspects of our psyche, evolved through the millenia in the ultimate competition for survival. And in the chaotic milieu of the human race, they often grow to consume us, until our lives seem to be nothing more than our most primitive selves.
The Vikings thought this way once. They lived it. For theirs was a worldview driven by the maxim: "The gods are doomed and the end is death." Given the promised apocalypse of Ragnarok, the only life was the life lived now, the only rewards were the rewards taken now, the only treasures were the treasures seized now. They lived their lives as the supreme competition for survival. And their brutality and ferocity were renowned.
Somewhere along the way, however, they changed. Sometime after their conversion to Christianity, their worldview gradually shifted to one of hope, and to a promise of better things. Part of this was the adoption of a peculiarly Sicilian tradition of Santa Lucia. In the Scandinavian permutation of Santa Lucia, girls dressed in white and wearing crowns of lit candles arose in the darkness on December 13 to deliver food to friends and families as well as the starving and the poor. In Sweden, the festival of Santa Lucia was (and still is) taken as an expression of charity and compassion. Symbolically, it is also meant to be the act of bringing light to the earth upon the darkest day of the year.
In many ways, on so many levels, Santa Lucia is entirely antithetical to the ancient Viking way. But this is perhaps by design. Because the Vikings realized that the only thing competition had gotten them was blood and death. They realized that life had to be more than just primal emotions and primitive psyche. They realized that it had to be about other things, like dignity and compassion. Because a life lived by words such as aggression, ruthlessness, or brutality is a life lived in darkness, and a life lived in darkness is pointless. Because what people need during the darkest times in our lives isn't more blood and death and promises of destruction, but a sense that things can get better--not to deny the reality of this world as it is, but to show the potential of the world as it can be. In short, what people need is hope.
Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Lucia_Day
http://www.newsweden.org/luciahistory.htm
http://www.internet-at-work.com/hos_mcgrane/holidays/nora.html
Sunday, December 03, 2006
training round-up, week ending 12-02-06
still a little sick from last week, but definitely feeling a whole lot better. i don't even want to talk about what i was coughing up. and my voice sounded like the ghost of puberty all over again.
but i felt good enough to step things up a little:
sunday, nov. 26
morning
morning
evening
morning
morning
morning
saturday, dec. 2
morning
but i felt good enough to step things up a little:
sunday, nov. 26
morning
- trail run (weekly long run), 9 miles, aerobic conditioning (zone 2 & zone 3), rose bowl arroyo trail, start time 9 am
morning
- weight training (abs), 30 minutes
evening
- track workout (intervals, 6x800s), anaerobic conditioning (zone 3 & zone 4), cromwell field, start time 6pm
- weight training (chest), 15 minutes, cromwell field, immediately following
morning
- stationary bike (build ride), 60 minutes, muscular endurance (zone & zone 3), lyons center, start time 6am
- weight training (legs & abs), 30 minutes, immediately following
- kung fu (active rest), 60 minutes, cromwell
morning
- swim (intervals, 8x200s), 2800 yards, aerobic & anaerobic conditioning (zone 3 & zone 4), macdonald's swim stadium, start time 6am
- weight training (chest & shoulders), 30 minutes, lyons center, immediately following
morning
- stationary bike (build ride), 80 minutes, aerobic conditioning (zone 2), lyons center, start time 6am
- weight training (abs), 30 minutes, immediately following
- run (recovery), 15 minutes, aerobic conditioning (zone 2), cromwell field, start time 6pm
- kung fu (active rest), 45 minutes, aerobic conditioning (zone 2), immediately following
saturday, dec. 2
morning
- kung fu (active rest), casuda canyon park, start time 10:30 am
Thursday, November 30, 2006
sometimes people change
Written for the USC Triathlon Newsletter 11-30-06:
Sometimes people change.
Oh, we know. Your parents told you people never change. They said so very clearly when you started hanging out with the "bad boy" down the street (or *became* the bad boy down the street...but that's another story). They even told you the fables--the ones about leopards not changing their spots and scorpions not changing their nature.
But sometimes people change.
They change because of things that happen in their lives. Because of days that pass, people they lose, things that happen. Because of years lived, relationships endured, lessons learned. They change because of the journey that is life and living and wear and tear of mileage run beneath their feet. They change because the distance leaves a mark and memory of age and sight and sound and emotion stretching as long as the evening shadows of the longest day of the longest trail of the greatest vistas spread out beneath creation's great sky extending beyond reason into infinite. They change, because underneath the eye of heaven, they can do nothing else but change.
And your parents then gave you the caveat that people can only change when they want to change.
Well, you chose to start a journey. You chose to enter a race. You chose to go to practice and train. You chose to find others like you. You chose to listen to a coach. You chose to suffer and hurt and suffer again. You chose to live outdoors or in a gym, by seasons alternating freezing in the wind or baking beneath the sun. You chose to change.
And you chose all this because deep down, in places that we label in varying degrees your mind, your heart, or your soul, you wanted to change.
And you have changed. You know it. You know you've changed when your coach tells you to run 5 miles and you say "That's all?" You know you've changed when you're looking at a 4-hour hole in your schedule and wondering if you can fit in a 50-mile bike ride. You know you've changed when a 3,000 meter descending swim set in the pool sounds like Sunday recreation. You know you've changed when you look around and look back, and wonder how you ever were the person you were then, and realize that you can't--or don't want--to be that person ever again.
Sometimes, people change.
Sometimes people change.
Oh, we know. Your parents told you people never change. They said so very clearly when you started hanging out with the "bad boy" down the street (or *became* the bad boy down the street...but that's another story). They even told you the fables--the ones about leopards not changing their spots and scorpions not changing their nature.
But sometimes people change.
They change because of things that happen in their lives. Because of days that pass, people they lose, things that happen. Because of years lived, relationships endured, lessons learned. They change because of the journey that is life and living and wear and tear of mileage run beneath their feet. They change because the distance leaves a mark and memory of age and sight and sound and emotion stretching as long as the evening shadows of the longest day of the longest trail of the greatest vistas spread out beneath creation's great sky extending beyond reason into infinite. They change, because underneath the eye of heaven, they can do nothing else but change.
And your parents then gave you the caveat that people can only change when they want to change.
Well, you chose to start a journey. You chose to enter a race. You chose to go to practice and train. You chose to find others like you. You chose to listen to a coach. You chose to suffer and hurt and suffer again. You chose to live outdoors or in a gym, by seasons alternating freezing in the wind or baking beneath the sun. You chose to change.
And you chose all this because deep down, in places that we label in varying degrees your mind, your heart, or your soul, you wanted to change.
And you have changed. You know it. You know you've changed when your coach tells you to run 5 miles and you say "That's all?" You know you've changed when you're looking at a 4-hour hole in your schedule and wondering if you can fit in a 50-mile bike ride. You know you've changed when a 3,000 meter descending swim set in the pool sounds like Sunday recreation. You know you've changed when you look around and look back, and wonder how you ever were the person you were then, and realize that you can't--or don't want--to be that person ever again.
Sometimes, people change.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
training round-up, week ending 11-25-06
i was sick most of this week. boooooooooooo!!!
i ended up taking some more rest days than i would have liked, but i just wasn't feeling well. i missed a long run (i had to cut the sunday trail run short because of headache and fever), and i missed a long swim (i had wanted to get in a continuous 3000 yards, but had to swap it out due to continuing headache and fever).
having said that, i did get in the 60 mile bike ride i'd wanted to get in--and which was by far the most crucial workout this week:
sunday, nov. 19
morning
morning
sick day (i slept in)
wednesday, nov. 22
sick day
thursday, nov. 23
morning
sick day
saturday, nov. 25
morning
i ended up taking some more rest days than i would have liked, but i just wasn't feeling well. i missed a long run (i had to cut the sunday trail run short because of headache and fever), and i missed a long swim (i had wanted to get in a continuous 3000 yards, but had to swap it out due to continuing headache and fever).
having said that, i did get in the 60 mile bike ride i'd wanted to get in--and which was by far the most crucial workout this week:
sunday, nov. 19
morning
- trail run (weekly long run), 5.5 miles, aerobic conditioning (zone 2 & zone 3), Rose Bowl arroyo trail, start time 8 am
morning
- swim (intervals, 4x400s), 2200 yards, muscular endurance (zone 2 & zone 3), macdonald's swim stadium, start time 6 am
sick day (i slept in)
wednesday, nov. 22
sick day
thursday, nov. 23
morning
- bike ride (long ride), 62 miles, aerobic conditioning (zone 2 & zone 3), santa ana river trail, start time 9 am
sick day
saturday, nov. 25
morning
- kung fu (active rest), garfield park, start time 9:30 am
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
![[Valid Atom 1.0]](valid-atom.png "Validate my Atom 1.0 feed")
