#my-journey — Public Fediverse posts

I used to eat chicken nuggets four times a week. Beer on Fridays. Crisps as a snack.

Then gout hit at 3am and I couldn't walk.

I didn't change everything. I changed three things: I boil my meat now. I drink water instead of juice. I eat cherries every morning.

Six months flare-free. Not perfect. Just consistent.

#gout #myjourney #habits #realchange

DEDICATION + GRIT
#Net2Talks #MatthewProsper #RealTalk #MyJourney #LifeAndBusiness #Mauritius

CULTURE IS IMPORTANT
#Net2Talks #MatthewProsper #RealTalk #MyJourney #LifeAndBusiness #Mauritius
https://zurl.co/rvOil

WORKING HARD IS IMPORTANT.
#Net2Talks #MatthewProsper #RealTalk #MyJourney #LifeAndBusiness #Mauritius

WE WILL BE BACK VERY SOON sorry for the wait...
#Net2Talks #MatthewProsper #RealTalk #MyJourney #LifeAndBusiness #Mauritius

One Surprising Perk of Getting Older: Fewer Regrets 

https://onlinemarketingscoops.com/2026/08/22/one-surprising-perk-of-getting-older-fewer-regrets/

My journey is not what you think it is. Artists say follow me and support my journey. My journey is not the photo art. My journey is my beautiful wife. The photo art is the means to keep us together. I am overseas with my beautiful wife.

https://thesatirefuggler.artstation.com/store/art_posters

#myjourney #photoart

My ASN Journey series (2024)

https://www.animmouse.com/p/my-asn-journey/

#HackerNews #ASN #Journey #2024 #MyJourney #TechStories #Networking

Hello June!

https://itsshaunsworld2.com/2026/06/01/hello-june-2026/

July 2025 has been the year where I finally managed to upgrade my Camera to something more recent. Getting a Z series mirror-less camera and the advantages associated with is many folds, and once the monsoon calms down, I need to get back to a bunch of delayed projects. #MyJourney 3/3

July 2025 has been the year where I finally managed to upgrade my Camera to something more recent. Getting a Z series mirror-less camera and the advantages associated with is many folds, and once the monsoon calms down, I need to get back to a bunch of delayed projects. #MyJourney 3/3

WOW it's been Seven Years In Indonesia
https://wp.me/p84YjG-5Ez
#zsoltzsemba #expat #bali #indonesia #mylife #myjourney #life #bule

https://zsoltzsemba.com/life-expat-indonesia-bali-zsoltzsemba-author/

Someday: My Calgary Flames Fan Journey https://www.rawchili.com/4331920/ #AboutMe #CalgaryFlames #CalgaryFlamesFans #CalgaryFlames #hockey #HockeyFans #HockeyLife #HowWeGotHere #MyJourney #MyStory #NHL #sports

https://www.lovenhl.com/1388647/ Someday: My Calgary Flames Fan Journey #AboutMe #CalgaryFlames #CalgaryFlamesFans #hockey #HockeyFans #HockeyLife #HowWeGotHere #MyJourney #MyStory #NHL #PacificDivision #sports #WesternConference

My first attempt at iOS app development

https://mgx.me/my-first-attempt-at-ios-app-development

#HackerNews #iOSDevelopment #AppDevelopment #FirstApp #MyJourney #TechCommunity

At first, I was stunned as the numbers seemed too high. Is the cancer back I wondered. Then I did my research before this week's follow-up.
#cancer #cancersucks #tryingtosurvive #myjourney #healing #radiationtherapy #cancersurvivor #writerscommunity

https://rickollie.com/2025/01/12/understanding-psa-levels-13-months-post-radiation-therapy/

At first, I was stunned as the numbers seemed too high. Is the cancer back I wondered. Then I did my research before this week's follow-up.
#cancer #cancersucks #tryingtosurvive #myjourney #healing #radiationtherapy #cancersurvivor #writerscommunity

https://rickollie.com/2025/01/12/understanding-psa-levels-13-months-post-radiation-therapy/

12/ Final thought: Community and kindness can change lives. Never underestimate the power of support ❤️ #PowerOfCommunity #PayItForward

#MyJourney #NewHome #FromHomelessToHope

California Dreamin’ by The Mamas & The Papas

Released: December 1965

Album: If You Can Believe Your Eyes & Ears

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOok1WzZbOY

“I’d be safe and warm
if I was in L.A.“

Throughout my childhood and when the funding allowed, the family would pile into my Dad’s pickup truck to traverse across Arizona, Nevada, and the Mojave Desert, making our way to Southern California. There we’d engage in the usual family outings at amusements parks, piers, and, of course, the beaches. It was during these trips that I would develop a deep love and respect for the ocean. So profound was this love that it would seep into my subconscious, my being soaking it up as a desert floor greedily absorbs the rain.

Coming from the Dine Reservation in New Mexico, I dreamed of seeing the ocean again, thinking about its sparkling expanse in the setting sun, the soothing shush of the waves on rock and sand, the smell of salt in the air. This was oceanside poetry punctuated with the sound of seagulls and beachgoers laughing, talking, living. If I’d had my way, I’d’ve spent the entire trip by the sea while the rest of the family went to Disneyland, Sea World, or whatever the itinerary was for that year. Give me just the ocean and I would have been the happiest boy on the West Coast.

California Dreamin’ by the Mamas & the Papas became one of my Californian anthems. Though it was originally released in the mid-1960s, its melancholy nostalgia appealed to me, a rez kid born in 1980, at a very deep level. Coming in at less than three minutes, California Dreamin’ summarized an unexplained longing I had for the West Coast. This longing became more evident especially during harsh New Mexican winters when the wind would blew its frigid breath across the cracked desert clay. Clear, winter mornings often meant bitter cold, dry air that felt like razors sliding across skin, scraping off layers to expose what lies beneath to the icy elements.

On those mornings, I’d long for the smell of palm trees and the sound of the beloved ocean, hoping that the next year would bless us with another long trek back to sunshine and sounds of the sea.

#IAmSirAaronWolf #Music #MyJourney #SirAaronWolf #TimeToClassUpThisJoint

California Dreamin’ by The Mamas & The Papas

Released: December 1965

Album: If You Can Believe Your Eyes & Ears

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOok1WzZbOY

“I’d be safe and warm
if I was in L.A.“

Throughout my childhood and when the funding allowed, the family would pile into my Dad’s pickup truck to traverse across Arizona, Nevada, and the Mojave Desert, making our way to Southern California. There we’d engage in the usual family outings at amusements parks, piers, and, of course, the beaches. It was during these trips that I would develop a deep love and respect for the ocean. So profound was this love that it would seep into my subconscious, my being soaking it up as a desert floor greedily absorbs the rain.

Coming from the Dine Reservation in New Mexico, I dreamed of seeing the ocean again, thinking about its sparkling expanse in the setting sun, the soothing shush of the waves on rock and sand, the smell of salt in the air. This was oceanside poetry punctuated with the sound of seagulls and beachgoers laughing, talking, living. If I’d had my way, I’d’ve spent the entire trip by the sea while the rest of the family went to Disneyland, Sea World, or whatever the itinerary was for that year. Give me just the ocean and I would have been the happiest boy on the West Coast.

California Dreamin’ by the Mamas & the Papas became one of my Californian anthems. Though it was originally released in the mid-1960s, its melancholy nostalgia appealed to me, a rez kid born in 1980, at a very deep level. Coming in at less than three minutes, California Dreamin’ summarized an unexplained longing I had for the West Coast. This longing became more evident especially during harsh New Mexican winters when the wind would blew its frigid breath across the cracked desert clay. Clear, winter mornings often meant bitter cold, dry air that felt like razors sliding across skin, scraping off layers to expose what lies beneath to the icy elements.

On those mornings, I’d long for the smell of palm trees and the sound of the beloved ocean, hoping that the next year would bless us with another long trek back to sunshine and sounds of the sea.

#IAmSirAaronWolf #Music #MyJourney #SirAaronWolf #TimeToClassUpThisJoint

An introvert as a consultant and trainer? Yes, it's possible.

Years ago, I would have done anything to avoid being in front of any group of people.

Sure, talking to friends always worked. Even getting on stage and playing music with others somehow worked. And I've always enjoyed supporting others.

But speaking in front of a bunch of people?

I was fascinated by software development and then software architecture.

🧵👇 #Consulting #Training #Introvert #MyJourney

The Bad Thing 50K – Race Recap – Racing Smarter, Not Harder

I almost quit running altogether.

From 2009 to 2018, I did well in school. But I struggled to be smart when it came to running. After hitting the final straw with a torn hamstring in 2018, I took four years to fall back in love with the sport. Normally love like this would be doomed to fail and fall back into the same traps, especially since I only fell back in love as a coping mechanism.

Just a little over a year ago, I left a job I loved for greater money and career progression. For some reason, I never anticipated how much of my identity, community and love for my own self had been built around that job. So when I left, the decision naturally devastated me, and my two best friends.

About a month into the devastation, we tried to have brunch together. It went horribly wrong. Later that day I tried to find something in life that I could cling onto and remembered a dream I had in high school of becoming an ultra runner.

After a quick google search, the first race to pop up was The Bad Thing 50k, which I recognized from a book I had in high school. I decided to give myself a full year to train for the event and make sure I was ready to run the obscene distance.

Naturally, love like that would be doomed to fail and fall back into the same trap. I went too hard, too fast, without any knowledge of fuelling whatsoever, and made the Plantar Fasciitis I already had at that point explode. While cycling on the sidelines of the sport, I discovered the Golden Trail World Series and realized that ‘Trail Running’ was a thing.

It sounded perfect for me. It also sounded like what I had already done my entire running career, having grown up next to Medway Valley in London.

I started to research more and more, and The Bad Thing fell slightly off my radar as I devised my plan to get back healthy and start racing.

In my first year of competitive ultramarathon/trail running, I wanted to run the most competitive trail races in Ontario.

When devising my 2023 scheme, The Bad Thing 50k, being so late in the year, felt like somewhat of an afterthought. Sulphur Springs, being the most competitive and professionalized would be my ‘A’ race. Falling Water, being the most adjacent to my own strengths of downhill and technical trail running, would be my ‘B’ race. Tally in the Valley 6-hour, being a unique format, would be something fun I tacked into the mix. Notice anything missing? The Bad Thing remained an afterthought.

But after Sulphur Springs, it only took a few conversations with my coach Brett Hornig to forego Tally in the Valley and sign up for The Bad Thing later in the year instead, ensuring I’d have more time to focus on running my best race at Falling Water. Leading into August, everything played out as planned.

Fast forward to the months leading up to The Bad Thing, and I had a few things on my mind. Times were historically slower. Matt Farquharson had run the two fastest times (both in the 4h16-4h20 range). Together (for a few seconds), we ran 3h46 at Sulphur Springs. So something wasn’t quite aligning.

Seeing the elevation profile and the amount of road time, I wasn’t sure why times were historically slower. Was it the early start with the headlamp? Did they make you come to a complete stop at aid stations to mark your bib number? Was the trail really that ‘Bad’? I wasn’t sure, but I thought a 4-hour finish and course record could be within reach.

At the same time, I knew that I ran so hard at Falling Water (and Sulphur Springs) that my legs eventually exploded and I couldn’t really walk after either race. I knew that I had missed a few key runs in The Bad Thing block with illness, that the old hamstring hadn’t been particularly happy, and my abductor on the other side constantly knocked on the door to try and join the party.

A smarter race strategy I thought, would be to hold back a bit in the first 30k, stay strong but slower on the technical bit from 30-40k, and then hammer the final 10k on the roads. To some extent, that’s exactly what I did.

A group of us started at the front around 4:40/km pace, keeping consistent with slightly above what I intended to average. Eventually Matt Suda and I peeled away. I told him I’d take the lead when we hit the trail, using the excuse that I had the brighter headlamp.

Feeling comfortable, I got lost for the first time, thinking that a pink flag was pointing me to the left rather than the right. I quickly realized my mistake and turned back. At that time, Matt passed me. But thinking myself to be some trail technicality wizard, I hadn’t anticipated that the gap I put on Matt might have only been a few seconds. So when we hit the road, I started to stress that Matt had actually gone the wrong way himself and cut off some of the course.

It didn’t take long for me to catch up to him when we hit the next section of trail, and I told him to stay confident and politely asked that he let me by (I knew it was narrow for the next 2k or so and that I wouldn’t be able to politely pass him). He politely obliged, and I immediately wiped out on a bridge. It had been raining (possibly snowing?) for the whole race…and the two weeks leading up to the event. The conditions weren’t amazing. Not muddy. The leaves covered all that up. But the tight turns and excessive stairs were slippery, and the bridges were basically un-runnable.

Again, the worse the conditions the better for me. So I felt confident I could make a nice gap on Matt after picking myself back up from the embarrassment.

Then Matt did something I didn’t quite expect.

When we hit a flat section of the trail, he caught back up and put on a surge. He was breathing heavily so I could tell he didn’t want to overtake, but just hang on. I responded by comfortably putting on the fastest kilometre of my entire day, before easing into The Bad Thing Hill. At the top, I had to wait a bit for the bracelet and for them to take down my bib number. Maybe that perturbed me a bit and I sent it back down in what Strava thinks is the second fastest descent ever (oops).

The next bit was technical and I knew I could continue to increase my gap. But at the same time, the leaves entirely covered the trail, and the amount of white blazes and pink flags didn’t make up for that from a navigation perspective. That, combined with Matt’s flat speed, allowed him to catch back up again.

“I was just thinking of you.” I said, before we hit another technical section and I again made a little separation. The cat and mouse game continued for a while until we hit the next flat section. At that point he wasn’t breathing as heavily as before.

“Do you want to go, or stay?” I asked, thinking of Elhousine Elazzaoui from the Golden Trail circuit, who always clings onto second and stays there with the lead runner.
“I’m comfortable staying here.” He said, referring to the pace/effort. I said the same. Psychologically, I could tell that gave him the confidence to make his first big move of the day. We hit the roads at Ben Miller Inn and he took the lead for the second time in the race.

I checked the watch to see that I had averaged 4:58/km across the first 25km, and was very much still on course-record pace. Meanwhile, Matt opened about thirty-seconds on me on the road, until the 100m of downhill stairs at the start of the next trail section allowed me to reduce the gap entirely. But that didn’t entirely matter, because we had reached another impasse – and one where I could not pass.

“This is going to get very interesting if you keep making moves like that on the road.” I said, before we mused about the flatness of London’s trails. Moments later, he took us 5-metres off trail, and I capitalized on the moment to pass him. At that point, I’m fairly positive that he took a break to use the washroom. I knew I was fine, and I knew that I could make enough of a gap that I likely wouldn’t see him again.

It was a dangerous decision. For all the back and forth, I likely would have chilled even more in the first half, had I not had him pushing me. So making a gap would be risky, as it would mean I’d have no one pushing me on the trails until I gave him the chance of catching back up on the road for the final 10k.

Coming so close to the aid station, it felt like the right call. AND THEN they didn’t have anything with electrolytes. Luckily, thanks to some smarts from Brett, I had a final bottle of just powder that I could fill up with water, plus two XACT Nutrition Bars and two gels (although I could only locate one!). I knew I’d be fine for the next 10k, but worried I didn’t have enough for the final 10k. I’d been doing close to 80-90g of carbohydrates per hour at the time, and knew that would tail off in the final 10k when I needed it most.

I downed some coca-cola and orange crush for the first time since childhood and made my way into the most technical bit of the course. I also figured out how to go to the washroom without slowing down, which felt like the coolest accomplishment of the day.

Since working with Brett, I’ve made an active effort to focus on the long-term rather than the short-term, and be smarter about every aspect of the sport. At Sulphur Springs, I probably would have been willing to die out there. I simply never stopped pressing on the gas.

But on this particular day, somewhere along the way, I got comfortable. I chilled out thinking I had executed everything I wanted to, and was going to get that course record. I think this is where I took it too slow, staying safe on the bits that were dangerous, hiking more of the uphills than I needed to, and taking some extra time to fuel with oranges and bananas at the 40k aid station. I had an extra gel somewhere in my pack, but I couldn’t remember where. In my deprived state of mind, I didn’t think to rid myself all of the garbage to find it.

I was too focused on what the feelings were going to be like at the end of the race and long afterward, and not focused enough on how much I actually had left in me to push. And even though it was only a few seconds here and there, I wasn’t stopping for the right things (like to find that gel rather than to eat an orange).

The 25k runners started to fuel me on, which provided a nice boost until I hit the road and prepared to hammer.

But then my heart rate immediately got high at the increased pace/effort, and I worried that I wouldn’t sustain that pace without enough carbohydrates. So I stayed comfortable until I picked up a final gel at a surprise aid station at 45k. At that point, I wanted to hammer it to the line, but wasn’t fully confident that I only had 5k to go. In my mind and the data I’d seen, the race would be closer to 52k, and the record would still be attainable (notoriously not great at math).

From 45k to 52k, I fought a battle in my mind of not wanting my hamstrings to blow up, but also wanting to lay down the hammer like my university cross-country days. I wanted to try using the washroom again without slowing down, but I also wanted to speed up faster than the last time I figured it out. I wanted to break the course record, but also wanted to walk after the race this time.

Safe to say, I had a lot of conflicting thoughts in my mind, and instead of hammering, I cruised at a pace that I probably could have held onto for several more kilometres.

That only solidified what I had been heading toward, a 52k day where I wouldn’t break Matt’s record (although we had different starting locations and I ran faster by pace, I think our days are really comparable.)

By the time I hit the river at 50k, the course record had gone. The shock of the knee-deep cold water caused my legs to buckle to a halt and the first hamstring cramps of the day. So by the time I escaped the shackles of the river, I cruised to the finish in a fashion I can’t really remember ever doing. I don’t know why, but I’ve always given an all-out effort to the line of any race I’ve ever done. Even at Falling Water, knowing I was going to finish second, I murdered myself with a 3:20/km finish – a pace I didn’t even know I had in me for flat workouts.

This time, I simply clapped for the volunteers and spectators all the way across the Halloween decorations until the line.

It resulted in a 4-hour-22-minute finish – what I amount to be the third fastest time ever (excluding the 2020 COVID year which was a significantly different course). I felt happy enough that according to our watches and Strava data, that I had run faster by pace than Matt’s two course-record times. But I still felt like I could have given more if I really wanted to break the time. Maybe I got too complacent in the second-half about how smart I had been up to that point and chilled too much. Maybe I would have benefited from one other runner to push me more in the second-half (either in front or behind).

Either way, I walked away happy with the effort, but slightly disappointed with the time, even though I won and had nothing to be truly upset about. Sometimes racing smarter isn’t always racing harder, and that will be an important lesson ahead of a big 2024!

It’s been a cool first year in the sport and I’ve learned so much that continues to set me up for long-term success. Now I just need to figure out when I can make risks in these events and when it’s safe to focus on the short-term as opposed to the long-term. This sets up an exciting 2024, where I’ll compete in my first international race since university cross country. I’m coming for you, Gorge.

Thank you again to Brett Hornig and XACT Nutrition for the support leading into this event. Thanks also to Race Huron and Jeremiah, for a really cool community feel to the event and making this day happen! & of course to Matt Suda for the push in the first half. I will be back some time in the future at the very least for the 25k, hunting down John’s new record instead.

Thanks for reading & see you soon!

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Strava Profile | Rhys Desmond

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Weekly Newsletter – The Magic of 2-Minute Hills

I love hill workouts in every form.

From 3-minute hills to 10-minute hills to 90-second hills, I LOVE MY HILLS.

There’s so much magic in a hill workout for trail running, as you get the muscle breakdown of all the downhills on your rest and recovery; and get to practice pushing harder in…

How I’ve become a better trail runner by running less on trails

I knew I needed to prioritize my “speed” in 2025 to get faster. But I didn’t realize how quickly we could make cosmic changes just from more of an emphasis on one thing: Road running (i.e. running economy and efficiency).

The importance of mobility work for trail runners & injury-prone athletes

As I’ve continued to endure injuries even despite the diligent attention to this piece of the puzzle, I’ve reflected on how I can make sure my mobility is properly attended to as much as my runs. Here are my best tips for prioritizing mobility, and why it’s so essential for trail runners and injury-prone athletes…

#MatthewFarquharson #MyJourney #RaceHuron #RaceRecaps #Races #Running #TheBadThing #TheBadThing50k #UltraRunning

Merging repetition & race-practice together

There’s often a conflict between the old-school coaches who design “drills” focused on repetition, and the new-school coaches who provide actual education toward what players will encounter in a game. But in reality, the two can easily be merged together. You see, game-realistic activities around a specific session topic naturally allow for repetition toward the patterns our players will encounter in the game. In this coaching newsletter, I use my personal experiences as a part-time professional athlete in the sport of trail running to detail how game-realism and repetition can be easily combined together.

Next weekend, I will compete in my final 50k ultra/trail race of the year. The race is literally called “The Bad Thing 50K”, and as the name suggests, it’s pretty bad…ass. The start of the race takes place in the early morning darkness, and it’s widely believed that the race is yet to be fully mastered by an elite athlete (no one has ever run under 4 hours). With my current level of fitness, there’s no reason why I can’t be the first. BUT, in order to do so, I’ve had to prepare to the fullest extent – and not just by running far distances or running fast workouts.

In order to be fully prepared for the demands of my race and make decisions on the day more automatic, I have maximized my time on my race course practicing all five corners: Technical (e.g. where to plant my feet on technical sections), physical (e.g. biomechanics of running uphill/downhill), psychological (how I will cope when things go wrong) and tactical (where to push and where to hold back). The social elements have come with conversations between myself and my coach, ensuring that relationship is maintained alongside a love for the sport. This is what I’ve done for each of my races this year: Around The Bay, Sulphur Springs, & Falling Water.

Tomorrow, I will wake up at the same time I would on race day, wear the same gear, eat the same thing I would on race day, travel to the course, and practice running on a difficult section of the course in the dark with a headlamp (just like on race day). This is my game-realistic training, and I’ve allowed for plenty of repetition surrounding the exact five corners I’ll experience on the day. 

These are the environments we need to set up for our athletes.

Repetition is essential. Think about what your athletes actually need to develop repetition around within your session topic. Do they need to develop repetition around a passing technique if your session topic is 1v1 defending? Is that restriction actually helping your session topic come to life – or is it limiting your athletes?

Yes, it’s impossible to always work on all five corners at once. That’s why even in endurance sports, different sessions throughout the week are focused on different stimuli. I might focus more on technical terrain one day, and more on top-end speed another day. Either way, the training is meant to be game-realistic and guided toward what I’m meant to accomplish on race day.

If I didn’t have access to my race course, I would train on terrain as similar as possible. I would find a similar elevation profile on long run days. I would still practice all the other elements (fuelling, pacing, etc.). I would replicate as many of the elements as I could, recognizing that it won’t be 100% the same.

The more race-specific we can make our training, the better. I’m still supplementing my training with mobility, strength work, form drills and a multitude of other aspects that might not be considered “game-realistic” or “race-specific”. Those little things add up over time to make race day mechanics easier. But they’re ultimately only supplemental aspects to the art.

If I only had 30 minutes to prepare for my next race, what would I do? If I only had 30 minutes to help an U8 soccer team nail a specific session topic in preparation for their next game, where would I spend my time?

Game-realistic training and repetition can be combined together. The best way to do so is by creating game-realistic activities that allow for repetition within your session topic, and include all the elements of your sport (not just the five corners). For invasion sports, that’s ball, opposition, teammates and space. Targets, movement and direction will all enhance game-realism too.

The more that the actual rules of the game apply, the better. So if you’re going to introduce a different method of scoring or a different method of the restart before you get into a game where all the rules of the game apply, it needs to bring out your session topic. Otherwise, you might be limiting the ability of your athletes to actually recognize optimal decision making on their game day (or race day).

Think about this and don’t get caught up in the traps of what your coaches did growing up. Try to incorporate all five corners into your training, and focus on making your training as game-realistic as possible.

Thanks for reading and see you soon!

Thanks for reading & see you soon!

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Strava Profile | Rhys Desmond

YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY…

Weekly Newsletter – The Magic of 2-Minute Hills

I love hill workouts in every form.

From 3-minute hills to 10-minute hills to 90-second hills, I LOVE MY HILLS.

There’s so much magic in a hill workout for trail running, as you get the muscle breakdown of all the downhills on your rest and recovery; and get to practice pushing harder in…

How I’ve become a better trail runner by running less on trails

I knew I needed to prioritize my “speed” in 2025 to get faster. But I didn’t realize how quickly we could make cosmic changes just from more of an emphasis on one thing: Road running (i.e. running economy and efficiency).

The importance of mobility work for trail runners & injury-prone athletes

As I’ve continued to endure injuries even despite the diligent attention to this piece of the puzzle, I’ve reflected on how I can make sure my mobility is properly attended to as much as my runs. Here are my best tips for prioritizing mobility, and why it’s so essential for trail runners and injury-prone athletes…

#CoachingPhilosophies #FiveCornerModel #GameRealisticTraining #MyJourney #RaceSpecificTraining #Repetition #Running #TrainingTheory #UltraRunning

Today is the day! I vow to myself that I will from now on, do my #makeup however I want, unfiltered. This is my stand! And the first step to living truely how I wish to #self-improvement #myjourney

Back pain

Somewhere in my 30’s, slowly, year by year, the frequency of my back problems increased. I’m not talking about, I helped a friend move over the weekend, or, I did climb-ups for an hour at Parkour class, and now my back is “out.” I’m talking about,

I sat down to put socks on — because I cannot hold my foot up to reach it standing — and my lower back “just” gave out.

or,

I was just standing at the sink washing dishes.

For me, these incidents where I was clearly not doing anything amazing and was still somehow injured, became a clear sign that I needed to change something. In hindsight, this is the article I wish I had found first and so I hope it helps someone.

Elsewhere, in my Changes and Results series, I’m laying out all the big things I’ve changed, project by project. But there was never any one thing that I worked on specifically to fix my back. It simply turned out that many of the things I did contributed to — knock on wood — resolving my back problems. Of course my back still gives me trouble when I deserve it. But these days, I know when it’s going to be a problem. I can feel when my back is getting tired, and if I listen to that quiet signal I can avoid the worst of the problems.

My spine and me

Although I had been doing some intentional, general improvement efforts, such as losing weight and getting better sleep, my back-focused improvement journey really began when I heard Ido Portal say something to the effect of:

Your legs are for moving you through your environment. Your arms are for manipulating your environment. Your spine is for orienting yourself within the environment. So your spine should be this incredibly mobile and powerful system with a huge range of dynamic movement.

(That’s not an exact quote because I don’t feel like going through the entire “Rewild Yourself Podcast” episode where Daniel Vitalis interviewed Ido Portal. It’s episode number 8: Ido Portal on the Movement Diet which you should probably go listen to.)

When I heard that, I realized that my spine was nothing at all like Ido’s vision of a human spine. Mine barely moved at all, and when it did, I often felt nervous about impending disaster. After hearing Ido’s way of describing the spine, I had this new perspective where each time I’d do some movement, I could see how much my spine was right at its limit of ability. I realized that my spine should be an incredibly varied mover, and that my spine’s flexibility (the total movement possible) and range of motion (the smaller space of movement where my back is usable, comfortable and strong) are critical, foundational elements to all of my health and movement.

I realized that for years I had tried to “stabilize” and strengthen my spine as a defense against movement causing injury to my back. But I now see that this is an erroneous reaction to weakness. If instead of being immobilized as a defense, my spine is strong, then it can be mobile, able to make all the movements I need, and not be injured.

Awareness and honesty

The first step was to learn to avoid injury. This sounds trivial, but it was not at all obvious to me at the time. When I was so fat and inflexible that putting my socks on regularly endangered my back, it was a terrible, humbling experience to admit that I had to change how I put my on socks.

I had to identify all the landmines, and own up to them. I had to learn that stretching — really just moving around — was mandatory each morning. I had to stop automatically rushing to help everyone move heavy objects. I had to stop trying to be “the strong guy,” and generally dial down all my activities to a level my back could handle. I had to acknowledge those random days when my back felt “off”, and learn to take a rest day for recovery.

All of which forced me to face that I was no longer indestructible and to own up to the deteriorated state of my body. Awareness and honesty were the only way that I could stop taking frequent steps backwards. They were the only way that I could begin to make glacial forward progress.

(I’ve written more about the Philosophy of the changes I’ve made in my Changes and Results series.)

Weight loss

Losing weight is obviously not easy. But every pound that I peeled off paid dividends to my back. It turns out that weight around your middle drastically increases the load on your lower back. “Lost weight” is a woefully inadequate summary for this element of fixing my back, but hopefully I’ll get around to writing out everything I did to lose weight.

Recovery work

What began as endless massage work by my spouse, slowly morphed into self-massage and then into mobility work; Basically, I learned to lay on the floor moving in all the ways my spine was meant to move. I mastered the use of a foam roller and Lacrosse ball for myofascial release and self-massage. As my back got stronger, I was able expand this recovery practice to a more general, whole-body movement, stretching and — much later — general strengthening.

(I’m writing a separate post on my “20 minutes of morning stretching” which is one of the cornerstones upon which I have built the whole new me. It’s not yet published, but will eventually be part of my Changes and Results.)

Finally, chiropractic has saved me countless times. I know many people who believe chiropractic is quackery. But for me, it doesn’t matter how or why, it simply yields results.

Posture

Years of sitting, and progressive weakening of my back, took their toll. Worse, the hunched back, rolled shoulders posture was so common in my environment, that it seemed normal. So I didn’t even realize what was happening to me.

The first baby step to improving my posture was when I learned how to understand, and control, the orientation of my pelvis through learning to sit as part of martial arts training. The traditional Japanese seated posture, seiza where you sit with folded-under knees and pointed toes is great for learning posture. Of course, this type of sitting initially rewards you with agony from the knees and ankles. But once your legs adapt, there is a delightful feeling of peace and centralized weight when you learn to center your pelvis and to balance and align your entire spine. But maintaining this alignment, even in a statically balanced seated position, required a certain muscle tone. A tone which I had lost through endless sitting in a poor posture.

I soon realized that the orientation of the hands as they hang at your sides is indicative of your upper back posture. Palms turned to the back, (the shoulders being in interior rotation,) with that “knuckle-dragger” appearance is a sign of a week upper back and poor scapular position. I began incorporating various exercises, (the ‘Sphinx’ pose from yoga, ‘shoulder dislocations’, and thoracic extension in supine position, etc.) into my daily recovery work. (For a great introduction, read De-Quasimodo Yourself.)

As I’d gained weight, I hadn’t realized that I had also, slowly transitioned to a “dumped” lower abdomen: guts hanging out the front, pelvis tipped forward, and lumbar spine pulled forward into a maximum arch. This led me to lower back agony whenever I spent time on my feet, especially if I over-worked my lower back by strolling and slowly shift my weight from one leg to the other. But as I’ve lost fat from my typical abdominal male pattern, and as running and jumping in the context of parkour have strengthened my glutes, it has become easier to maintain a neutral pelvic position and a neutral curve of my lumbar spine.

Walking

Solvitur Ambulando ~ It is solved by walking

Today, I have a ton of stuff here on my site about walking.

But it all started, long ago, when I read a blog post by Steve Kamb, about Walking to Mordor. “One does not simply walk into Mordor!” Except, that is exactly what Sam and Frodo did. Elsewhere I’m writing an entire post about my efforts and progress related solely to walking; But all of my walking was kick-started by Steve’s Nerd Fitness blog post.

Shoes

This was the least obvious thing which improved my back: The closer I get to living barefoot, the better my back feels.

Long ago, I was wearing “normal” shoes, and then I started taking some parkour classes. Turns out that I want to wear the lightest weight, and thinnest soled, shoes I can; because I want to use my feet and toes. Anyway, roll with me here when I say: I wanted to wear minimal footwear for parkour. So, I started wearing Feiyue shoes to class — not the fancy French brand of shoes, but the el’cheapo, crépe sole, martial arts shoe. They have no structure, no arch, and just some padding and protection from most (not all) things you might step on.

I started to run in Feiyue. I ran 10 feet and my calves cramped up. I kept at it. For years. I relearned how to run. Then I relearned how to walk. Then I relearned how to use my knees. Then I realized that to get things working again, I needed to stop wearing “normal” shoes entirely. So I started wearing Feiyue everywhere.

I went on reading about feet. …and about minimal shoes. …and about barefoot training. Then I learned about the amount of nerves in our feet, (the same as in your hands,) and I had some discussions about sensory input through your feet. …and balance. …and acupressure points.

It is not an exaggeration to say that learning about my feet has changed my life.

Today, I exclusively wear an old-school track running shoe called Bullets, made by Saucony. I remove the insoles, so that from the midsole to the toes there is ZERO padding; just a few millimeters of hard rubber sole between my foot and the world. I wear these same shoes for everything. All surfaces, all activities — everything.

The ah-ha moment

It was at this point — after all of the above changes, and after I had spent about two years full-time in minimalist shoes — that I realized my back was fundamentally different.

Then I set out to write this, over the course of 18 months. :)

Recommended reading

Despite all that I’ve written here, this is still only scratching the surface of information about the back and spine. Take a look at the Human Back and Spine topic over on Hilbert’s Library.

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Bookending

For as long as I can remember, I’ve had an idea I call “bookending.”

While most of life is reasonably flexible, there are certain important events which are scheduled at firmly fixed times. Bookending is planning, starting with the fixed event and working backwards. From the fixed event, I can imagine in reverse all the preceding steps, and how much time each requires. I can then determine the time at which I must begin the first step in the chain. From the beginning of that first step, through to the fixed event, defines a wide bookend during which all my actions are more or less known.

As I was writing my series on Parkour Travel, it became clear that bookending is critical to my success with traveling. A Parkour trip tends to be very random and unorganized (those are good things,) but that means it’s even easier to get surprised by firmly scheduled things sneaking up.

Bookending is simply a visualization practice. Various professions use visualization to minimize mistakes. They visualize each step happening successfully, as a complete chain of events, which leads to the desired outcome. When they face time constraints, visualizing the important details of each action they will take reduces errors and increases the likelihood of success.

Here’s an example from traveling:

My flight leaves at 11:00. I don’t have any checked luggage, so I’ll plan to arrive an hour and a half before my flight departs. I’m now thinking, “9:30.” There’s a bus which leaves at 8:00 and arrives at the airport at 9:27. That’s too close for my personal preference. I’ve already bookended the time before the flight: It’s not, “flight at 11:00”, the fixed event is now “be at airport at 9:30.” The previous bus leaves at 7:00, I’ll plan on that one. Now I’m thinking, “bus leaves at 7:00.” I need 15 minutes to drive to the bus terminal, and let’s aim to be 15 minutes early for the bus. That’s now 6:30. I need to park, buy a bus ticket, probably stop at the bathroom, and I need a cup of coffee somewhere along the way, so I’ll throw in another half an hour. I’m now thinking, “6:00.” My bookend is from 6:00 through 11:00. When I begin at 6:00, everything falls into place, bumps in the road don’t cause significant problems and I’ve plenty of time at each step of the way.

Before I learned to bookend, I used to remember the time of the firmly scheduled event (“my flight departs at 11:00”), and then I’d have in mind how long I needed before that (“I need five hours to get there.”) People would ask me, “What are you doing tomorrow?” and my train of thought each time was always, “Flight at 11, I need 5 hours… Five hours? Really?! Yes, I’ve already thought about this. I should leave at 6:00. Ouch. That’s pretty early.” And then I would finally say, “I have a flight at 11:00 and I want to leave about 6:00.”

With my old “method” is was, “Flight at 11:00 and then here are more details that aren’t important, but actually 6:00.” In my mind, and everyone else’s, it’s 11-and-then-all-these-other-details. In my mind, and everyone else’s, we’re always second-guessing why I seem to want to start so early. How did a flight at 11:00 lead to wanting to leave at 6:00?

A large part of what makes bookending useful is that it flips the thinking to, “I would like to leave at 6.” I’m thinking 6:00. I’m saying 6:00. 6:00 is what’s bouncing around in my head. 6:00 comes around and the entire planned sequence of events for the bookend is cued. Off I go, and on time I am.

As I got used to this process, I discovered other benefits: People who host or who are helping you when you travel, understand when you do NOT need their help. If I say “I have a flight at 11:00,” does that imply I’d like a ride to the airport? Perhaps. But if I say, “I’m leaving at 6:00,” that implies I have a plan to get wherever it is that I’m going.

There’s another huge benefit that sneaks in. Having extra time padded in, leads to little chunks of time for me to read. I keep a collection of read-this-later items in my phone (via services like Pocket or Read It Later.) As I find pockets of spare time I always have things to read rather than wasting time in social media or bookface.

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How do I stay motivated?

My level of motivation varies tremendously, and it took me far too long to learn that it was cyclical. I used to think I had these huge swaths of motivated productivity with an occasional, unexplained crash. I used to think I just needed to figure out how to avoid those anomalous crashes, and I spent too much precious time fighting with myself in the down-turns. I now see that I was wrong; My motivation is inherently cyclical.

When I am highly motivated, it’s alluring to believe that I should spend my time working only on focused and directed things. I used to fall into the trap of trying to focus all of my time and energy on moving forward. I felt that if I wasn’t on-task, then I was wasting time, and that feeling fed into my sense of guilt.

Because I now expect the inevitable down-turns, I feel justified spending time on things which support my motivation in the long run. I work intermittently in two directions: I spend some of my time working on-task towards achieving my goals, and some time goofing-off cultivating my motivation and inspiration. In effect, I’m prolonging the motivational peaks by spreading them out wider. At the highest points, I may not be as motivated as I once was, but I maintain a productive level of motivation for a much longer time.

(To be fair, I have a pretty organized way of goofing-off. I read from a wide range of online sources and books, from health, wellness and exercise blogs to physiology text books. I constantly fiddle with new exercises to try, places to go, health tweaks, and habits. I make plans to travel near and far, where I can meet new people, and visit old friends. I even have no-thinking-required things — music playlists, and monotonous chores — which I can draw on when I need to be off-task.)

But eventually, I head into a down-turn. They vary from mild bouts of, “meh,” where I simply feel unmotivated to do any of the things I’ve set out for myself, to dark moods of depression. Regardless of the depth, when I’m heading into a motivational down-turn, my best tactic is to stop doing — to stop trying — and to simply be. It’s as if I’m at the crest of the first hill on a roller-coaster; I see what’s coming, and prepare for the inevitable ride.

At the bottom of that huge, thrill-less, depressing hill it is agonizing to lay in a puddle of “meh” and believe that this is exactly what I need to be doing right now. But that is the truth. After countless cycles of ebb and flow, I’ve learned to think: “Right now, laying in this puddle is exactly what I need.”

…and that is the key to my success.

I remind myself to roll with this down-turn, guilt-free. I try to avoid “should’ing” on myself. (I should stop this. I should do that.) I remind myself this down-turn is only one phase of a healthy cycle.

I rest.

I mope.

Maybe I watch a movie and have some popcorn. Maybe I nap. Maybe I nap in the hammock if it’s warm outside. Maybe I bask before the fire, or lay in the sun. I do whatever it is I feel like doing, which may well be absolutely nothing at all. I throw down the reigns which my executive-level mind normally holds with an iron grip. I set my thoughts and body free. They weren’t listening anyway.

And then I could write a long diatribe where I try to explain how it feels as if there’s this big, gloomy, moping, dog that sits around keeping me stuck in the down-turn. And eventually that dog gets bored and I can convince it to go away. And, honestly, it’s a stupid metaphor. Except for the fact that here I am, stuck writing some lousy metaphor, making me hate writing this, which — it turns out — is exactly the sort of perfect metaphor for feeling lousy when I’m stuck in a down-turn…

I’m going for a walk.

Just the tiniest little stroll.

But…

Walking invariably loosens up my mind. Sometimes it takes days of doing nothing interspersed with some walking before I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Soon, I find I have at least a few things on my mind that need to be unloaded. When I hear that quiet calling, I write whatever-it-is into my journal. Writing things down — moods, worries, plans, ideas — unjumbles my mind. So I record my thoughts as inspiration for future projects, and as reminders to expect future down-turns.

Eventually, I simply find the thought of working on something might actually be fun. At which point I realize I’m headed back towards the next up-turn.

When things go badly, relax; It will not last.
When things go well, relax; It will not last.

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Keep on keepin’ on!

Keep on keepin’ on!: I’ve filled in the rest of the bars and this thing now needs a name. Until you’ve tried moving in a complex space, you won’t know how supremely capable the human body is; shoulders, grip, torso, knees, feet, vision, proprioception, spacial mapping… that meat-frame your mind lives in is meant to M. O. V. E.

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The little box on my desk

A long long time ago I began collecting inspirational quotes and aphorisms. I kept them on the first version of my web site, where they were displayed randomly. But as time went on, I realized I wanted them where I would see them. Eventually I copied the fledgeling collection onto 3×5 cards and put them in a small box. As I find new ones, I add cards.

I keep the box on my desk with one card showing — just wedged in so it stands up readable. I change the card randomly, whenever the urge strikes.

Countless times I’ve pulled another card and found it eerily appropriate to the challenges of the day.

Countless times I’ve returned to my desk and felt inspired upon rediscovering an old card’s whispered counsel.

Countless times, just as I was about to throw in the towel, I was saved by an echo from the little box on my desk.

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When the ‘me’ is obliterated

When the ‘me’ is obliterated by fear or the demands of immediate survival, action is no longer constrained by social forces, and the individual is left with a sense of self-determination. […] Behavior in edgework appears to the individual as an innate response arising from sources deep within the individual, untouched by socializing influences”

~ Stephen Lyng from, Edgework, 2004

A couple years ago I tried to write something explaining what exactly it is about practicing parkour that I like so much. It turns out others are way WAY ahead of me. Julie Angel (you have read Cinè Parkour, right?) talks a bit about “edgework”; The idea of negotiating the “edges” between things like consciousness/unconsciousness, sanity/insanity, and life/death. Others (H.S. Thompson and Lyng) have talked about “edgework” in depth.

And I agree. My experience is that being in the parkour practice — even just the visceral edges where I’m pushing my physical limits while exposing myself to only manageable levels of risk — just totally strips away all the context of my work-a-day life. Everything — all the way down to my thoughts — everything falls away.

My martial arts teacher has a great phrase related to edgework: No this. No that. No delay.

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Moving forward

I really struggle with believing that small, daily efforts lead to long-term changes. On the treadmill of life, I always seem to want to start sprinting to get ahead, especially when the treadmill picks up speed working against me. I find little injuries or other setbacks are really demoralizing. Curiously, I don’t seem to be demoralized by the things I’m not yet able to do. (“Scale that wall? meh. Some day, maybe, not really a major concern though.”)

So any time I manage to go to a class, or an event, or a simple workout, or a run, or whatever… and I put in solid effort without injurying myself or pushing anything too far (pushing “too far” is for special occasions ;) …well, after those workouts, then I really feel vindicated and motivated to continue my journey.

This morning I managed to get up, get out the door, run and do my QM work alone. It was nothing major; Just a half hour of easy running and a half hour of “easy” QM.

It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.

~ Rocky Balboa

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Reality check from 2008

My mom dug this photo up from somewhere. It was taken in 2008, and there may have been a few changes since then.

I think this is now my favorite inspirational photo.

Why inspirational? Most of the changes I’ve accomplished have been in the past four years. If I can accomplish what I did, without killing myself (literally or figuratively), while having a tremendous amount of fun… then I cannot wait to see what comes next!

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Working on controlled precisions

Fun with controlled precisions: I finally got around letting the camera run while repeating a jump. Here’s two that I was working on yesterday. These were just a wee bit odd for me to sort out. This is the aspect of indoor gyms that I love; being able to set up something very specific. This was taken at Innate Movement Parkour -Kingston, NY.

1. Innate Movement precisions

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Scaf set

I’ve been working on coming up with a fewest-parts/lowest-cost set of scaf. (Which turned into an entire series of posts on getting started with scaf.) So far, this is the best set. Saturday I’m going to assemble all the different things you can make from this [relatively] small pile of parts.

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Not quite?

Maybe some day… soon. 45 pounds lighter than when I started Parkour; just a wee bit stronger too.

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What’s up for 2016?

I’ve recently started thinking about 2016 goals. These aren’t “New Year’s Resolutions”; When I pick up a goal, it’s only after a lot of thinking and planning. Most importantly, I only commit if I believe the result of reaching the goal is worth it.

I’m considering things like the following:

• Hip/ankle flexibility: Achieve being able to sit, relaxed in a full squat. (I’ve been working on this for 3 months already.)
• Reach a lower weight; I’m thinking 210 is probably a good goal for about 6 months out. (Currently about 223.)
• Run 10 minute miles; Maybe run a 5K in 30 minutes in October. (I think this would be pretty easy if I was 210.)

…and then a bunch of non-physical training things:

• Become fluent in French. (A big challenge!)
• Develop a solid writing habit.
• Develop a solid reading habit. (I already read a lot; It’s consistently finding/making the time.)

Allez! Allez!

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Indescribable

I spent Saturday in Philadelphia training with a relatively small group of people.

Honestly, I was pretty beaten up, broken down, and tired before we even started. Brutally honestly, I need a break; I have simply been doing way too much for way too many weeks in a row for these old bones. So right out of the gate on Saturday, I could tell I was going to be dragging my a** all day.

And then the entire day unfolded in so many ways I could never have imagined.

I’d have to write a small book to tell all the stories; The people, the names, beautiful smiles, sketchy Philadelphia parks, smiling strangers, wall runs, jumps, cats-to-climb-ups, people who have grown and changed so TREMENDOUSLY since I’ve last seen them, old friends, new friends, people with broken hearts who are an inspiration in the way they continue to crush challenges, people ahead of me laughing and playing and urging me on by simply “being”, people behind me yelping approval that I can’t comprehend, and dinner and milkshakes and conversations and shared thoughts with people I expect I will never forget.

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I have awesome friends

Eric and Anabella left me a bday gift bag on my desk… this is several levels of awesome: A *large* shirt. The meme is perfect. It’s really good rum. And, inconceivably, it’s the same rum I selected from a huge Rum list at the Jerk Chicken place where everyone had dinner in Toronto after the event.

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Shut up and train: Self-directed advice

Nature has given us two ears, two eyes, and but one tongue – to the end that we should hear and see more than we speak.

~ Socrates

slip:4a100.

I think that “shutting up” has been the most difficult aspect of my Parkour journey.

In my youngling days — let’s define that as sub-30-years-old — I was always the clown: obnoxious; rude, crude and ill-mannered; smart ass. When you have a big ego and low self-esteem, you seek attention to try to make those ends meet. That’s probably a good benchmark definition of dysfunctional. Worse, I had no idea such was the case. Over the next ten years, (or so,) I started to realize that such behavior was dysfunctional and pathetic. That decade was finally followed by my beginning to try to change about 40 years of ingrained behavior.

It was at this point — just as I was trying to change the course of a very large ship with a very small rudder — that I started Parkour. At the time, I simply jumped into Parkour being my usual self. But two pushups into my first class I was stripped of my delusions of grandeur. Two minutes in, and I figured out that I was an out-of-shape pile of bacon. After two hours of trying to do something, anything, and failing and sweating and flailing and sweating more… Well, shit got real.

That first class was followed by a solid year of me having an argument with myself, in real-time, at every class. Every time I’d exhibit some variation of my dysfunctional behavior I’d mentally berate myself; Shut up. Train. After each class, I’d think back on all the cringe-worthy moments and think: Next time, shut up more. Train more.

Somewhere around two years in, my ship’s course had shifted far enough that the dysfunctional behavior was noticeably tailing off. Certainly, the behaviors I disliked were still frequent enough to bother me, but they WERE tailing off.

Now, three years in and going stronger than ever, I’ve made a lot of progress in terms of fixing myself mentally and physically. I can now say, with an air of experience: Everything has changed. And nothing has changed.

Shut up more. Train more.

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Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeees!

In. The. Bag! …aaaand back to training.

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A student of Art du Déplacement

Art du Déplacement, (a French phrase meaning ‘art of movement’,) is a method of improving oneself through challenge. The founders say that to practice the art means to work toward: Being mentally and physically strong; being useful; being a positive contribution to your community; being better than you were yesterday.

But what about competition, flips, stunts, jumping roof gaps and gymnastics tumbling? …are those things part of it? Certainly, some people do those things as part of their practice. Competition can make you physically stronger. Jumping roof gaps can make you mentally tougher. So these things can be part of your practice, but your practice does not have to be these things.

For me, swallowing my pride and starting over in physical fitness with a group of people about half my age… That was a challenge. For me, pull-ups are a challenge. But that’s the whole point. It’s is about me improving me, and you improving you.

But I didn’t know that when I first tried Parkour, (before I understood the Art du Déplacement roots of what I was learning,) in the spring of 2012. I had met Adam McClellan during a martial arts demonstration and he talked me into coming out to play with the growing Lehigh Valley Parkour community. I am continuously delighted to be the big, old, slow, lumbering gorilla in a community of enthusiastic, supportive and happy people. After two years of serious training, at the age of 42, I passed the ADAPT Level 1 certification through Parkour Generations. Art du Déplacement, Parkour, and this unique community, have changed my life.

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GORP snack to the rescue

I’ve been slowly making steady progress on a number of healthy goals. One of them is good ‘ol weight loss.

It is important that I avoid going crazy with snack food. But sometimes I simply get hungry between meals. And most importantly, because I’ve been doing intermittent fasting, it is very important that I have something ready to eat at Noon in cases where a full meal isn’t easy to get. So if I’m driving, or out doing something with friends or family, and Noon rolls around… what are you going to do? I don’t want to be a stick-in-the-mud and demand we stop what we’re doing to have lunch promptly at Noon.

GORP to the rescue!

GORP is simply Good Old Raisins and Peanuts. But I particularly like mixing in raw almonds to get the micronutrients, and fat — fat is GOOD for you! Peanuts are not a true nut by the way. So this recipe is just roughly equal part mixture of raisins, peanuts and almonds. (Note, dry roasted unsalted peanuts, raw unsalted almonds.)

I mix this up in bulk, and measure it out in 1/3 cup servings in small snack size plastic bags. You get about 45 servings out of this batch. The serving size is deliberate: It is about 240 calories; about 22g fat, 19g carbs and 11g protein. So I know I can have one of these with ZERO guilt. They are small enough to fit/carry anywhere, and small enough in calories to have little effect on whatever dieting you may be doing. On the other hand, they are large enough in calories and nutrition that I can easily go a couple hours before getting hungry again for a meal.

Update May 2016

There are two things to notice.

The nutrition info I’ve given comes NOT from the “serving size” info on the containers. Instead, I extrapolated to get the nutritional data for the entire container and then divided by the number of 1/3-cup servings I make out of the entire mix.

240 calories is a surprisingly small handful of this stuff. Every time I eat one of these, I think, “I’m hungrier than this size… but ok I’ll start with this.” Then, an hour later I’m like, “I fell for it again… 240 calories was enough.”

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Sorry, no actually I’m not

So this happened in Cartegena.

This is funny, but that’s not why I posted this. See the bottom.

Imagine if you will, a bus load of 45 tourists — a perfect stereotype bus tour from a cruise ship. We all walk up a hill/road to see the Castillo overlooking Cartegena. (Very nice by the way! Photos coming soon.) Then we walk all the way back down. We reach an intersection, near our bus in the home stretch, and across the street is a small park with one of those long railings meant to keep people from J-walking.

The cross-walk says “go”, so there’s no traffic. Without thinking, I J-walked straight across and vaulted the rail.

…and I hear 44 people do a group groan. They had all followed me across the intersection and everyone had to walk all the way around the railing. (My mom shouted out, “Brat!”)

SO? Well, I did it without thinking, but FORGET ME.

Imagine what YOUR LIFE would be like if you vaulted a little railing after a long walk AND THOUGHT IT WAS FUN. What, really, is your excuse?

(…and if you’re in shape, or under 20, or can already vault a rail. Kudos to you! …but I’m not talking to you.)

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Videos from BKB

Some videos I took in April 2015 when I was last up in Somerville. This certainly isn’t a great answer to “what is parkour” in the global sense. But it will give you an idea of what I was working on when I had several hours to play on some scaffolding when I had unstructured time to just train.

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Boston Gauntlet 2015

Group photo from the end of the “Gauntlet” event in Somerville.

I think my biggest accomplishment was the “didn’t hurt myself.” I certainly did a lot of physical things that were impressive (for me, and my ability.) But just being able to continue to ‘dig deep’ for hours on end — that was great.

As usual, I want to avoid name-dropping. But we did this one neat turn-vault landing on one foot and continuing on to step down and off the wall… that was something very different! Also, one of the first times I’ve EVER just “done” something and actually felt like I was really moving simply.

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FitBit Charge HR

I’m working with a friend of mine — Mike Bowyer — on a designed, intentional, training program. One of the critical components is working for specific times in very particular heart rate zones. So I’ve bitten the bullet, and am trying a FitBit. Online commentary seems to be that it’s not super-accurate, but I’m hoping it will do at least an ‘ok’ job of thoroughly recording heart rate during — saw this coming didn’t you? — parkour activities.

…until I smash it on a brick.

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New toys

So many people have been talking about rings recently… we are upping our push-up game with new toys! Yet another great use for a pullup bar. Also. wow, this is tough…

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My oath

I’ve been slowly collecting small thoughts so that I could begin writing something about my journey. Over a year ago, I found an oath on Nerd Fitness, but hesitated committing; There are bits in this oath that will demand 40+-years-big-ship-small-rudder sorts of changes of me. I’ve been revisiting it periodically to see how it felt each time I tried it on.

I love it. I’m committing to it.

My oath:

Today is the first day of the rest of my life. I shall make no excuses and hold no grudges.

I care not where I came from, only where I am going.

I don’t compare myself to others, only to myself from yesterday.

I shall not brag about successes nor complain about my struggles, but share my experiences and help my fellows. I know I impact those around me with my actions, and so I must move forward, every day.

I acknowledge fear, doubt, and despair, but I do not let them defeat me.

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Today is not that day

There will come a day when I can no longer do this.
Today is not that day.

…a wonderfully inspirational thought for us oldsters!

This photo of me at the crux of The Edge of Time (5.9R) in Estes Park Colorado was taken by Mike Bowyer in August 2014. I saw this caption on an image of a bicyclist posted by a cyclist friend of mine and wanted to make one that would hit closer to home.

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A most sincere thank you

Two years ago today, I showed up at Wescosville Elementary at 4pm and tried parkour. A very big thank you to everyone ( Adam, Josh, Joseph, and Miguel in particular) who has been friendly, happy, and encouraging these last two years. This week I will be attempting the ADAPT 1 certification; I could not have accomplished what I have without all the help from the wonderful men and women of lehigh valley parkour. “allez, allez!”

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Start now

Maxim:

Dead last finish is greater than did not finish, which trumps did not start.

~ unknown

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Corollaries:

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.

~ Plato

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Never throw in the towel. Use it to wipe the sweat from your brow. Then keep going.

~ unknown

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The hardest part of any journey is believing you are able to begin it.

~ unknown

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Make the most of this life

I would love to believe that when I die I will live again, that some thinking, feeling, remembering part of me will continue. But much as I want to believe that, and despite the ancient and worldwide cultural traditions that assert an afterlife, I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than wishful thinking.

The world is so exquisite with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which there’s little good evidence. Far better it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides.

~ Carl Sagan

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