Zen Running - The Line where Two Worlds Meet

I often wish I lived somewhere else, but the rural Texas scene does have its upsides.

I was out on a two hour run in the evening heat and had to stop and take the above picture; Endless quiet blacktop laid out in front of me and cows and horses grazing all around.  

There was a profoundness of the moment that struck me. I used to despise running. Actually, most swimmers do. But with a different viewpoint and some experience, I was not only enjoying myself, but I could understand a little bit of the Dean Karnazes mindset.

Being able to run long distances and having the venue to do so represents freedom, and every step you take is immediate biofeedback confirming it. In front of you is the Unknown in the shape of pain, heat, dangerous animals, and traffic. Behind you is experience, knowledge, wisdom, training, momentum, and Karma. Where they meet, well that's the firebranding of the Truth.

Truth is when you test your mettle and see what it's actually made of. You have every opportunity to quit, to turn back, and to give into fear, so every step forward is reaffirming that you are indeed what you thought you were.  

Long runs become a dance between what you think and what is.  Where you are right, that's how far you go.  It doesn't matter if it's Texas, Australia, or Antartica; the discovering of where is that line is exactly the same.

Enjoy your run.

Podcast - Nutrition Tips from HolisticGuru

Alert! Urgent! Heck YEAH!  Just a quick note before we get into the show - We are having a FREE ZenTri open water swimming clinic at Lake Travis in Austin TX. this weekend.  We'll be doing open water swimming both mornings, that's May 29th and 30th, at Lake Travis, at Windy Point Park, at 7:30 AM.

Regular listeners of ZenTri know that swimming is a specialty of mine, so I'll be giving a bunch of tips on techniques and then we'll hit the waves.  AND we'll have some surfboards and paddleboards with us for people who want to go reeaaally far out there. You know you want to hang out and enjoy the fun, so c'mon! Follow zentriathlon on twitter for more details as we get closer, and stay tuned!

Ok, on with the show.  Let's dive into a great interview with the incredibly knowledgeable Christine Lynch, a.k.a HolisticGuru, about nutrition.  We cover many topics and I bet you'll find at least some of them incredibly important to you.

Shownotes:

• The real deal on gluten.
• Caffeine and other food sensitivities.
• Are superfoods worth it?
• How to buy organic and whole foods cheaper than regular foods.

Click HERE to listen!

Dude swims Everest, ZenTri swims Lake Travis

How do you swim Everest?  No, you don't swim up the mountain; you swim across the lake just below the peak.  Lewis Pugh swam 1000 meters in water just above freezing at an altitude of 17,388 ft.  Holy crap, that's nuts.

Want to do something crazy but maybe just a tad warmer? Join the ZenTri gang at Lake Travis in Austin this weekend for a lot of open-water swimming!  We'll be at Windy Point park, swimming around both mornings, and also cruising way out on paddleboards for some bigger mileage and adventure.

If you want to join in, throw down some comments after this post and we'll make sure we meet up.

Also, there's bound to be some biking and running around Austin after the swimming.  I'll be there most of the weekend, so come hang out!

Rodgers Wins TOC, "Eric" Wins Tons of Hornet Juice

The contest to see who wins some of my ridiculous over-supply of HJ is over, and "Eric" wins.  Well, "Bob" actually won, but he cheated by breaking the ZenTri Rules of Entrytude, so "Eric" gets the dubious award of "First Loser".  

Whoever you are, "Eric", and if you're really real, I need your address so I can mail this powdered power to you.  Send it to texafornia at gmail.com with a subject line that looks interesting.  "Hi." is not as likely to get read as, "That $%&* HJ is MINE!" or even worse better, "Does this look infected to you?"

The contest was about guessing who would win the Tour of California.  Surprisingly under-represented was bids for a certain Mr. Armstrong, which is all the better because he's having some trouble staying upright.  Hey, it happens to all of us.  Still, maybe he could take some lessons from this guy:

Podcast - How to Get Faster with Pro John Hirsch

Hey there, Tri-studs and studdettes!  This episode of ZenTri has some great training info: How to get faster with pro triathlete John Hirsch.  Join in and listen to us talk about how to get the job done and then stick around for some news and Zen.

Shownotes:

• Turn your base into speed with tips from Pro Triathlete John Hirsch.
• Out on the bike; A four-hour Zone 2 ride.
• Performance of the week.
• News.
• Zen tips on "Wise Effort".

Click HERE to listen!