PODCAST - Mellow Johnny is Surfing Zen

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In true whirl-wind fashion, I take you to Austin for a visit to interview staff at Lance Armstrong's bike shop, then surfing at Matagorda Island, then back to Austin for a day at the Austin Zen Center.

Eileen at Mellow Johnny's gave me a great interview and then I almost caught Lance there the very next day.  After that, I take you with me to get beaten down in 4 to 6-foot waves in a true ocean tempest for half the day.  Finally, I go on (and on) about what I learned about Zen and how to apply it to triathlon from spending hours and hours at a real Zen event.

All of this is very good stuff!  Check out some of the pictures below from the past couple of weeks during my tour of Texas. 

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Exclusive! Up-close pic of Armstrong's wrecked bike!

My iPhone nearly spontaneously combusted just before lunch today with everybody trying to tell me that Lance Armstrong was in Austin, at his bike shop, and just a few blocks from where I was eating.  Lance had posted on Twitter that he was there to do some interval workouts, so I tried to get over there before he left to get a possible interview for the podcast.

Turns out, I missed him by a couple of hours.  But, I was chatting with the store staff when I noticed a very interesting bike behind the counter.  They confirmed that it was indeed the bike Lance wrecked on.  You can click on it to see the full-size image.

At first glance, it seemed like the handlebars were bent sideways and the hoods shoved down in some horrible warping blow.  But, that's actually probably from them loosening the stem and bars and turning it all sideways to make it flatter for shipping back to the USA.

If there's any real damage, I can't see it.  Check out the bigger picture for yourself and see if you can pick anything out.

It will undoubtably get hung up in the store along with all his other bikes that have special memories.  You really should drop in sometime to check the place out.  It is one of the greatest shops I've ever seen.

Triathlon Trivia Twit-Away Contest!

It is my pleasure to announce the Triathlon Trivia Twit-Away Contest!  Coach Adam, Triboomer, and I will be asking one triathlon trivia question each over the next few days on Twitter.  The first question's prize is 10 packets of Hornet Juice.  The second's is a gift pack of Action Wipes.  The third and final question will have a truly awesome and suprise gift!

Here's the details -

• I will post the first question at 5 PM Central on Saturday, March 28th on Twitter.  You can find me at www.twitter.com/texafornia.  The first responder to email me the correct answer to texafornia at gmail dot com will win the 10 pack of Hornet Juice.
• Coach Adam will ask the second question on Monday, March 30th (Time to be determined by Coach Adam) and that winner will get the Action Wipes gift pack.
• Triboomer will ask the third and final question on April 1st.  The prize is truly amazing, so get ready!
• Once you win, you're out.  You can't win more than once.

More updates will come as the contest moves along.  Make sure you go ahead and follow these folks on twitter to keep up!

http://twitter.com/Texafornia

http://twitter.com/CoachAdam

http://twitter.com/triboomer

http://twitter.com/MarthaVan (Founder of Action Wipes)

Podcast - Wild Boys

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Sometimes you need to just get away from it all and take your workouts to the Great Outdoors.  This episode, join Kai and me as we mountain bike, trail run, and sometimes just sit in the rain.  Our goal was to see some wildlife and we got what we asked for!  Listen in as we cruise the woods and spot hawks, snakes, wild pigs, and even something we couldn't describe.

Shownotes!

• Kai and Brett at Lake Sommerville.
• Kai wrote a note for the bears asking for them not to eat us.

• Twitter.com/texafornia
• Doing the New Orleans 70.3.
• Donation from Augie.
• Pushing the wheelbarrow isn't hard. Thinking about it is.
• You can't control your situation, but you can control your reaction to it.
• Picture of our bikes and a link to a map!

• Soccer and trail running?
• Kai and I just listening to the woods.
• Trail running race!
• WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!
• Terrorizing little old ladies at the pool.
• Should I focus on swimming next year?

Click here to play episode

Zen is Boring

I just stumbled across this web page and found it both funny and profound. 

I've been studying Zen for almost as long as I've been doing triathlons and continuously find parallels between the two.  Endurance sports are for training the body, Zen is for training the mind.  When somebody points out that Zen can be boring, you can definitely say the same about endurance training. 

Running or biking endless miles can be a lot like sitting and staring at a wall for hours on end.  Boring.

But there comes a turning point where you actually enjoy the long workouts.  It takes time, but you gain effeciency and eventually you want to go spend those hours just... going.

I have managed to study and learn Zen the not boring way: Subscribing to Zen podcasts and listening to them while working out.  It may not be typical, but nothing about Zen really is.  You can't corner it and define it.  There are definitely schools of Zen that teach structure and tradition, but once you get past that, it's all in your head.

I recently heard somebody say that he studied Zen for 19 years and found out he was doing it wrong.  His instructor said he himself had studied it for 20 before he realized he was doing it wrong.  Every few months I figure out that I have an aspect of it totally wrong and it changes my practice entirely.  I actually enjoy those moments because each one is like a nice little breakthrough.  Like a PR, of sorts.

Peace and Enjoy!