ZenTri in Boulder, CO. Next week!

The ZenTri gang will be in Boulder next week, so if you want to meet up, let me know!  Just post in the comments and we'll arrange a gathering somewhere cool.  I am bringing all kinds of workout gear, so we can easily fit in an oxygen deprived swim, bike, or run.

Podcast - California Dreamin'

Hey there, Tri-studs and studettes!  This episode of ZenTri is coming to you from San Diego with the likes of pro triathlete John Hirsch, Ultraman Rich Roll, open ocean swimming at La Jolla, a tour of H2O Audio's headquarters, and even an interview with a Soto Zen practitioner.  It's a truly epic show, so listen in! 

Shownotes:

• Voicemail from John and Christine at Lake Placid Ironman.
• Grocery shopping with Rich Roll, looking for protein powders.
• Attack parrots and Nepalese sherpas.
• The secret to Zen is… 
• Bee pollen is bee poop.
• The Zen way to argue.
• How to conquer the desire for unnecessary stuff.
• Lance's crashes reflect something deeper.
• How Google handles mistakes.
• How you handle highs and lows while going long makes all the difference.
• Washing your workout clothes in the shower.
• "I'm not a druggie. I'm vegan!"
• Freezing my ass off during an open ocean swim.
• Meeting Jessi Stensland.
• Dawn gets Performance of the Week.
• You can't get fit while being codependent.
• Using the run/walk method.
• Effects of cold water on the body.
• How to quit struggling and make music with your workouts.
• H20 Audio headquarters tour and interview with Dana.
• Dana's dolphin attack storty.
• Interview with a Soto Zen Buddhist.
• How to give yourself space.
• Heat is all relative.
• Four hour bike ride.
• Dawn gets double Performance of the Week.
• Forty-six running miles for the week.
• How to change a waterproof watch battery.

Click here to listen

Giving It Your All

This photo of John Hirsch says it better than words ever could. Giving your best effort is extremely satisfying.

I laughed out loud when I saw this picture because it reminded me of myself Sunday. I finished a long hot bike ride and collapsed face first on the living room floor. My wife said I looked terrible, but I was feeling great. I had given my all during that ride, and it was extremely satisfying.

One important factor in being able to give your all is nutrition. You have to be fueled correctly with healthy choices to get the max out of your body. I don't think that it's only a coincidence that John set a PR after a year with Chrisine Lynch, a holistic health guru.

In the end, it's about putting it all together.  Not just one thing, but it ALL.  Have patience, do it right, and your time will come.  Just look at that grin.  :)

How to Fly like Phelps

I was partially into a set of butterfly intervals this morning when it hit me: Fly is more about shoulder flexibility than anything else.

I was doing 100s on a timed interval, so any change in form that resulted in a change in speed was easily detectable.  If something I tried was faster, I would know it instantly because I would finish that interval sooner.

I tried focusing my energy on tucking my head down and bringing my arms together like a dart and gliding on every stroke, greatly using flexibility in my shoulders instead of using brute force to power across the pool.  Doing so resulted in completing each 100 two seconds faster and also being not as winded.  

Michael Phelps is not just fast.  He's double-jointed.  This flexibility advantage  gives him the ability to easily do what I was trying, probably without even thinking about it. 

The point is this: Swimming is the act of getting from point A to point B through a very thick liquid.  The time you invest in getting yourself flexible enough to get a clean form as possible is easily just as important as how hard you are trying.  Putting in less effort and going faster during my workout today was a great example of how fighting the fluid negatively impacts speed.

So get narrow, get those feet up and together, get streamlined and get faster.  It works!

Rolling Meditation

I was settling in for an hour ride on the rollers this morning, or as Triboomer would call them, "The bucking bronco of triathlon," when I decided to try them without any external entertainment.  I usually ride them while listening to music or podcasts or even while watching TV.  But today, something interesting happened.

I found myself deeply in "the zone" while paying deep attention to my posture and all the balancing required to not kill myself on these Cylinders of Death for sixty minutes straight.  What I thought would be extremely boring turned out to be very entertaining.

I try meditating every once in a while, but never seem to be able to stick with it.  It's good stuff; trying to stay in the moment and let thoughts go without attachment.  But, I will do it for a few days and then simply forget about it.  It doesn't have that hook that is needed to keep bringing me back.

So, I'm on the rollers, doing something I love and have been doing for my entire life (biking) when I realize that I've just discovered a way to meditate that works for me.  You see, meditation doesn't have to be done sitting down on a cushion.  There's walking meditation, even running meditation, really anything that gets you practicing on paying attention to the Now counts.

I spent the rest of the hour "meditating" while spinning along at 15 mph.  I found the similarities between rolling and sitting meditation to be remarkable.  You need good posture and great attention or else you will fall over.  Distracting thoughts only have a very short lifespan as well.  I finished the ride feeling quite satisfied.

There is a big gap between desire and getting something done.  You may want a new bike, but until you do something about getting that bike, you'll never get anywhere.  That gap is called willpower.  It's the force that takes over in the morning to make you actually get out of bed instead of laying under the sheets and hoping the day goes OK.

Willpower is interesting in that it is caused by different factors in different people.  Some people lose weight because they finally saw themselves on film, others because somebody called them fat, others because they want to land that hot date.  What works for some doesn't work for others.  I enjoyed realizing that being on a bike gave me the willpower to get meditation done.

The big lesson here for me, and maybe for others, is that you have to keep trying different ways to reach your goals.  Try enough of them and finally one will click with you that will keep you coming back for more and actually get there.