Into the Wild - The Endurance Athlete's Experience.

It has been exactly 2 months since I last posted to the blog. Thinking about it, that is a long time to leave the blog unattended, so I've likely lost some readers. But I know that there are a few people out there that are still reading some past posts, so today I'm beginning another solid year of blogging and sharing my endurance life experience.

Evaluating training and this lifestyle (my last two months):

The end of the triathlon season is sometimes a hard time of year because I feel lost. One of the greatest things about training for a marathon or triathlon is that it forces me to be focused each day on how my time is spent. When those rigid training plans are over and the race has been completed, I feel a little lost.

That being said, it also allows me the time to sit back and evaluate things in a more balanced state-of-mind. Right after the season, I was thinking about all the races I wanted to do, all of the miles on the bike I need to put in, etc., etc.

But a few weeks after the Ironman, I began having those thoughts of how happy I was with my Ironman attempt. Luckily, I had some activities that were going to force me out of a "normal" training routine for some time, allowing me to evaluate "what next".

Here's a brief list of some things that I've done that have influenced my current state-of-mind:

1. Play del Carmen, Mexico trip (Dan's Wedding.. pictures here!).

Influencing thoughts during / after trip: How much of my life is structured to accomplish things that I percieve will make me happier in the future? (Back to the happiness post...) This point was really driven home when I sat there eating breakfast and watched a lady pull up on a scooter with a body board, she went body surfing for 45 minutes and then loaded up and likely headed home to get ready for work. It seems like a lifestyle worth living. But likely an existance that many of us are unwilling to take on, because to live a "simple" life we have to accept a life that doesn't compete with what we are told we should have.

What should we have? As I ventured out to our local shopping area last Friday (Black Friday) I came to the conclusion that most of us don't expect to have a life with adequate food, shelter and relationships, but we expect gps units, panel televisions, Wii game units and many more "lifestyle" purchases. In my own life I can see where I've put some things / accomplishments ahead of creating more rewarding relationships or adventures. I haven't come to a place where simple living is anything more than an idealistic dream (we purchased a new television on Saturday?).

To also influence my thinking while in Mexico, there was a friend of mine there that seems to have created a similar life (romanticized in my mind of course) by living out his snow skiing lifestyle. After living in Vail, CO he now lives in Telluride - it's pretty easy to see how that could become an envious situation. I've never really asked if he thinks of it as an envious lifestyle - maybe I will?

2. A couple books that I've read lately that are influencing my thought processes right now: Into the Wild, The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical and The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals.

I don't want to go into the contents of the books, but they all have made me evaluate my own influence on our society and what I do to help others. And contrasting that to what I do to focus on helping myself. If you are not up to reading the books, I'd encourage you to at least check out the movie of "Into the Wild." We thought it was great. It includes amazing scenery if nothing else.

3. We went camping again. This camping once a year pattern since we got married is kind of crazy considering we used to backpack several times a month and for days at a time. Camping always provides a wonderful opportunity to reflect.

4. I took a yoga class again! I've realized that practicing on my own isn't going to happen anymore, so I signed up for classes again. My first experience back was wonderful.

How this all applies to Triathlon:

I watched the replay of Ironman Louisville on Versus the other day and loved what Chris McDonald had to say about how triathlon fits into his life. He said it is a lifestyle. He also mentioned how the triathlon lifestyle can be used as a behavioral pattern to be successful in other areas of life (business) once he was done competing.

My take-home message from this was that you have to love the training, the racing... the associated lifestyle. If you don't, why are you doing it?

(Side note: Nikki - my hotty wife - made the IM Louisville coverage as she was the volunteer that hung the Wigwam towel over Chris' shoulders at the finish. She did a happy dance!)

My next plan of action:

1. Run. For me there is a lot of purity associated with running, so I'm going to spend some time running. To be a better triathlete next year I know that I need to cycle. But that, I guess, is the whole point I'm trying to make - right now I love running, therefore I'm not worried about placing or performance.

2. Yoga. Continue going.

3. Poetry and journaling. I hasn't been a part of my daily life since '04. On occasion sure, but not regularly. I've found that regualarly involving some aspect of creativity exercises into my life opens up my awareness of others.

That's a simple gameplan! Let's see what happens next.

A great place to restart my poetry and journaling would be to reshare some past writings. (Those long time readers might remember this?) Lessons Taken in Silence - Number One.