Mental toughness training

I mentioned in a previous post that being tired from a workout is not an excuse to not spend quality time with my wife and daughter.  We all know that after a really hard workout, we just want to lie down and sleep to recover and heal our tired body.

I guess my workout doesn't end in the road or the pool.  When I'm back at home, I still have to exercise extreme  will power and mental toughness to force myself to stay awake watching reruns of Dora the Explorer with my daughter.

But then it really isn't difficult staying awake and hearing my daughter shout "ba-pack" together with Dora when Dora calls her to "Say backpack" and when she dances the "We did it!" song together with Dora.

It is images of these that I continually play in my mind to give me the strength to finish strong.

But then I still sympathize with Mitchell Pritchett of "The Modern Family" series whose daughter is equally entranced by Dora.  One of my favorite "mean" lines is:

"As much as I love Lily, which you know, more than life itself, I am, whoooo, not cut out to be   a stay-at-home dad.  But it's Cameron's turn.  It's Cameron's turn to be out in the world, interacting with other grown ups, while I get to stay at home and plot the death of Dora the Explorer... Fill her backpack with bricks and throw her into the Candy Cane River"   :-)

Dog day musings while running

I see all kinds of people walking their dogs around our neighborhood park.  One of my weirdest encounters was when I saw a 6foot, 200lb man walking a toy dog!  It was one of those teeny tiny too small to mention breeds!  Yeah sure you may have nothing to compensate for unlike the rest of us 125lb weaklings who get rottweilers but cmon!  Couldn't you at least have gotten a beagle?


Imagine this: A burly man with beefy arms and tree trunk legs, walking a dog who is no bigger than his foot.


I shudder at the thought should he trip and fall on his dog...


Another time a lady was walking her dog untethered and was trying to encourage him to run.  As I ran past them I could hear her telling her dog:


                       "There!  Run after that man!"


Sheesh!  And it was supposed to be an easy run day for me...

Family demands

My wife USUALLY does not say much when I go out to train.  She hates it though when (according to her) I make such a commotion getting out of bed, preparing my pre-workout meal and getting my gear and myself ready to leave. 


She's an insomniac, a light sleeper and finds it difficult to go back to sleep once awake that sleep is a precious commodity to her.  The over the counter sleeping aids like melatonin and antihistamines don't work on her.  I on the other hand can sleep with a snap of your fingers and can sleep through the baby's crying.  (Can but don't if you must know :-) )


My wife's ears would beat the best motion sensors and burglar  alarms out there.  No matter how quietly I slink out of bed, she always manages to wake up.   


This is why should she want to go to the mall or watch a movie sometime during the day, I have to make sure I am awake and alert. Running and biking for 2 hours or more is no excuse for being tired and sleeping through the movie.   Same thing goes for the little lady.  Should my daughter want to play with me, there is an unwritten rule that I have to pick her up, carry her, run, crawl, sit, squat inspite of the sore quads, hamstrings, calves and arms.  This is why I don't need a gym membership as I get enough upper body workout from carrying my daughter around.


Its either that or rummage in the garbage pile for my bike, swim trunks and running shoes.

Musings of a beginner triathlete..

Having finished my first sprint triathlon, I was all caught up in myself :-)

One morning while training in the neighborhood pool, I spied a teenager struggling with her freestyle.  Her kick and balance were off.  After my sets, while I was stretching in the lane next to her, she approached me and started a conversation.  (I swear! She approached me first!)  Turns out she was practicing for an exam in her physical education class.  Her exam entailed her to swim 25m in the streamline position and just kick and not use her arms.  A tough call for her seeing her current skill level and given that the exam was in 5 day's time.

I saw that her balance was way off and tried to make some suggestions.  I wasn't really sure of her age so I erred on the side of caution and just demonstrated and described what she was to do.  :-)   After 15 minutes of working with her, I  finally bid adieu as I had to get ready to go to work.

As I was exiting the pool, she asked me "Thanks sir, are you a coach?"

Of which I responded, "Nope, I'm a triathlete."  and then casually walked away.

Water

Like water, our lives are in a period of constant flux and movement.
But unlike water, not all of us are moving forward.


Racing has taught me to keep on moving forward.


May I continue to be like my birthsign.


These are my attempts to preserve my failing memory for my daughter to read when she is older.


May I always do her proud as she does me proud.