1. Cardiovascular
2. Strength
3. Flexibility

The last one, flexibility, is the one most often overlooked.

Click here to explore why, and to discover simple tips to overcome this.

Sounds simple, but it will be one of the toughest, and longest, journeys of your life.

And one I wouldn’t trade for anything.  We reap what we sow. Make it a great day.  It’s up to each of us.

Share/Bookmark

Why?

Because who cares where you exercise?  Really.  Who cares?  No one. Maybe you care, but in reality, no one cares.

So what’s the point then?

Simply this – if you have the capability to exercise and don’t, aren’t you forfeiting one of the most amazing graces ever bestowed on you?

Share/Bookmark

Face to face questions, as well as emails, ask the same thing, “Are you preparing for any upcoming meets”?

Yes, and no.

YES, there are two big meets in 2010.  The WMA Masters Track & Field Indoor World Championships in early March, in Kamloops, British Columbia.  And there’s the USA Masters Track & Field National Championships, in July, in Sacramento, California.

NO, the left heel pain precludes me from anything remotely intense enough to be considered world class training.

This may be a good thing. If you don’t know, it was never the intent to become a world class Master’s athlete.  But after several years of running and making common sense, common practice, I wanted to see if it could actually be done.

Tomorrow I’ll describe the level of fitness that I didn’t even know I had achieved.  And what it feels like to see it slip away and the thought process on how, and if, I should deal with that.

Share/Bookmark

Lane 8 @ 2009 World Championships

Lane 8 at 2009 World Championships in Lahti, Finland.

That’s “Jack”, my son’s Teddy Bear. He has three exactly alike. He got them as gifts years ago.  The collar is actually inscribed “Jack”.

Our son was born in August 2000.  My Dad, Jack Noel, passed on, April 2001.

My Father, and our son, never met.  We were two months away from our trip to Pennsylvania when the phone call came, “They’re giving your dad three days”.

So, “Jack” the bear, has traveled extensively. He’s the one with two torn ears.  The other “Jacks” are in near perfect condition.  Our son was gracious enough to let the “tug-o-war with our yellow Lab” Jack travel.

Find a million ways, gimmicks, tricks – whatever it takes – to stay motivated.  Jack is simply one of them.

Share/Bookmark

• Youth – the full pressure of job, Family, mortgages is unknown
• Mating season – (once we’ve mated, what’s the motivation?)
• Wake up calls – motivating because of glaring consequences

The reality?  In the big scheme of life, youth lasts say 20 years, then fades quickly.

Humans are born to mate, like all living creatures.  Wake up calls may take a lifetime before they start arriving.

It’s all the other times in our lives that are the real challenge, the real key. Look around people.

Like I suggested a while back, “If aliens found Earth and gave us a pass/fail health grade, what would we get”?

Share/Bookmark

All the children participated, even the first timers.  Our son eagerly lined up.  Surprisingly, two of his friends are members there and graciously welcomed him into the atmosphere.

Off to a great start and then somewhere in the middle it got more intense and he felt uncomfortable with his skill level, and returned to the audience with me.

I could not have been more proud.  He tried something.  He did his best.  I didn’t push him, even though I could have.  He’s nine.  How hard do you push yourself?  He’ll get were he needs to go.  Will you?

Share/Bookmark

Body?  Well, he has a keen understanding of nutrition for a nine-year old. Much better than most adults.

Yesterday, after we pulled away from Twistee Treat, he asked me to call a number.  He said the first ten callers get a free t-shirt.

He passed the flyer up to me in the driver’s seat.  At the stoplight I quickly scanned it.

We were the fourth caller.  So today we go to Victory Martial Arts for a children’s safety demonstration, a t-shirt, and maybe something else.

Share/Bookmark

This is why I pray without ceasing that someday soon, we can all live in Peace.

Share/Bookmark

1. The chicken or the egg
2. The ostrich or the chicken
3. Stick your head in the sand
4. Chickensh!t

Does it even matter?  It does if you want to be an example instead of a warning.

“I don’t want to run unless I know I’ve done my best.  And the only way I know how to do that is to run flat out until I have nothing left. Running any other way is Chickenshit”! — Steve Prefontaine

Same goes for life.

Share/Bookmark

Seriously.  We all want them. We all chase them.  There are even people who guarantee them.

But the craziest thing I’ve seen is that there are people who actually believe them.

Just yesterday, Labor Day, had a conversation with a friend and I told him I write these blogs for my son.

Yet perhaps, they are really written to myself.  You probably don’t understand this, but the real audience is me.

I need daily reinforcement that common sense only works if I make it common practice.  Period.

After writing for me and my son, these blogs are written for anyone else who wants to read.  But please don’t expect guaranteed results.

Share/Bookmark