"Bare Wood"

It's been awhile since I've blogged.  There's a reason for that.  Actually, a couple reasons.  

First, I will say that my fitness is going well for 2/3 sports.  I'm seeing gains, especially in the pool.  Swimming a mile easy nowadays.  More importantly, I'm enjoying both swimming and biking a lot.  I crave being in the pool and being on the bike.  But notice how I only said 2/3.  That means one is not going well, and obviously that's running.  

Running and I have a love/hate relationship.  Always have, always will.  I can go months where I love running.  Love putting on my shoes and hitting the bricks.  Then there's weeks or months where I hate running.  Can't stand it.  To look at my shoes is to glare with hatred.  That's where I am with it currently.  To pinpoint why I am despising running, I consulted a friend of mine, who is also an airline pilot, about the issue.  He's a triathlete as well.  He said that lately, we are all working very very hard.  We have seen our days off decrease and our flight time increase.  Furthermore, our overnights just aren't allowing us to get adequate rest to where we can find the strength to go out for runs.

It makes a lot of sense if you think about it.  I have always found solace with running on the road.  Swimming is very difficult to do while traveling, and riding is generally done on an exercise bike.  But running?  You can do it anywhere, right?  It's something that has no boundaries.  You don't need a pool or a bike.  You just need a pair of shoes.  But when you get in to the hotel late, and leave early, day after day after day, you just want sleep.  You crave sleep.  And running falls by the way.

So what is a guy like me to do?

Borrowing a term from boxing, I am stripping my running down to "bare wood".  I'm going to take it from the beginning.  That means no Garmin for awhile.  No outrageous distance goals.  No time worries.  Long story short, I am going to run because I know somewhere, I like to run.

Back in 2007/2008, when I was attempting to change my ways from Fat Kid, I had a treadmill workout that I did.  It's a profoundly simple workout, and to be honest, it does nothing for anyone with even an ounce of running skill, but when you are stripping your running to "bare wood", you do what you need to.  For me, this is a return to the womb.  Back to basics.  Use whatever metaphor you want, but it'll get the job done.

Other than that, I'm attempting to manage my life at work better, and let's just say that in July, a lot of work stress piled on all at once.  With that, my fitness took a short dive.  A lot of people use work emotion to pull themselves along a workout.  Me, I am more the "dwell on it" kind of guy.  I'm not very good at using emotion for my benefit in fitness.  Playing hockey growing up, I was never the guy who jumped around before a game, screaming at the top of my lungs.  No, I was more the guy who just went out and did his job.  Emotion has never played a big part in my fitness.  Well, I'm hoping to change that, to challenge negative emotions into positive workouts.  Stay tuned on that front.

I do also appreciate everyone's support, no matter the venture.  I have had a lot of good energy thrown my way during some difficult work days, and for the most part, it's been overwhelmingly positive.  When you doubt yourself, when you are unconfident in what you are doing, it helps that the vast majority of people that you surround yourself with believe in you.