Blistering Speed…

…and I only use the term “blistering” because somehow in my slogging along there was some chafing somewhere and I’m sure I have a blister…

Yup, today was my first day back running.  Or even wearing running shorts, for that matter.  After yoga with Kris and Tammy Greene I sauntered around  the neighborhood, through the woods, over the creek, and into my fields.  And I ran.  Not real pretty.  Not real long.  Managed 30 minutes, needed some breaks, and averaged  11:11/mile.

Thanks, Mr. Garmin, for the information.  Sometimes it’s better to just “DO” and not “KNOW”.  But at least I have a starting point and something from which to measure.

And in the words of my high school chemistry teacher:

Here we go, here we go, here we go…

Remember the joke about the farmer who was outstanding in this field?   I was out standing in my field.  It was outstanding.  I was outstanding.

I am outstanding.  In my field.

On the road of experience I’m trying to find my own way.
Sometimes I wish that I could fly away
When I think that I’m moving suddenly things stand still
I’m afraid ’cause I think they always will

And I’m looking for space
And to find out who I am
And I’m looking to know and understand
It’s a sweet sweet dream
Sometimes I’m almost there
Sometimes I fly like an eagle
And sometimes I’m deep in despair

All alone in the universe, sometimes that’s how it seems
I get lost in the sadness and the screams
Then I look in the center, suddenly everything’s clear
I find myself in the sunshine and my dreams

And I’m looking for space
And to find out who I am
And I’m looking to know and understand
It’s a sweet, sweet dream
Sometimes I’m almost there
Sometimes I fly like an eagle
And sometimes I’m deep in despair

On the road of experience, join in the living day
if there’s an answer, it’s just that it’s just that way

When you’re looking for space
And to find out who you are
When you’re looking to try and reach the stars
It’s a sweet, sweet sweet dream
Sometimes I’m almost there
Sometimes I fly like an eagle
But sometimes I’m deep in despair. (John Denver)

Monday, 8/31/09

Ebb and Flow

I’ve recently got back from a quick trip to Cape Cod to see the family.  While away my head was spinning with things to write about.  Walking the beach allowed my mind to be filled with philosophical musings.  Sitting in the warm sand gave me time to take in a slice of Americana.  My auto-pilot-work-brain was generating new training activities for adults as I watched children fly kites, do cartwheels, drag wagons, make sand castles, and generally flit from one activity to the next on the wide open expanse we call “beach”.

I thought to take more photographs of our beach in Dennis, MA, but didn’t.   I walked for as many miles as my body would allow (stitches…healing…recovering).  So many times I stopped just to spin around and around so I could take in the entire beach.  Living in Tampa Bay and beaching it on the Gulf of Mexico, one never really gets to see a good low tide.  Yeah, you can tell the water goes out, but it’s a dinky little effort compared to what I grew up with.  One morning I walked 400 steps straight out from the high tide line before I hit water.  And it was still more than an hour until low tide!  It was 8:00 am and incredibly foggy.  Coolest thing…you could barely see 20 yards ahead.  Very few people.  I could walk and walk without encountering any footprints of the walkers before me.  Cool.  No…wicked cool (hey, it was Massachusetts).

And then came low tide.  Everyone had to sit on the soft sand between the dunes and the water.  You gotta’ love sitting with strangers, because your towels were lined up with somebody else’s.  And I hope you like their kids, because all towels look alike to them so they just may end up sitting one yours.  Cell phone conversations…amazing how many presidents and kings are sitting on the beach.  I mean, if these people didn’t handle business calls (loudly, to boot) entire countries and Fortune 500 companies would fail.  Well, that’s how it sounded, at least.

Just like the beach is only available to us with the ebb and flow of the tides, my visit was filled with the same.  Hurricane Bill “threatened” as they closed the beach…and then he was a no-show.  President Obama left the mainland for the Island and took with him traffic and paparazzi…and then Senator Kennedy passed away and and it all returned.  It was “unseasonably hot and humid”…and then the temperatures dropped.  I walked and enjoyed low tide.  MY low tide.  The low tide with which I’m familiar and happy, with all the sand, with all the space, with the smell of the bay.

It’s nice how some tides stay out for a long, long time!

Tuesday, 8/18/09

Pose Off…stability or mobility

So as I mentioned, I’ve been sitting around (call it lounging, sitting is not my strong suit just yet) whilst “recovering”.  I was studying some yoga stuff and found myself staring a photo.

Now, I’m not exactly a physics type of gal.  Didn’t get it so much in high school, nearly flunked it in college, and I cringe when I have to teach it to students.  That said, I was having some major flashbacks to force diagrams.  You know (maybe you don’t), those diagrams with all the arrows marking out all the…forces.  See, I can’t even explain it well.

The anatomist in me was just marvelling at a shot of Virabahdrasana III, or Warrior III.  All the “forces”.  For this woman to maintain balance and stability here’s what has to perform work:  right anterior tibialis to keep foot flexed, right  hamstring and glutes to keep hip extended, back extensors, shoulder extensors, neck extensors, left gluteus medius to keep her standing, abdominals and deep anterior/core to keep her aligned.  And that’s just to fight gravity.  As she starts to teeter or sway many of the opposing muscles come to the rescue.  Energetically she has to act like one of Professor Higgins’ Push-Me-Pull-Me’s; hands pulling forward as leg extends to the rear.

All that to stay balanced.  Stability.

And then the athlete side of me started to take over.  I know, you don’t expect one to go into Warrior poses as they approach the football field.  Heck, they don’t even do it in Sumo Wrestling (do they?)  But they DO do it in skating…pretty much.  Check Michelle Kwan, the master of the spiral.   Here she is in a right forward inner edge spiral.  She uses pretty much the same muscles as the Warrior above, with only a few adjustments for artistic impression.  And she does it while flying down the arena.  All while teetering on a small piece of skinny blade.

So who has it tougher?

Which one would you rather be responsible for trying?

SCALES

THE HEAVY SIDE OF THE SCALE…

I’ve had this weight dragging me down for the last few months.  Yeah, I’ve had a little indecisiveness, a little injury, a few too many plates spinning, and a little lack of purpose.  None of those compare to the weight of…

A giant cyst.

OK, I admit that it’s not exactly the size of a goiter or grapefruit or grand piano, but it’s been a real pain.  Every article of clothing I own rubs against it.  Cycling is nearly impossible.  Even work and swimming irritate it.  Any other news about the thing would be TMI.

In as much as I love summer, there is much about the last few months I have not enjoyed.  See list above.  And I ADORE the sunny months.  I like the heat, I like to sweat, I like reading at the beach, and I love triathlon.  I’ve spent too much time moping around this season.

THE LIGHT SIDE OF THE SCALE…

Yesterday I had the bloody thing removed.  Again, any more on that would be TMI (my apologies to those who listened to “my wacky day with the wacky surgeon” story).  I really didn’t have any idea how much this thing was dragging me down!  Who knew that this tiny pocket would weigh 20 pounds and I’d have to haul it around on a run.  I had no idea that it would collapse a lung so I couldn’t breathe when riding.  That it could make swimming an absolutely downer (drowner?) or make me completely wonky and tip me over in yoga amazes me.  The “dot” in my yin has morphed and taken over.

OK, I made all that stuff up.

But that’s what I was feeling.  Now I’m lighter, more free, full of smiles, and can breathe a little easier about the days to come.

SO IT’S ALL ABOUT BALANCE

Yup, exactly what I set out to write about all those months ago.  Tough to write about it when you feel like you’re not in it.  I’m in.  I’m back.

At least for today.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:  a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace…He has made everything beautiful in its time. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-11)

I met a man the other day who came looking for the ability to focus.   From his appearance one would think this guy has it all together.  He’s nice looking, well groomed, in great shape, and well spoken.  But he said he lacked the ability to focus…and for some reason I felt as if I understood that.

I turn to the Trinity.

God Is.  God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Each of these three things alone is not God.  God is all three of these.  Together.  He sits in the center of it all.

I Am.  I am body, mind and spirit.  All things physical, cognitive, and emotional.  The shape of my body does not define me.  My thoughts affect me but do not explain me completely.  I may be brilliant in one area of my life, but not all.  And I happily rest in the middle of this.

As it is with the basics of so many things, it’s all about the balance.  Take a look at the “modern day” wellness wheel.   We are each our own person, made up of many different aspects.  My sport is one mere aspect of my personality, my friends help to define my life, my emotions change with the circumstances, and my nutrition is only one thing that keeps me healthy.  Put them all together and you get ME; to look at only one aspect is to see me from a false view.

And for me to only adress one aspect makes my wheel…well, not a wheel anymore.  The outer limits of my shape would be changed.

Which gets me back to the focus.  Focusing on one aspect of your makeup doesn’t work for long.  The wheel changes shape, and the cart crashes.  The focus is still the single point in the middle…ME.  Myself.   One entity.  Although many things go into the making and the defining of ME, the focus is still the single point in the middle.   Keeping the wheel turning.  The perfect axis.

Not always effortless, but when it gets turning, it’s a beautiful thing!