Warm, Dry, Fed . . .

. . . and ready for bed.

I like to slow down slowly. Once it gets dark and I am feeding or fed, the body systems start to slow down. It's almost a ceremonious activity, slowing down.

Preparing food and eating well are definitely ceremonious. A small cup of tea, some yoga, composing thoughts, playing good music, these things are all ceremonious. It's a subtle routine, a quite celebration, congratulating yourself, and thanking the Universe for a great day.

Today we had another great cyclocross ride. You never know where you'll end up on the cyclocross bike. Today there were steep hills to go down, stairs to climb up, and rivers to cross.

As soon as I remember my login name and password for the NTC blog, I will post a few pictures from the ride.

This evening I experimented in the kitchen with some prawns, flambe style. Something about cooking with fire releases the prehistoric animal. Maybe that's why I feel so ready for bed. The animal knows it's time to sleep.

Goodness.

unspoken

One of my favourite part of holiday / regeneration periods is waking up. This morning I woke up and shortly realized I had a couple hours before our run. Sweet. I lay back down and returned to the story I was mesmerized by the night before. It was a great well rested way to start the day.

Our run was around a chilly Elk lake. Frozen puddles are tempting. They all shout out, "Stomp in the centre and break the ice!" I couldn't resist. 25' warm up, 30 minutes steady state, 10 minute cool down. Good run to keep the fire burning during regen.

Back home for some yoga of the Hatha variety. I am back on this routine I was doing earlier in the year. I like to switch core routines about every 6 weeks, otherwise the exercises become too easy.

All different types of Yoga have their benefits. I think a functional Hatha program can be adapted to benefit core strength.

Today's swim was with Randy's group. It's great that we can hop in and do a workout with that group. Thanks for the accommodation. We finished the workout with 24 x 50 dive starts from the blocks. Randy took the quote of the day with the following request: "... And guys, get out of the pool like athletes; use both hands and push up on the deck. Don't just crawl up and out, or use the ladder."

nice.

Part way through the 50s I asked Scotty to watch my dive and give me a pointer, or at least something to think about. When we arrived at the other end I looked over, eagerly awaiting my homework. Scotty smiled and said, "Just give me a minute." We both laughed, silently.

Sleep well.

Cheeta

This morning my alarm went off at 6:00am. I decided on a couple more minutes. I woke up again at 6:30 and ran out the door. Breakfast consisted of a cup of water and some Vitamin C. Breakfast of champions, no doubt about it.

It was great to meet up with a couple other guys and join in Neil's Island Swimming TAG group. I felt a little sluggish to begin, but as the practice continued things started to wake up. After mastering the couch groove, it takes a couple 1000m to wash out the webs.

At the beginning of our kick set, it was all I could do to make it across the pool and back. By the end of the set I was back to my efforts trying to master the Coates method of kick. No problemo. Now my left shoulder is doing that twitchy thing, so it must have been a good swim. My diagnosis: new neural highways are presently being routed.

The apres swim Sauna felt great. I am of the Sauna breed, instead of the hot tub. The hot tub is great for talk and such, but for me nothing beats the Sauna followed by a cold shower.

We're still on a little regeneration, so the rest of the day was fairly light. I am trying to maintain the couch groove for as long as possible.

I hopped on the Rollers this afternoon for a great ride. I really feel the difference riding on Rollers. In order to ride single leg drills the core needs to be connected. In order to make sure it's connected, I like to ride with one leg and only the opposite hand. The process goal is no hands, playing catch, single leg. . . (standing). . .

Today's play list: shuffle of U2 Achtung Baby, Joshua Tree, K'naan, and a little Counting Crows. Sweet.

Pins and Needles

It's a funny feeling when we allow ourselves scheduled rest time. I find it so easy to find other things to do, and projects to start.

Today as I was putting away some laundry, I thought for a second. "I don't have to be doing this. I could just toss it all on the floor, and pick up clothes as I need them. Will the world be any different if I decide to take a nap, or read a book instead?"

The same question applies to everything we do, even the bigger things. In 100 years, will the world really care whether or not I put away my laundry on Thursday morning? What about in a week when it's all dirty, and needs to be washed again.

I can remember sitting in the office at Oak Bay High when one of my teachers told me, "Stephen, you don't have to do anything." I thought, "Really?... You're right!"

The thing is that we always have a choice. We can choose to do it now, or choose to do it later, or choose to do something entirely different. Another big choice we also have is how to feel, always. Any situation, any job, any task; We choose how to feel. Talk about a privileged life.

I choose to throw down the laundry and patch up some spare inner tubes for Papaya. I finished the laundry later.

Todays pictures are from Ogden Pt.

Great day. Let's go for a swim!

three for one

Christmas Eve, Winter Solstice (22nd), and a Full Moon.

We had a crisp and clear morning today in the Capital City. The moon was shining, lighting the streets before the sun was ready to rise. I closed my eyes for a brief moment. When I opened them the gift of light had arrived.

Beliefs and backgrounds aside, this time of year is about celebrating light and life. What better reason to celebrate?

Dec 24th is not only Christmas Eve, it's also the day this year I reserved a couple hours for buying things.

I have three secrets for Christmas shopping, but unfortunately I am unable to share them with you. They are highly top secret, bearing the burden of much sanity at this time of year.

I visited some nice shops with the G-man and he took some photos:














Enjoy the Eve.

Cheeto's

This weekend has been forced recovery.

So far it has been a great opportunity to work on my couch groove. Every couch, chair, bed, or cushion has one. When you go to someone else's house, try and notice the different grooves in different chairs. Everyone generally has a certain chair or place on the couch where they feel most comfortable.

After couple days of hard work my couch groove is almost back into shape. One more day of effort and it will be perfect, just in time for Christmas.

Here's a Christmas memory:

It's about 1:30pm on the last day of school. I rise from my desk and make my way to the back of the dark TV screen lit classroom.

My mission: Reload on Cheeto's.

I trod carefully, trying not to make a sound. Actually there is a sound, but I cant help it. It's the peeling sound of my sneakers sticking to the dried Orange Crush spilled all over the floor. I wouldn't want to disturb the movie.

If our teacher was on the ball that year, we would be watching one of Blockbuster's twelve copies of "Mr. Grinch" eagerly sought after by every class K - 12 in the city. Mr. Grinch or a Chevy Chase Classic, we were all happy to be watching a movie in school!

Ahhhh..... Willows Elementary.

I'm going to go have some ice cream.

When you train with a group of people there are certain moments, comments, quotes that stick with the group. Neil is especially good with words in the early morning swim hours. Yesterday's quote of the day came from Neil.

"Stuff that feels hard now, makes stuff that is hard in the future possible." - Neil the swim master Harvey

The above comment put a positive attitude in my head before a challenging swim set yesterday morning. It's about creating the future.

Today I was starting to fatigue towards the 2nd half of our swim. The volume adds up. Patrick noticed the change in energy levels and put a quote up on the board.

The quote itself doesn't matter. The change in attitude, thought, and energy it brings about is what counts.

Lots to think about over the upcoming recovery week. I'm looking forward to shifting gears for a couple days. In the mean time . . . rest and recover for a great day tomorrow.