harddeck242’s BodyBlog

well it’s back and instead of griping about it on bodyspace I’ve decided to live up to my goal of helping others and started a beach boot camp. I’m not certified in training but I do have my first aid and a few years of steady reading under my belt so I threw together a circuit program, distributed flyers in the building and had 9 show up for the first one this morning.  More than I expected but it’s the first day so we’ll see if my tutelage will prove worthy of a return trip by more than 75% of those!

Feels good.

To all you north hemisphere-ians (?) who are just enjoying the transition to autumn I get to say, I’ve sat here all rainy winter reading about beach bodies and finally it’s my turn. A sensational 60 degrees this morning with a 545 sunrise - what more could a boy ask for.  Training partner is a keen-as Kiwi and she’ll do just about anything I feel like which is pleasant enough when you don’t know quite what you’re doing yourself!

Hopefully I’ll get more along next time and get a small group together so we can suffer as a people which would make a great change from those cold, dark 6 am runs i was doing 3 months ago.

Spin tomorrow to give knee a break - Love it!

Now I’ll try not to make this too dark and heavy but I do tend to have very difficult conversations with myself somewhere between the 3 and 10 k mark and, well, I think about things.

I was thinking the other day about Schindler’s List.  About how my life has become important to me. And in having done so, how other’s lives have become important to me. I loved that movie so much when I saw it but only because I was a bit of a dire, angst riddled young man and focused on the angriness and gritty emotion.  Now I realise I love it because of the hope it offers. The very thought of one man being able to change the course of other’s lives just by being a stronger man was a wonderful thing to realise.

There’s a part where it’s all ending and the penny drops as he realises the massiveness of what he’s accomplished - not just from a business point of view but on a truly personal level

he says (again the seriousness of this is not meant to distract from the message)

"I could have got more out. I could have got more. I don’t know. If I’d just… I could have got more."

Power is when we have every justification to kill and we don’t.

A man steals something, he’s brought in before the Emperor, he throws himself down on the ground. He begs for his life, he knows he’s going to die. And the Emperor… pardons him. This worthless man, he lets him go.  That is power.

I am no Emporer but I think I now know what it means to be able to make another person’s life a better place to be. So I ask myself in the dark running hours What can I do to make another person’s life worth being a part of?  Maybe something; maybe nothing; but if, like Oskar, I can say to myself today "what can I do to help one more person through my own success?" that will be the measure of the person I’m becoming.

that’s why I know I will never be denied.

1st Physio session on knee yesterday and it’s an easy fix apparently so I’m looking forward to fixing it, then getting out and being stronger than ever. I really don’t enjoy how I feel after the month off for the baby so out I go. I’ll duck down to take a look at a local YMCA style gym where it’ll cost $11 a year then $2 per visit. Back to basics I say.

Today is Sept 2nd so by next week I’ll be lifting strong again and running like a reborn maniac, except without the wild abandon of my pre-injury days I suppose.

I think I’ve learned that even though I may take breaks here and there I can’t ever be flobby in my life. It’s just not an option.

I’ve said it before but I’m having too much god dam fun to think about quitting right now.  12 days to my first 14k race. 3 days til the new baby. 2 months since my daughter came out of her shell so to speak (those who know me know what I mean) and my son is smarter at 6 than i was at 13 I’m sure of it!

I’m leading my department professionally and seem to be the center of my own universe. I’ve learned so much from this journey and this site about giving back. I always thought that bodybuilding was a vain pursuit and it still can be if you make it one but to do it, then to teach it, then to inspire others to do it and getting the same joy from teaching as doing - you can’t help but think that this spot, right now, is a pretty nice place to be.

Knee is loads better so I feel like I’ve learned a lot about filling space with positive action and not just action.  I didn’t run for 2 weeks but I’m still as fit on my last 10 k as I was 2 weeks ago.  Continuining to bash it up was not the way to go so patience and nurturing of my spirit is just as important as nurturing my muscles.

Peace

Who loves a fat wet rainy run?  You’ve go to love it!

Knees still kind of sore from ligament damage last week but the week rest has been great. Still pretty fit plus joined a new running group and that helped. Still excited about City2Surf coming up in 2 weeks but even more excited about my trip to the hospital to extract a new baby girl next Friday.  Yay for us!

How in the hell would life get any better, can someone please tell me?

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you…..As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

-Marianne Williamson

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

I’ve been giving a lot of thought "post-gym" to how I keep myself aware of my state of play. At work we say that to give 100% customer satisfaction 100% of the time takes 100% clarity.

I feel I lose that when it comes to my own workouts and health and fat "post-gym". I don’t have the support or comforting surroundings or encouraging words from trainers re size etc. This means that it truly comes down to a race that’s long and hard but regardless of where I’m running it, the race is always ever against myself anyway.

And to win it takes focus, clarity of my goals, and complete CONSCIOUSNESS. Start each workout with a quick run to work out the kinks and build focus on plan for the morning then when run is finished, MAXIMISE IT!

Wow. How can you not feel punished when the rain feels like little pebbles against your cheek and the wind is so bad I was the only person I saw for the entire 35 minute run along the boardwalk.

8 more weeks to C2S and I bought my new Brooks today. I have to laugh every time I plan on going for a "short" run and then write down the words "8" and "KM" in the same sentence.  As if I ever thought that doing 8 kms in anything other than a powered vehicle was nothing short of insane. Need to tighten up my diet thgouh as I’ve been enjoying the break from the gym a little too much.

Maximise!