Bliss is Ignorance

I thought this was a good quote:

Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed. The fact is most putts don’t drop. Most beef is tough. Most children grow up to be just people. Most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration. Most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is like an old-time rail journey—delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.
--Jenkins Lloyd Jones

I know it sounds a bit on the pessimistic side, but it makes me realize that joy comes from the inside out.  You may be tempted to think that a different job or more money or talents would add more excitement to your life; but, the truth is that life is mundane and hard most of the time.  But, just keep enjoying it.  The grass ain't always greener on the other side; the Three Billy Goats Gruff were full of crap.

Pace Yourself

When I was younger, running was all about beating something.  I concentrated on beating my best time, or beating someone else's time.  I tried to push myself as hard as I could without passing out.  Consequently, I hated running and wanted to quit all the time.  It felt great when I ran a good time, but I wasn't having an uplifting or enjoyable experience.

Today, as I ran I concentrated on listening to my body; not pushing myself too hard, but just trying to maintain a good pace without over-exerting myself.  I didn't worry about my time, or impressing someone else by running hard and improving quickly.  All I worried about was running hard enough to get a good workout, while listening to my body telling me if I was going too hard.  I only concentrated on running my pace.  As a result, I enjoyed the run.  I didn't enjoy it because I got a better time or because I pushed myself really hard.  I enjoyed it because of the experience of it.  I wasn't looking forward to the end of the run or thinking about how far I had gone, I just concentrated on the feeling of my breath filling my chest then releasing it and my feet hitting the pavement.

It showed me that it's possible to enjoy life no matter what circumstances I am in.  Happiness is not about making as much money as I want or having the biggest house possible.  It's not about avoiding mistakes at all costs or gaining more knowledge.  I don't find anything inherently wrong with these ideals, but they will not make me happy.  The way to be happy is to let go of my expectations, and just enjoy the moment I am in.  It's about running my own pace.

Yoga Buddies

Pretty sure she did all the poses way better than I did

One of the perks of trying to work out with kids is they do cute things sometimes.  Kailyn (2 years old) did some yoga with me today.  On the plus side, it was adorable.  On the other hand, it only lasted about 5 minutes then turned into crying, which is super annoying because I had to turn the TV up really loud.

The run went well, too.  I cut my time down to just over 11 minutes per mile, which is pretty sad because I only went two miles.  But, it's an improvement, so I'm happy...you know, the way a fat guy is happy when he finds a half-eaten Twinkie on the ground.  It's not great, but it's better than nothing.

Yoga (don't judge)

Namaste.

This is the video I bought

I got a yoga video and did one of the routines today.  It was very invigorating; my whole body feels much more relaxed, almost like I just got a massage.  My stress level is way down.  I don't think this will help much with training for a marathon, but it definitely won't hurt.  It will at the very least make me more flexible and help with my breathing.  If you haven't tried yoga, do it.  You'll thank me.

Welcome

So, I have modified my blog a little bit.  I'm glad you found it!  I tried to make it look a little nicer; and, I modified its purpose because I have modified my fitness goals.  I will still run an Ironman someday, but I am not as intense about it.  My goal now is to just be fit and run races while being a good dad/employee/neighbor/person.  I will also include things from my life, so you know that I am not just working out (or not working out).  I hope you can relate and that we can all help each other be more fit.

New Year's Resolutions

Well, I'm back in it! I have set a New Year's resolution (cliche, I know) to run a marathon this year. I found a good training schedule for 6 months that seems like it will work (see below). I started thinking aboutit when my sister, Michele, asked if I wanted to run a half marathon with her in April. I thought about it for a while before saying yes. Since then, I've decided to just run a marathon. I have a whole year, so why not? It will also bring me 1/3 of the way closer to running an Ironman. I'm excited about it.

Today, I went running for about 1 1/2 miles with my family. The girls were really nice the whole time; I was surprised. Kasey did well, too. She wants to run a half marathon. But, man oh man, I felt so, so fat. I was dying the whole time. It is amazing how out of shape I can get in a few months. So, I'm glad I'm getting into it sooner instead of later. Also, my legs got really, really itchy. Does that happen to anyone else?

Here's a copy of my training schedule in case anyone is interested (I got it from in case you can't read it. You can also click on the image to see it bigger: http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/marathon-training-schedule.html):