In the history of bad ideas… →

Published June 11, 2016  ·  All posts on Jun 11

This entry is part 34 of 36 in the series 10,000 Reps Project

Today I passed 6,000.

So it turns out it is just barely possible to pull this 10k thing out of the hole.

Friday, instead of 50 reps of things, I kept plugging away and got to 120. (140 bar precisions as I had 20 to catch up from a wet bars rain-out on Wednesday.)

So today (after doing my usual short run and QM workout in the AM) I did two separate 80 reps workouts to get me 160 reps for the day. 160 reps is doable. I’m totally standing on a 1″ resistance band for the pull-ups though.

Screw it… I’m going to make a run for the finish! I’ll even add more resistance bands for the pull-ups if I have to. (Whatever it takes to avoid injury and keep good form.) I want to be done with this before my trips coming up in August!

So with that in mind, I set about juggling numbers in my workbook. There’s a hole coming up when I’ll be in Boston for 5 days at an event; No way I’m going to get any of my structured workouts in. So I marked that in the book. Then, back-figuring… There’s no way I can train every day; I must have rest days. The math leads me to the surreal goal of doing literally 200 reps every Monday, Wednesday, Friday AND Saturday from now to the 365th day on July 20th.

I have a rest day tomorrow (Sunday) and then Monday I tackle a 200-reps day. I’ll [attempt to] do two, 100 rep workouts. I’ll do one in the morning and one in the evening. Counting Monday, there are exactly 20, 200-rep-workout days remaining. (The very last workout is actually less that 200.)

In the history of bad ideas, this has to be up there…

Screen Shot 2016-06-11 at 6.09.34 PM

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Useless to worry →

Published June 11, 2016  ·  All posts on Jun 11  ·  ,

When one is inexperienced as a teacher, one gets quite worried about the pupil’s situation; His anxieties rub off on the teacher as it were. But an older teacher realizes it is useless to worry or even think about it. The thinking has been done already, and a proper programme has been carefully worked out to suit this pupil. Either he will follow it, or he will not.

~ Trevor Leggett

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When the ‘me’ is obliterated →

Published June 10, 2016  ·  All posts on Jun 10  ·  , ,

This entry is part 52 of 72 in the series My Journey

When the ‘me’ is obliterated by fear or the demands of immediate survival, action is no longer constrained by social forces, and the individual is left with a sense of self-determination. […] Behavior in edgework appears to the individual as an innate response arising from sources deep within the individual, untouched by socializing influences”

~ Stephen Lyng from, Edgework, 2004

A couple years ago I tried to write something explaining what exactly it is about practicing parkour that I like so much. It turns out others are way WAY ahead of me. Julie Angel (you have read Cinè Parkour, right?) talks a bit about “edgework”; The idea of negotiating the “edges” between things like consciousness/unconsciousness, sanity/insanity, and life/death. Others (H.S. Thompson and Lyng) have talked about “edgework” in depth.

And I agree. My experience is that being in the parkour practice — even just the visceral edges where I’m pushing my physical limits while exposing myself to only manageable levels of risk — just totally strips away all the context of my work-a-day life. Everything — all the way down to my thoughts — everything falls away.

My martial arts teacher has a great phrase related to edgework: No this. No that. No delay.

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Introduction →

Published June 9, 2016  ·  All posts on Jun 9  ·  

This entry is part 1 of 5 in the series Parkour Travel

I’m putting down my thoughts on “Parkour travel” for two reasons: First, I’ve found it immensely fun and rewarding, and so I hope to encourage others to travel. Second, I’ve seen enough things first-hand (as a host and as a guest), and heard enough stories, that make it clear that some bits of helpful knowledge are not universal. In this second area, I can only hope to raise some awareness.

This series will necessarily cover a wide range of ideas which I’ll try to cram into a few broad categories. Eventually, I’ll share my thoughts on all of the following (and more): Why travel at all? What do I mean by ‘Parkour travel’? How to be a good guest? Where to go?

This series is not about the nuts and bolts of traveling lightly and enjoying the experience. Although that’s a closely related topic, it’s an entirely separate series.

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Arizona →

Published June 7, 2016  ·  All posts on Jun 7

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Perfection →

Published June 5, 2016  ·  All posts on Jun 5  ·  

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

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Ocean’s Gate NJ →

Published June 4, 2016  ·  All posts on Jun 4  ·  

Much movement later, I’m sure. …but first some “lion time”

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What the Haig?! →

Published June 3, 2016  ·  All posts on Jun 3  ·  

So my best pal from back when we waz youngins… brought a bottle of Scotch from the 40’s. Original packaging and all. Let’s see… 70 year old Scotch… 7am run/qm… yeup, OPEN THE SCOTCH!!

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Embrace Challenge →

Published June 2, 2016  ·  All posts on Jun 2  ·  

This entry is part 33 of 36 in the series 10,000 Reps Project

Not sure where this is going; no way I can reach 10,000 by the one year deadline… but I’m not quitting!

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Flowering moss →

Published June 2, 2016  ·  All posts on Jun 2

Macro-photography of some flowering moss, from the Sarah P. Duke gardens in Durham, NC.

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