My Journey

Usually, one only sees the highlights of a journey; The best photos, best stories, and best experiences are shown which paint the journey in its best light. Here, I’m trying to honestly show my journey by sharing my challenges, bumps, advances and failures.

Indescribable →

Published September 13, 2015  ·  All posts on Sep 13  ·  , ,

This entry is part 31 of 72 in the series My Journey

I spent Saturday in Philadelphia training with a relatively small group of people.

Honestly, I was pretty beaten up, broken down, and tired before we even started. Brutally honestly, I need a break; I have simply been doing way too much for way too many weeks in a row for these old bones. So right out of the gate on Saturday, I could tell I was going to be dragging my a** all day.

And then the entire day unfolded in so many ways I could never have imagined.

I’d have to write a small book to tell all the stories; The people, the names, beautiful smiles, sketchy Philadelphia parks, smiling strangers, wall runs, jumps, cats-to-climb-ups, people who have grown and changed so TREMENDOUSLY since I’ve last seen them, old friends, new friends, people with broken hearts who are an inspiration in the way they continue to crush challenges, people ahead of me laughing and playing and urging me on by simply “being”, people behind me yelping approval that I can’t comprehend, and dinner and milkshakes and conversations and shared thoughts with people I expect I will never forget.

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Resilience? →

Published September 27, 2015  ·  All posts on Sep 27  ·  ,

This entry is part 32 of 72 in the series My Journey

Resilience also requires downtime for recovery. Changing up my scaf routine today to take advantage of the lingering awesome weather.

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Long was I Marcellinus! →

Published September 29, 2015  ·  All posts on Sep 29  ·  ,

This entry is part 33 of 72 in the series My Journey

Nevertheless I shall brave this danger and be bold enough to show [Marcellinus] his faults. He will act in his usual way; he will have recourse to his wit, – the wit that can call forth smiles even from mourners. He will turn the jest, first against himself, and then against me. He will forestall every word which I am about to utter.

~ Seneca, from Letters From A Stoic: Letter 29

slip:4ulele2.

Many of Seneca’s letters are pretty obtuse after all this time. But this one… this one jumped out at me as being really apropos of modern life. And, uh, painfully on point for myself.

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Bam →

Published October 17, 2015  ·  All posts on Oct 17  ·  ,

This entry is part 34 of 72 in the series My Journey

5k like a machine! 31:20-ish for total… GREAT for me :D

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Innate Movement →

Published October 18, 2015  ·  All posts on Oct 18  ·  , ,

This entry is part 35 of 72 in the series My Journey

Gee, what could we do in here??

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30/30 squat challenge →

Published November 1, 2015  ·  All posts on Nov 1  ·  , ,

This entry is part 36 of 72 in the series My Journey

I already have several health and fitness “projects” going on. But for November, I’m taking on another relatively easy one as an experiment:

Ido Portal’s “30/30 squat challenge”

It’s simple: For thirty days, spend 30 minutes in a squatting position. (It’s 30 total minutes via many short duration sitting positions; it’s not a 30 minute endurance sit challenge.)

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A thought on health →

Published November 21, 2015  ·  All posts on Nov 21  ·  , ,

This entry is part 37 of 72 in the series My Journey

Of this I am certain: Unless you take the time to study how your body’s biology and chemistry work, you will never figure out what you should actually be eating. Your health is your number one priority — your children, your parents, your spouse/significant-other… you cannot help them if you don’t have your own health.

Take just a bit of time to start reading about metabolism, diet (the general idea of what you should consume, not a specific set of instructions to lose weight), biology, and chemistry. Just spend a little bit of time reading to investigate the things you believe are true, and to verify the things you believe are false.

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30/30 squat challenge redux →

Published December 4, 2015  ·  All posts on Dec 4  ·  ,

This entry is part 38 of 72 in the series My Journey

Back at the end of October, I decided I was going to try Ido Portal’s 30/30 Squat Challenge. Basically, attempting to sit (a rest position) in a deep squat for a total of 30 minutes, every day for the month of November.

How did I do? Actually, not so well. I only racked up an average of 11 minutes per day. A few days had only a few minutes, and only on TWO days did I get the full 30 minutes in. It turns out, that making time to sit (squat) down isn’t easy. Most of the time, I just plain forgot. I did best when I set a timer while working at my desk. Every 10 or 15 minutes, the timer would go off and I’d do a one-minute squat.

But, I can see/feel the improvement in ankle and hip flexibility. Initially, I could only manage to squat on the balls of my feet, or rest flat footed if I held onto something VERY sturdy to keep from falling over backwards. Now, it only takes a gentle assistance to sit flat footed. So I think with another, more serious, go at this challenge in December — I’ve gotten all 30 minutes in for the first three days of December —  I can finally reach a flat footed, deep squat.

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Pullups pay off →

Published December 7, 2015  ·  All posts on Dec 7  ·  ,

This entry is part 39 of 72 in the series My Journey

I clearly remember thinking this seemed inconceivable less than a year ago. Pullups and hard work for the win!

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Brooklyn Zoo →

Published December 17, 2015  ·  All posts on Dec 17  ·  ,

This entry is part 40 of 72 in the series My Journey

Pushing the old comfort zone tonight in Brooklyn!

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