"I swear the earth shall surely be complete to him or her who shall be complete. The earth
remains jagged or broken only to him or her who remains jagged or broken."
- Walt Whitman
The "garra" or "chi" or "prana" is still quite evident in my eyes after completing my third mountain duathlon race in three weekends. With only 5 running-specific workouts, i used my WF Training to get a 7th place overall, an Overall Victory plus a new Course Record, and this past weekend barely squeaked onto the podium with a 3rd place in the 40-49 Age Group and 11th Overall at the Soulstice Trail Race. Oddly enough, i did not see ANY of my cycling peers at these running/duathlon races. Ahhh, the Path of the WF Athlete is a lonely one.
*besides a beautiful trophy, i got a personally signed Race Poster by the local artist himself , who has hit big recently and will be soon leaving Flagstaff.*
the Soulstice Mountain Trail Race was a big one for me. It took place beneath the Sacred Peak in the hills just to the right in the picture above, which i took this morning. elevation to the running course was between 8,000' and 9,000', although i did make a duathlon out of the race by riding Gunther, my mountain bike, in the wet, raining, and sleeting conditions to the start, which added another polite 1,000' vertical to the day.
MY WARRIOR INTENT: KEEP TO THE STRATEGY
all that a Warrior needs in life is a strategy. in fact, one reason why the Warrior Adepts have lost their fear of death, is because their Teachers have imparted to them a Strategy for their Death Moment; Warriors know precisely what to do as they enter their final breath; it's training that erases all Fear.
for the mountain athlete in particular, strategy is required to keep the overall average speed high enough to crush your opponents confidence yet low enough not to blow yourself up and be reduced to a slower than all out attack mode. to get onto any podium worth attaining, means training yourself and doing what is required to launch and sustain an attack upon not just your competitors, but your own inner dragons of doubt, hesitation, fear, and addiction to comfort. i am not a big fan of entering a race just to enjoy the scenery. a race to me is Bardo Training; all i care about is overcoming my egoic forces and physical pains that attempt to keep me from doing my best.
If, on Race Day, i bring my Best and if i can be brave enough to do the do, then i know that the degree of pain that i am willing to endure is going to make anyone who wants to beat me...
READ THE REST OF COACH's FANTASTIC, PODIUM GAINING EFFORT in DL SUBSCRIPTION...
a few more excerpts to just give you a hint of what you are missing as you glimpse directly into the amazing "mental deck of performance cards," from this peerless athlete, coach, and mountain yogi...
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"...this is called, "Developing Character of Self," and is absolutely critical training for the genuine Yogin. If you never do what is required to even start a Race against your peers, you can never, ever truly Know How Tough or How Willing Is Your Current Spiritual Aptitude."
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"...within the structure of a mountain trail, there is a universe of freedom. the elegant mountain racer sees lines of ascent and descents that others do not; they know of a freedom within the structure that remains unseen by those not as skilled. In life, the yogi sees and cultivates freedom within the Structure of their lives by a balance of Inner and Outer."
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Race Day dawned cold and wet. Perfect for ilg. The more epic the conditions, the Higher i perform. i arose when the dark was still deep to go through my WF Early Morning Rituals. With practiced ease, i merged into a Pratyharic Realm whereupon i superimposed race visualizations within the ascending ratio of Prana during..."
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"Out the door, onto Gunther as the rain bit into my face and soaked me wet and chilled before one of the 8 miles up to the Race Start had passed. as Part One of my Strategy, i chose to ride up the gravel road that the racers would be driving their cars up. i did this so they would feel guilty and feeble as they passed me, splashing me with mud and exhaust fumes from their Fancy Outdoor Athlete SUV's."
*
Several cars stopped and shouted encouragement to me up the Schultz Pass road as the rain turned to snow:
"Hey coach! damn dude, you wanna ride?" another offered. his car was passing me right at a steep section so i had to gasp a few breaths before i replied,
"No thanks, bro...i already have one!"
*
"..the Trail was like running up a waterfall. my Merrell Trail Shoes were sticking like Velcro however, and i just trotted up my ol' mountain biking trail that i know so well like you might converse with a friend. i dropped into my own Teachings of Mula Bandha Awareness, Big Toe Push Off, Pistol Grip, etc. All the stuff in my books were as valid and potent in that moment than they were when i first wrote them. True Chi Running, you see, comes from Tadasana, or the basic yogic principles of Pranic-Based Alignment. All sport techniques can be traced back to Yoga. We don't really enough need outdoor sport coaches. We just need real Teachers of Yoga. "
THAT IS A SMACKING...DO NOT MISS THIS UNIQUE, CHI FILLED GIFT FROM COACH!!!
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COME, RACE WITH COACH NEXT YEAR!!!!
SOULSTICE RACE COURSE INFO:
http://www.natra.org/
