Wednesday, April 25, 2007
IRONMAN? Ain't No THANG For THIS WF Father Warrior!
{I lifted the following straight from yesterday's batch of very cool dialogues that are going on 24/7 in the Wholistic Fitness "SanghaLounge". discussions revolve around all aspects of living, embracing, and struggling with the joys and efforts of the WF Lifestyle. don't miss this refuge on the Internet dedicated for the High Exchange between those of us who live a transpersonal fitness lifestyle. the SanghaLounge is complimentary to any DL Subscriber and all WF Online Students. enjoy the inspiration from Shishya JJ and i'll see you in the Lounge soon! - coach ilg}
"Last year I did Ironman Wisconsin in just under 15 hours. This was not a great time, but it was not an easy race. The temparature was in the 40's, it rained the entire day and it was so windy that there was a small craft advisory on the lake where we swam. A boat load of people never showed up and a fair number went hypothermic during the race.
What's the point? I did this with a strong base of cardio commuting (18 miles round trip every day) and commitment to the WF program. This meant that I did not give up a very large portion of my life to the ironman training. I have 4 beautiful daughters and it would not be appropriate for me to absent myself from their life because of a training program. Okay, I cheated a little bit because every weekend I took them swimming, biking, hiking or something else active which counted as additional cardio for me. Regardless, I took so little family time that when I called my wife at midnight to let her know I finished the Ironman, she wanted to know if I was driving the 3 hours home that night.
Think about it. The most consistent part of my WF program has been cardio because I do it for about 100 minutes every day, five days a week. It would probably take me about 80 minutes to ride a train into work, so those 100 workout minutes have only cost me 20 minutes of additional travel time. It is very difficult to do everything in these programs, but by combining cardio and travel time, I free up a lot of other time for strength, flexibility and meditation.
I coach my children in soccer, but have never played myself (although I am a very good ultimate player). I decided to learn to play soccer this year and have been out on the field with 20 year old kids. Amazingly, at the age of 45, I am outrunning most of the kids and certainly hitting as hard if not harder. Wow! Again, the combination of WF and cardio commuting has put me in a position to learn and enjoy soccer at the most competitive level. I forgot to mention that I am playing in a competitive league in which a number of the players have played at the college level. The best part is that my learning experience has directly improved my coaching of my children's soccer teams.
This is my way of saying thanks WF and cardio commuting for letting me rock at the age of 45.
Jim Johnston