What does progress look like?
I’ve been running a local trail called The Harmony Headlands with some frequency and started tracking the activity on Strava in August. One of the things that has helped my with long distance running/marathon preparation is to work on being as efficient as possible in my running. The more efficient my stride is, the more I can limber up, the more I can leverage gravity on hills (both up and down) the faster I can go. It’s not just about sprinting balls to the wall. I used to think it was but it’s soooo not.
I challenge myself in the mornings, on this 1.2 mile course in our neighborhood with a couple of really mean and nasty hills. How fast can I get that done? I also started doing HIIT sprints on the beach in my bare feet once a week where I’ll run for 30 seconds and then walk for 30 seconds for 20 rounds along the surf line and then jog back.
Then I discovered The Harmony Headlands and have incorporated that into the efficiency training as well. 4.1 miles of sheer beauty just outside of Cayucus, CA.
On Saturday, I hit my best time ever on this course. Best part about it is I already know I can do better. There were parts of this run that I know I wasn’t as efficient as I could have have been and was already convinced going into the last mile or so that I wasn’t going to PR on this run because I thought I had slowed down considerably after the final big hill. Imagine my surprise when I realized I beat my best time by just over a minute and a half. Major WTF moment for me! LOL! Proud but never satisfied. That’s me.
So here’s how this workout should go…
Progress Part One
- Warm Up: 100 Jumping Jacks
- Warm Up: 10 minutes of Active Stretch
- Work: Run 4.1 miles
- Recover: Stretch out your legs
Progress Part Two
Still got some gas in the tank? Try alternating on the minute for 30 minutes:
- 24 push-ups
- 12 sit-ups
This is part of another couple targets I am working on. I’d like to do 2500 push-ups in an hour and also train to do 1000 sit-ups in an hour. So I like training these drills together and also working on them when I’m already fatigued. It’s good for the mental toughness game.
And speaking of the mental game, because Rich Man’s Gym is about body, mind and spirit, here’s a little more on progress.
What is Progress?
Progress is about pushing yourself to become just a little better than before every day. We can’t afford to take a day off.
From the beginning of time this universe we are in is in a constant state of expansion and growth.
For us to do anything less is to literally go against the universe.
Examine Your Self
What are the parts of your life where expansion and growth come easy? More importantly, what are the parts of your life where expansion and growth are hard? In what ways are you trying to hold back the universe?
Just a little FYI, that’s probably not going to work out very well in the end.
Think about the areas where you know exactly what to do yet you don’t. That’s a decision we’re making. Once you recognize that you are creating your own universe and that you also are creating the experiences you’re having, you can then realize that life is happening because of you and for you. Nothing happens “to” you…
So find your limits. Find the moments where you start to think you can’t and cross over into can do. This is perfectly done through exercise of the body. You control the body and as you master and transcend the body you then begin to move into control of the mind, the spirit and finally into co-creation with the dude (or dudette) that made us in their image.