Getting Back on Track

We all have schedules in our lives.  Items and things that are important and paramount to our daily regiments that mold us in who we are and represent us.  But sometimes, life gets in the way, things change and we have to do what we all do best...adapt.  Whether it is serious or the most minuscule detail, we all let things alter what we usually do in a good, bad, or indifferent way.  Sometimes we revert to an activity we enjoyed in our younger days, skip on a workout, binge out of a diet, or just become complacent, which is ironic.  We allow these distractions to avoid complacency because the last thing anyone ever wants to be is bored.

However, getting back into a regular routine promotes balance and controls chaos in our lives. 

For the previous few months I have been wroking out on a inconsitent basis even though it is just to keep a good base until my training starts.  There are plenty of reasons why I did this: avoid injury, stay in decent shape during the offseason, repel insanity, and humilty.  However, in this process, I have felt consistently inadequate.  Something was missing.  I knew exactly what it was but didn't want to make the committment due the reasons listed above (mainly to stay healthy while avoiding burnout).

However, now I am three weeks into my training program (1) and my body hasn't felt this good since Ironman Wales.  Putting my mind and body on a schedule to improve myself and try to obtain a goal that was not on the plan when I started training for triathlons is completely liberating. I have a good flow in things lately.  I understand what I need to do and execute it.  If not, I immediately get stressed and angsty, which leads me to go out and train anyway, just so I don't take my failures on anyone around me (specifically, my girlfriend).  I no longer feel inadequate and it helps me in all facets of my personal life: work, love life, family, training, and social interactions. 

(1) I have no specific training program.  I have been involved with cross country since I was 13 years old.  From that time, you learn how to take what you like and don't like from your coaches.  What works and what doesn't work.  I try and not to think too heavily on my workouts as they usually come from my head the day of.  Sometimes, I even change it up minutes prior if it sparks a new challenge or just my interest.  It's unorthodox and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone but it works for me.  I tried to follow a workout plan in route to competing in my first half ironman but I felt an extreme unnecessary pressure to follow the law of the letter.  Once I stopped following it, I felt great and continued my training under my terms.  That was three years ago and I haven't looked back.  This is also why I am probably not a professional

The hypocritical ironic thing is I am person who enjoys chaos. The random things in life excite me.  Sometimes, I purposively put myself in positions to spark a different reaction in the situation to see how people act and how I respond to others' instinctual reaction.  We all put on upstanding fronts when things are normal and going well, but we are defined by how we adapt to things when they go wrong.  When the pressure is on and the chips are down, people show you who they really are.  I like to ignite that sometimes.  Of course, this can come from me at anytime. 

So to recap this post, I have just contradicted the importance of scheduling and controlling the chaos theory.  Or as I like to look at it, balance out the equation.  Look, it's our nature to be hypocritical.  We do it without even realizing most of the time.  So instead of fighting it, find balance in it.  There is good and bad in everything around you.  It depends on how you percieve and comprehend it. 

Maybe if I let someone much prettier than me explain it, it will resonate better: