The Off Season...and a workout for all!

As you probably know, I am a triathlete. And it's currently the off-season for me. So I've been trying to figure out what to do, training-wise...

Off-season training? Off-season fun? 

Off-season break? Off-season extras?

This, I'm sure, is a struggle for many triathletes. We spend so much time each year training and preparing for our races. Towards the end of the season, we get excited for the off-season. It will soon be over for a while and we can have some extra free time, we can rest our bodies, we can strength train to be stronger for next year, etc.

--- But at the same time, just a few weeks into the off-season, I begin to feel lost. What should I do today? Run? Cycle? Swim? Wait, I don't have to do all this all the time...And shouldn't I be strength training? It's a struggle to wean down a bit.

So this year I set a big goal - I want to work on improving my swim and dropping time. I figured this way I'll meet my goal of finishing a sprint tri under an hour and a half next year. If I can just drop 2 minutes from the 500m swim I'll easily finish under an hour and a half! Here's how I'm doing it:

* I'm swimming at least two times a week.

* I've attended one swim clinic this fall and have another planned for the spring.

* I'm talking to  friends who are former swimmers to get workouts that will help me improve my time.

* I've created land workouts to target the muscles I'll need to improve my swimming (check out one of those here - https://youtu.be/Szu9aaa92Uk ).

Outside of all of this, I am trying to run once a week, as I have in previous off-seasons. I will get back to cycling once a week in a few weeks as well. And I strength train at least once a week. However, I frequently end up at home after a long day and realize I didn't have time to run, cycle, swim, or strength train! So I throw together a quick 20-30 minute cardio workout which includes a little strength as well.

I say all of this for two reasons:

#1 - to put this goal out into the world wide web and make it official.

#2 - to have an excuse to share one of my favorite home workouts!

For a quick, fun, and effective cardio workout, here's what you need:

One set of Lebert Equalizers (EQ's)

One timer

Optional music

Set your timer for one minute sets. Each minute you will do a different exercise. After 10 minutes, you can take a 30 second rest, or keep going, depending on how you are feeling. After a few weeks you should be able to go through the entire workout without any rests. Here are the exercises:

1 - agility ladder over the EQ's

2 - jumping jacks w/ a shoulder press w/ the EQ

3 - mountain climbers

4- knees to elbows

5 - playground swing through using the EQ's

Repeat 1-5

6 - side to side over the EQ on the ground

7 - End jumps

8 - jumping lizards (Spiderman mountain climbers) w/ EQ's

9 - running man on the EQ's

10 - burpees

Repeat 6-10

3 minutes jump rope

1 minute push ups on a bosu

If you are a triathlete and have a fun workout that you do in the off-season, please share it below or email it to me at jlo74@aol.com. I love to try new workouts and if it's a good one, it might just be spotlighted in another blog or YouTube video  ;)

Thanks for checking in, everyone. I'm sure at some point I'll update you on my swim goal and you know there will be more random blogs coming your way soon!

PS, if you want/need a set of EQ's, follow this link https://lebertfitness.com/?ref=JennyOC and use coupon code JENNYOWENSCRIPE  for 15% off  :)

Thoughts of a triathlete

I just spent the last hour and 10 minutes watching a bunch of people cross the finish line of the Chattanooga Ironman race and it was so exciting! Earlier today I watched the Colts lose (not so exciting...) and earlier this week I watched the Packers lose (not a great ending to that game either). I personally knew one person and was connected via a fabulous group of fellow triathletes to 3 other women who were racing in TN. Maybe that's why it was so exciting - that I actually knew someone. But I found myself tearing up over people I'd never heard of before they crossed the finish line.
--> Why?
It's a 16.5 hour race covering 2.5 miles swimming, 116 miles cycling, and 23 miles running. These distances are incredibly longer than I've ever done. They are intimidating distances, especially on the bike! I know I could swim that far, for sure if the current is with me, as it was with today's athletes. I'm sure I could run/walk a marathon. But could I actually cycle for 116 miles??? I struggle to get through my long cycle training days when I'm doing 18-20 miles and there's nothing else happening on those days! These men and women are inspiring, motivating, and beautiful.

Tonight I sat on my couch and cheered for my new friend Joyce. She finished with plenty of time to spare and smiled and waved as she crossed the finish line. How amazing!!!!!!!
Then I saw a few different couples finish together - holding hands as they crossed the finish line. That's a lot of togetherness so they must really enjoy each other's company (and also, must not have kids!) I teared up as a son ran out to meet his mom. The son had been an athlete until an injury sidelined him and his mom said she'd take over the role. And just like that she completed an Ironman race! Wow!!! And then there was the last of the 4 Atomic Betties to finish. I've never met Nicole but I was clenching my fists and biting my nails waiting for her to cross the finish line. 6 minutes left, the announcer said. Is Nicole going to make it?! 4 minutes to go...I don't know how fast she usually runs but she has got to pick up the pace and get there! 1 minute, 15 seconds left...OMG Nicole, get here!!! With just under a minute to go the announcer calls out, Nicole Beck from IN and I just start to cheer and wipe tears away b/c I know she has given this her all. She has been swimming, cycling, and running ALL DAY and at that moment there is nothing more important or awe-inspiring than to finish and be called an IRONMAN. These people are amazing. I can't find the correct words to use!

There's a level of crazy found in all triathletes, I think. Why do we enjoy spending hours training? Why do we enjoy pushing ourselves to our personal limits? What is our motivation? I think these are questions we can try to answer but at the end of the day, we just enjoy the challenge and the accomplishment. I don't actually enjoy all the training but I do love the feeling at the end of a good day. I push b/c I am always amazed at my limits. My motivation is always something different, depending on the day or the race. I find something to keep myself going and just remind myself of that each day. Sometimes it's to push faster and beat yesterday's time. Sometimes it's just to get some miles done. Sometimes it's just a reminder that if I stick w/ my training plan I won't die during the race! We all have our motivational factors and we use those to keep going. And we are a bit crazy, I think. There's no real reason to decide to spend hours racing in 3 different disciplines throughout one race. There are no instinctual reasons (no need to outrun lions in our lives; no need to out-swim dolphins or sharks) and there's no functional reason to train for these (no need take a bike instead of a car or bus in today's society).
--- So I believe we do it for the challenge.
--- I'm convinced we do it for the adrenaline.
--- And we do it for the crazy.

*** WAY TO GO CHATTANOOGA IRONMANS!!!!! ***

Mental health, Millennials, and Football

This morning I read an article through the NFL app. It was perfect. I tried to share it on my FB feed. I couldn't get FB to edit who I wanted to see it (public, not just my friends) and it went back to the NFL app. The article was not to be found again!! I was so frustrated...
So here I am writing my own darn article!

Over the past year I've decided that Millennials are getting something right - they are taking care of themselves. I've written about different generations before and what each generation thinks of the other. But over the past 3-4 years I've worked w/ and for more millennials than throughout the rest of my life. At first I was  shocked to see their attitude of working only 40 hours a week in a salaried job. I looked at this as lazy or uncommitted to their career. Here I was, a girl working her ass off in every single job I'd ever had, salaried or not (although I don't work over my paid hours in an hourly job, that's just stupid) and it never occurred to me to stop working a salaried job at 40 hours. You work until the work is done. DONE. It's called  "work ethic" and I felt these younger people didn't have that. I could actually go on about my frustrations of unfairness, lack of work ethic, being rewarded for not working hard, etc.but that's not the point of this blog so I'll step away, take a deep breath, and move on!

Today my perspective has changed a bit. I am in the unique position to not have to work 40 hours a week b/c I am part of a two-income family. We aren't super wealthy but we can afford our house, food, clothes, vacations, my Jeep, his Mustang, swim club, piano and drum lessons, and quite a bit more simply b/c we are frugal and smart w/ our money. Being in this position has allowed me to take more time for me. I compete in triathlons and spend hours each week during the season training. It's MY time. I LOVE it. I encourage my daughter to find things she loves and pursue them. She's an artist, loves math, loves swimming, and seems to have musical talent as well. I encourage it all as part of living well.

Then I began to realize that millennials are doing the same thing. Many do live at home for longer than "normal" but they're saving money and enjoying themselves. While their "work ethic" isn't the same as mine, I have come to the conclusion that it's healthier. Either employers are more lenient with them or they are more efficient w/ their time, typically the work gets done on time. They are not working themselves to the bone or overly stressed. I am willing to bet their generation will have fewer heart attacks than previous ones b/c they are taking better care of their health. Their Physical and Mental health...

Which brings me to the original thought this blog was based on - Andrew Luck. He's a Millennial. He's a retired professional football player at age 29. He's honest w/ himself, his team, and his fans. And he got booed for this. And is being critised by loads of people. And we wonder why people suffer depression, why anxiety is a growing concern, and why people take their own lives. This man has been in physical pain and unable to do his job to the best of his ability. He's a team player who couldn't be in the thick of things w/ his team due to injury and doctors orders. He is a player w/ a lot of integrity, maturity, and brains. I mean he went to Stanford, for goodness sake! And when he decided enough was enough, the timing wasn't great. But you could see it in him - it was either he step back and save himself, or he stayed and would lose himself.

Instead of booing, fans should have waited to hear him. Instead of leaking the news given in confidence, whoever let it out should have held onto it until Andrew had a chance to make the official announcement. (I 'm not sure it would have gotten a better reaction, but I bet he would have felt better about it. Honestly,though, that's neither here nor there.) The point is, he used his Millennial wisdom to make a healthy decision and should be praised for this. To watch him give his statement last night I was reminded of the things we teach in Youth Mental Health First Aid. Yes, he was happy on the sidelines during the game. But much like someone who has finally decided to kill themselves, he knew the worst was behind him. This caused his mood to shift. He would soon get some healing time w/ his wife and upcoming baby. His speech mirrored a person who had become hollow inside and was just trying to stay alive. Our society makes it a very difficult thing to recognise when you need help, Some people are saying it took courage. Some people are calling it weak. I call it being human and knowing your limits. We all have breaking points. How many of you reading this have ever quit a job? Quit a project? Quit a sport? Quit a diet? We are humans who live long lives and at some point we'll find something that we cannot endure. And we'll quit it. When it comes to a person's health, physical and mental, sometimes that's all we have.

So at the end of the day, I in no way fault Andrew for retiring when he did. We don't know the whole story - did he talk about this w/ Irsay over the summer? How long has he been thinking about this decision? Does it even matter? He's going to get the help and rest he so desperately needs to be able to fully function as a teammate. And that's all that matters to him and his teams. So support him, support others, show compassion, and behave like a Millennial!

Multi-tasking or Single-pointed focus

So this morning I had plenty of time to do a meditation before work and it was wonderful! However, as I started my meditation I had a thought about how peaceful meditation is when you find that single-pointed focus. Whether that focus be on my breath or imagined light building in my mind given by the Buddhas, or the person/people I'm imagining as perfectly happy and free from suffering it doesn't matter. It's the fact that everything is calm, peaceful and there's only one thought going on. The single-pointed focus makes everything else pale in comparison, fade away into the background or wherever it goes, and the swirling thoughts that are usually floating around me fade away. Yes, these thoughts that I'm writing about were floating through my mind and I allowed them pass by, thinking to myself that they'll come back and I can blog about them later! Sure enough, 16 hours later, those thoughts are back and here I am blogging.

So here's the thing about this single-pointed focus - I used to be amazing at it as a kid! My mom always said that when I was watching Sesame St. there could be bombs going off around me and I'd never notice.
Flash forward to my teen years and I found it difficult to study in complete silence. I needed background noise to stay focused. I could have the TV on or the radio, or even the noise of other kids in Prep, it didn't matter. My single-pointed focus was gone.
Then, as an adult, it became a source of pride that I could multi-task. The more things you could focus on at once, the more efficient you were. Right? Carrying on a conversation while cleaning - easy. Planning a lesson while talking to a client and scheduling the day? Definitely a bonus! Sending emails is nearly always done while doing other tasks. That's what makes someone a hard and efficient worker, right?!

I'm not so sure now. Since beginning to more fully understand the peace that comes with single-pointed focus, I'm starting to question the effectiveness of multi-tasking. I remember reading somewhere a few years ago about a study that showed how employees who were not good at multi-tasking were actually more efficient and effective employees, while those who were always doing 2 or 3 tasks at once took longer to complete each task and had more errors in the tasks.
So I started noticing myself...I usually have the TV on and am doing work in the evenings. I definitely get more work completed in a quicker fashion on nights I decide to keep the TV off. Then, I am able to more fully appreciate and enjoy the shows I'm watching if I'm not also working during watching. It seems like my childhood ability to tune everything out except a TV show has returned. And I quite enjoy it!

So I start to wonder if this is a personal thing or universal. I'd be curious to see how many people are more efficient when not multi-tasking and how many actually strongly benefit from multi-tasking. Do other people feel more peaceful, more accomplished when they focus on one thing and work to completion? Or do people like to have check off multiple tasks at once to feel accomplishment?
Or is it just me w/ a little kid's ability to tune out the world and focus on one single thing? I sure hope I'm not the only one!

OM AH HUM

THIS World

Just for a moment I want you to think about this world. This world in which we live...

A planet unlike the rest in our solar system.
A solar system so expansive we can't even begin to imagine the space beyond.
A solar system filled with other planets, all circling the same burning hunk of material.
A planet w/ salt water and fresh water.
A planet with trees, forests, tundras, deserts, ice lands, tropical climates and dry climates.
A massive rock with living beings so numerous we haven't even found them all.
A planet with plants that you can eat for nourishment and others that will kill you.
An atmosphere filled with the exact correct amount of gases to keep all these completely different living beings alive.
A planet where you can theoretically see all of this in one day but the majority of living beings rarely, if ever, see more than their small section of the land or water.

Each day every living being wakes up on Earth.
Every living being seeks nourishment for the day.
Every living being takes in O2 or CO2 (forgive my ignorance here) or whatever gas they need to survive.
Every living being requires rest to do it all again the next day.

It's quite amazing that we have what we have to survive. Furthermore, we humans (and I'm guessing some animals as well) have adapted to create more things that we don't need but rather want to survive. And we continue to survive, create, thrive, and build on each other's successes and creations. We, as a species, are always looking to improve and build on what we have. Sometimes we do make things better. Sometimes we make things more interesting. Sometimes we mess up a good thing. But we never stop. We continue to seek more from this amazing world in which we are housed.

Now, bring yourself back to where you are sitting and reading this. How do you feel? Contemplate that for a moment.
Small?
Powerful?
Insignificant?
Creative?
Happy?
Fearful?
Lonely?
Loved?
Useless?
Important?

It really doesn't matter how you feel. What matters is that we are all in this together. Each human reading this has needs, wants, and feelings. Each human reading this is breathing the same air as the other living beings on the land.

Each human reading this is an important part of this world. 

For without each human, and each living being, it wouldn't be THIS world.