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It’s very difficult for any single individual to extricate themselves from the commitments, schedules and stresses of everyday life. Paid employment, slowly over time, becomes wrong employment. Natural gifts such as a free spirit, open-mindedness and playfulness become too restrained and are soon abandoned because of our all too serious adulthood. But one day we realize that we’ve taken for granted the one thing that made us worth being who we are… the joy of physical adventure and physical play. There are few who can exercise the strength of mind to dash the heavy load of reality and enjoy life again once supressed by the full weight of it. The challenge for those who feel trapped in the quicksand is in achieving a study pace of mindful play again and bringing back to life what was once their’s in abundance – physical health!

It’s my goal to blow into a potential fire, creating a spark that lay in all of us, for higher standards and better living.  I find that life and all it’s trials and tribulations tend to be very good at blowing fires out.  Take your motivation, no matter the depth, add a directional spark and see how hot your fire can burn.

Books become influential to someone not just for there content but for the timing of the information as well.  These 4 people, their ideas and/or biographies have had the most important influence upon me.

They are in No particular order:

–Ralph Waldo Emerson (biographies and his prose)

-Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (biographies and her philosophy).

–Jack Kerouac multiple biographies (did Not enjoy his books)

–Henry David Thoreau (biographies and prose)

Because I spend so much time reading health and fitness related subjects, I make a concerted effort to read other genres of material concurrently. And although my love for health and fitness has provided well for me, it certainly would create an intellectual imbalance if taken as the only ingredient to my daily thoughts.

http://www.amazon.com/Kant-Biography-Manfred-Kuehn/dp/0521497043

There’s been a lot of controversy in recent years on stretching and it’s proper protocol. So, what’s being said right now concerning the application of stretching by the leading institutions and organizations on physical activity, health and fitness? 

Here’s the current scoop! Large and well-funded, well-conducted, randomized, controlled trials provide compelling evidence that pre-exercise and post-exercise stretching does NOT reduce the risk of injury or aid in recovery, nor does it increase the range-of-motion of the stretched joint or area. Also, the available evidence suggests that pre-exercise stretching is detrimental to maximal strength, strength endurance, jumping height and sprinting time and can increase the risk of injuries as well. In other words, stretching causes micro-trauma or minor injury to the related area of the body. Do we really want to damage the necessary muscles right before an activity? 

Given this evidence, it seems only reasonable to conclude that stretching should not be performed before exercise or after for that matter. Instead, warmups should consist of aerobic activities related to the activities soon to be engaged-in which are more likely to prevent injury and improve performance (i.e. walking to jogging) while cool downs, if performed, are best suited by slowing down the very same activity in which  we were previously engaged-in (i.e. jogging to walking). 

What to do? Joint-range-of-motion and joint health are best served by following a smart, balanced and consistently followed resistance training program that engages both (to all sides) of all joints or articulations throughout the human body.

Looking forward to the full marathon (26.2 miles) coming up in the next several weeks. 

They do a great job putting this one together… the energy and participation level is very high throughout the weekend!

And this year – the two highest profile American male and female runners are racing it – Ryan Hall and Deana Kastor!

This is a deceivingly tough course… it’s billed as a flat and fast venue, but it’s ever so slightly up hill much of the way. 

The last 6.2 miles reminds you that this is a full marathon! 😉

Here’s the link to the half and full marathons:  http://arizona.competitor.com/

We cannot expect to have it all ways. Life is full of choices and to choose one thing is to forgo another of course. There are numerous tasks throughout the day, some are for you, but many are for others. I question that all these tasks we busy ourselves with daily are all necessary. There are daily tasks that carry a true result for you, your family and friends… and then there are tasks that are simply a waste of time in which you’ll get no credit. Choose your tasks wisely.

At 451 degrees farenheit you create fire. One degree makes the difference between success and failure… because at 450 degrees farenheit you get nothing but heat. Now, take that same idea and apply it to your life (or fitness goals more specifically) and look how close you can be to your fitness goals and still not quite be successful. How close are you to starting a fire?

The 5 primary ingredients for success in life or sport are:

1. Purpose – what’s your goal?

2. Passion – a deep desire to achieve this goal once determined.

3. Planning – how to go about obtaining this goal.

4. Perspiration – work hard, consistently and smart to reach your goal.

5. Perserverance – make sacrifices and follow through daily to reach this goal.

*Sucess defined by the 5 P’s compliments of Joe Friel – author and coach for endurance athletes!

Look at your path closely and deliberately… and do this frequently throughout your lifetime. Going off course can be gentle and subtle without any awareness of your misdirection. As Carlos Castaneda wrote “if your path has heart, then your path is good, but if your path has no heart, than your path is no good”. Careful consideration should always be given to the mere 24 hours in your day. Not a day should be wasted or simply tolerated. Make the most of it by choosing your path.

Give less credence to any thought or decision that was not born through exercise. While moving about freely, engaged in adult play, in which your muscles and mind are free to celebrate and feast on pure and natural energy, your mind is at its best. Clear thinking develops over the duration of physical movement and good judgement is the byproduct you enjoy when the moving has ceased for the day.

Written by Tim Noakes and updated frequently (currently on it’s 4th edition) this book is still the best physiology book on running ever written.  It’s digestable, interesting and comprehensive.  Much of the science in this book relates to all endurence sports – not just running.

http://www.amazon.com/Lore-Running-4th-Timothy-Noakes/dp/0873229592/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259762692&sr=8-1