Closer

 Every Monday should start so sweet. There is happiness, a pair of projects that have my enthusiasm corralled, the opportunity to advance a set of skills I consider important and the proverbial clean slate. Who could ask for more? Riches, toys, fame and fortune? Thanks, but no thanks. I have more important things to do than to spend my time in search of you. With apologies to Burton Cummings and his bands magnificent anti-war* lyrical masterpiece, American Woman, it occurs to me that there are MANY more important things to do. A perfect example took place just an hour ago in our Monday morning indoor cycling session.

We are ripping through a two-part (seated and standing) ascending set of power pyramids on the .30. Meaning we add resistance to the pair every half minute to failure, for this purpose failure is defined as the inability to maintain 55 revolutions per minute. THEN, we finish with a two-part, again seated to standing, sprint, .15 agonizing ticks of the sweep second hand per position. After that we rest in the groove zone and recover at 7/120 for one minute each. To the class this morning I reviewed the trio of formats necessary to achieve optimal fitness as applied to cycling, it being the proxy for enhanced fitness and cardio-pulmonary efficiency. Of course the usual cast of characters, speed, power, endurance, focus and enthusiasm all made cameo appearances. But it was the trinity that took center stage today:

A) High intensity intervals.

B) Steady state sub threshold (85% of FTP, or 8-9 RPE)

C) Long steady distance. 

These are the foundations of what we later build, as the adaptation process unfolds with consistent application, into the finished product of ourselves. Any building inspector or quality control supervisor will quickly see the fatal flaw in that design. Danger warnings flash with staccato strobes of neon crimson. For WE ARE NEVER A FINISHED PRODUCT. The great Robert Hunter put the appropriate lyric to the music of Garcia in suggesting that ‘when life looks like easy street there is danger at your door.’ We are ever evolving, always changing and faced with the daily challenge of recognizing this and subsequently changing the knowledge to wisdom, by acting upon it. Knowing to doing being what seeing is to believing. 

The session is flowing nicely, we are working at a high rate of intensity and presence. The set list is functioning flawlessly on the many levels requested of it when the moment feels right to up the ante. Let's bust a move. 

I guarantee that whatever it is that your heart, head or soul desires the process towards its obtainment is the same. Whether you truly desire to be the next billionaire on your block, to write that book or record that song, to make that film or own that truck, to learn that language or paint that portrait, there is a proven way to proceed.

Occupy the moment. Live in the now. Be fully present. Take good notes. Listen to others. Relax and find your flow-state. Full of endorphins and dopamine I push all my chips to the center of the felt table, wink, nod and call:

If you can dedicate 58 seconds of each minute, 58 minutes of each hour and 23 hours of every day to the practice of the total occupation of your now, with grateful and passionate intensity to the present moment, I guarantee the success of your goals. I don’t care what they are or the odds against. Let us start that process at this moment in eternity. 

This is the beauty of the process known as the sacred journey. We each get one. We are each gifted with the freedom to choose our path. Our measure of success comes from our ability to stay focused and motivated. This happens with the passing of time. Time we break into manageable parts. One now after the other. With practice (indoor cycling is our primary tool) we begin to move the pace, to up the velocity along the path. And we get closer faster. And closer stronger. And closer fitter. 

And closer happier.  

* My take of a contested debate.