Black Sabbath and the Case of the Shutter Blinks

Shutter blinks and the fight with one’s self to get out of bed, that is what I was faced with this morning. Don’t get me wrong I was not dipping and dodging the fight that laid ahead but I was just trying to figure out what I could do to make this experience a more fruitful one instead of diving in the pits of pain and panic. Once again the phone rang and it was my eldest brother sounding chipper, it is funny when people sound this way it means one of two things. They are having the time of there lives out there because they are reaching a new plateau of inner self discovery and they want you to join them on the ride; or they want you get your behind out bed and experience the fire breathing pain of lactic acid burn within your limbs (feel the burn!). I have to be honest the first foray into the land of exercise and getting one non existing conditioning up to the point where it can be consider conditioning was a pain event. Needless to say that Motrin was my friend last night because the quads has that “I am going to remind you of what you have done to me feeling within them.” Now back to the regular schedule program, the legs were a little heavy in feeling but the mind was willing because this time I had a plan. For those that don’t know me I have to give you my views on plans, “No well conceived plan will survive first contact with the enemy because once the fur starts flying the survival instincts kick in. Basically a dog eats dog type of thing.” Wait before I go on with my tale of my running I have to give you another example of why plans are almost D.O.A. when smacked in the face by reality. There are some people out there well meaning that would love to have a natural child birth no drugs and things of the like, they come in with a “birthing plan” (please note the word “plan”). In this plan it states that they don’t want any painkilling drugs they want to go at this “Ol’ Naturale” but went that first labor pain hit they are deep within the furball of, “What the heck was I think?!” this example comes from my finance who works in a hospital. Now that I gave you these examples I can now tell you that I went to the Nike+ website and set up a training schedule for myself. I figure that if I was truly going to screw up I figure I better have a plan that can help bring order to chaos and take the macho I am the superman thoughts out of my head. Oh yeah their were several things that I left out of the pervious post that I have to mention here because it shows that even the most organized person can suffer from a brain cramp. When I went diving into the abyss yesterday I chose workout clothing that didn’t have any pockets, can you believe it! Needless to say I carried my keys and my iPod in my hands and my ID was stuffed in my socks and it creped out of my socks as I ran around the track. Being the genius this time I grabbed a lanyard to have my keys around my neck as I have and this time I have my ID within my shoe (I can be taught). I kept a mental note of the training schedule 5 minute walk, 1 minute run and then follow it up with another 5 minute walk. I stretch out the limbs for this gaunt around the track. I watched as my brother came up and already his shirt was drenched in sweat because he had already been outside and he worked the circuit four times around. I figure it was my turn to turn in my circuits around the track. In turned on my iPod set up my basic work and I dove off into the unknown. As I began to warm up by doing some power walking, the Fearless: Zoom Jasari+ Mixed Run (Continuous Mix) pumped into my ears and I can tell you that I was a power walking fool. The stride was fluid and the tempo was at a moderately high level; the burn within the shins was a comforting feeling because I knew I was finally getting the workout I knew I want to get. Six minutes into the power walking that was when I received my cue to start running, now this part is going to sound funny but hey I found it funny when I began to think about it. I tried to pick up the pace to the point where I would be in a fluid jog and the legs just felt a so darn heavy. It was as if the legs had other plans and I was not sent the memo. I felt disgusted once again but I remembered that I had a secret weapon and I knew if I couldn’t run I could stamp out a pretty vicious tempo to my power song. I hit the center button of my iPod mini and the growling scream of  “I am Iron Man” got the heart pumping even more I was energized to thrash my quads with a power walking session that would flood lactic acid into them. Needing a power boost like a gallon of Red Bull however a little less harmful I hit the center button for my power song, which is Black Sabbath’s Iron Man (Black Sabbath are you kidding me! Heavy Metal this early in the morning! Get Real! Heck it works for me.) And it is not the wimpy version I have the 7 minute live version. I can say the burn in the quads was not as bad as I thought it was going to be but that it hindsight. After power walking to the end of the song, I knew I had to do a cool down session and I have the perfect music for it since it was Sunday. I had to pause to select the music so I decided to end this workout and begin a new one with the cool down music and the Benedictine Monk of Santo Domingo de Silo chanted out the Rorate Cali Desuper Mode I, followed by Invitational Antiphon. Christus Natus Est Nobis and Psalm 94, 1-2. Mode IV. As I walked I considered a lot of things and none of them dealt with what I had to do and the “great world issues” for first I had a sense of clarity in what I was trying to achieve through my struggles. Through exercise we find out what we are made of the physical strain of pushing up massive amounts of weight or running for long distances, however what is usually left unsaid is how mentally tough are you. We see the great athletes that ride in the Tour de France and run the NYC Marathon and we want to know why they do? Why suffer going up a mountain to know that you will not finish first or run 26 miles to finish in 125^th place? It is through these struggles a grace is given to you to keep on going; to achieve something that you never thought you can do. Through burning lungs and torched to heck legs that feel like rubber when you are done you know that you have done it. You broke through that wall of doubt that everyone has. Can I go that last mile? Can I turn this gear? Can I take that step? The answer is deep within you and I answered my call and said “Heck yeah I can take that one more step!” Through the grace of God goes I, it has been a saying that I have been hearing for the longest and never knew what it meant until now. Without him I am nothing, yet with him all this are possible. Keep on foot in front of the other and keep on running or walking, whatever you prefer.

 

 22 June 2008, 8:22

Distance: 1.46 miles

Time: 26:10

Pace: 17:48 min / mile