Eclipse Update

The following are email correspondence with friends. Their questions or comments are in bold.
4/5/12
Hello Friend,
I just finished with my most recent project. It has been on the back burner for too long- so I now have almost finalized the new plans for the Wooden Gym.

If body weight is any barometer- when I was discharged from the Military in November of 1970 I weighed 205 pounds at 21 years of age. This morning at 7 am April 5, 2012, I weighed 200 pounds down about 16-18 since last year.

I am ……maybe 5 pounds from my competition weight at the World Championships in 1985. Of course- you and I know that its the composition not the scale weight that counts. I would say I am close.

3/24/12
Just checking in with you Carlos.
Training working as planned?

Yes and No.
This week (Monday) began with me “suiting up” and warming up in my studio with my normal 5 minute ride on my ergometer. My normal warm up and stretch ritual.

After this (for some reason) I took an inventory of how my muscles and joints were feeling. The thought that came to mind was to take a week off from training (but not from proper nutrition). Tuesday was the same, and so was Wednesday. (I did ride the ergometer for 25 minutes on Tuesday and Wednesday) Thursday I was wondering if I should train or not and after the warm up- my body said the same thing as Monday.

I was just telling one of my clients on Friday that this has been a tough week.
Not because of the training- but because I wasn’t training!
I can’t remember the last time I took a whole week off, and I am so looking forward to Monday’s workout!

At one point we think of discipline as consistency in training.
Yet there is a point (after exercise has become a regular habit) that it is as great a discipline and challenge to not train when the body needs rest.          (not out of distraction or laziness)
In my head (cerebrally) I knew I needed the rest- but my body had to make adjustments to come into acceptance and in agreement and conformity with what my spirit and brain had already come to realize and understand.

I know I have done the right thing because I am feeling refreshed overall- but for a disciplined athlete it was almost an ordeal!

I think where most go wrong when the body needs time out is that they do not continue with proper nutritional practices. I have not gained or lost weight but I do feel better and I am looking forward to getting into the gym.

I will have to “ask more questions” as to how I should structure my workouts. I am not assuming anything from this point forward.
So I guess yes and no makes sense now— right?

(I) Watched a video of me hiking up a small mountain in the area (Mount Tabor-about 600 feet or so)
with our son on my back in a backpack. Was very motivating and reminded me how
much I can do, when I set my mind to it.

Yes. I remind my clients constantly that they are much stronger than they think.
I have an 80 year old that started working with me about 5 years ago and at that time he was bench pressing with 35 pounds. This week (to his great surprise) he completed 12 reps with 90 pounds!
I reminded him how he is breaking all the rules and the mentalities of all the wise men who talk of decline with age. If aging means that we lose function and strength- not only has he arrested what we sometimes define as aging, he has actually reversed it!

Hello Carlos,
I was just looking at your blog and it appears you haven’t posted in quite some time. I hope you are healthy, all is well, and that you are still working at or have achieved your goal.

I have been very busy getting ready for the next photo shoot. I was going to post some thoughts I had made notes of over the past few weeks, but its just like getting ready for a contest (which is really what it is) so energy is low. I will have a professional photographer coming over to my studio to take the Eclipse pictures. I am still totally in and working hard at it. I will post something soon.

Hope you are having a great morning!

Interesting.
This morning as I was heading out for my first walk I began to think about the Eclipse.
And the fact that I had set a goal, and that goal had a time frame. Suddenly I began to feel pressure, and I realized that I was not in a place of my default, which for me is peace.
I began to pray and become thankful for all that I had and all that can happen,and I began to feel better then it occurred to me that this is probably what happened to a friend back in 2008 when he thought he failed because he had set a goal with a time frame and realized he would not achieve it within that space of time.

It is a powerful practice to set goals. Especially if they are realistic. Then we can tell others about our dreams and aspirations and that can introduce a type of accountability, and that can be good and helpful as well. But if what starts out as a voluntary positive pressure measure becomes a negative stress- then for me that’s not good. How about you, reader?