Give Me Give Me MORE

 

Do more, work more, accomplish more, be more, have more.

And more is causing us chronic stress.

And more is giving us ulcers, migraines, acid reflux, and high blood pressure.

And more is slowly but surely killing us.

 

I’m done with more.

 

From now on I’m striving for better.

 

I don’t want to train more and spend half my life at a gym. I want to train better, because by training better I can multiply my results and reduce the time invested.

I don’t want work more and end up resenting my job. I want to work better, respecting my own creative times and tuning into what is important.

I don’t want to give more. I want to give better, focusing on how I can effectively impact others, and, equally important, give to myself: my down time, my playful time, my mindful moments.

I’m done with more for the sake of more. This is simply about getting better at what we already have going. Because through the accumulation of little betters it is that we can achieve great.

 

And I don’t know about you but I’m all for being great.

 

Bring it.

Better.

Just better.

I’m Back and I Bear Gifts Of Triathlon Inspiration

I haven’t been on the ball lately, but I swear I have a really good reason.

Yes, a cuddly reason…

A sweet and snugly reason that has flipped my world upside down.

Her name is Era and she was born on September 16th. For the longest time my mind had no room for anything other than cooing and loving this little bundle of cuteness, but I’m finally catching up on my sleep and getting the hang of having a tiny baby all over again, after over a decade of last having an infant around. Thanks for sticking around while I figured this out!

And now back to business. Of the non-cuddly but very inspirational kind.

Let’s meet bad girl Harriet Anderson:

This lady was 74 years old when she competed in the 2009 Ford Ironman World Championship. SEVENTY-FOUR cheesuschrist. And you see her arm up with the red tie? That’s because missus there broke her clavicle falling off on the bike portion of the race, and still managed to finish the race on time. This means she completed the remaining 32 miles on bike and an entire goddamn marathon with a broken collarbone. Are you feeling like a total wuss yet? I sure am.

She began competing in her fifties and has been relentless since. She’s badass and I want to be like her when I grow up. I’m not even kidding.

Now click over here and read her full story, you won’t be sorry. Hard core chicks, yeah!

Ah, Sunday

If you’re anything like me, Sunday means kicking back and relaxing. And doing laundry and baking for the week and freezing meals… When you’re done showering the dads of your life with love and chocolate (of the organic, sustainable, fair trade kind *wink*) take some time to catch up on your reading. Come on. It does your brain good. Here are some cool articles I read during the week and that you may find interesting!

And the video at the very end? Also very cool.

Growing Up With A Fat Dad, The New York Times.

A complex story, with a savior and a dash of hope.

Ultramarathon Running: How a Vegan Diet Helped Me Run 100 Miles  by Scott Jurek, for the Huffington Post

I don’t have to remind you how much I love Scott Jurek, right? I mean, we did share a moment, after all.

Ironman Champ: Train Your Brain, Then Your Body

Beautiful article in which four-time World Ironman champion Chrissy Wellington reminds us what we already know but consistently choose to ignore: To win the race, you must first win it in your head.

Brilliant TED talk by Christopher McDougall on what he learned about endurance running from living with the Tarahumara indians in Mexico. Must watch!

Food Porn

It’s a gorgeous day outside and my daughter is off school for the day, so no recipe to share today, just some food porn.

Meet my breakfast:

 

Real food is so beautiful.

 

And, you know what? It makes you feel beautiful, too.

 

 

 

Wild and precious, indeed.

 

Are you on Pinterest? Find me there as carobl

 

Happy weekend!

 

Here you go.

Because I’m a sap and this made me cry. Rock on.

 

This is an 86 year-old woman doing gymnastics. Your argument is invalid.

After a couple of friends shared on Facebook the video of 86 year-old Johanna Quaas performing her floor routine– complete with cartwheels and jumps– I wanted to learn more.

Watching the video I (like many others, I’m sure!) instantly assumed that German born Quass had been dedicating her entire life to gymnastics, surely being one of those child prodigies who just had it, like magic, since birth. Of course what I was doing was immediately giving myself a reason why she and not I was capable of, at her age, performing the way she did. But get this: This graceful senior only began practicing gymnastics at the age of 30. In the world of gymnastics by 30 most careers are very well over; you’re simply past your prime, a dinosaur, definitely too old.

But at some point came along this determined woman and told them all to suck it. And here are the results:

 

Apparently, the lovely Mrs. Quass believes gymnastics will keep her youthful. I think she’s right.

 

Just a little push

Lacking motivation? Time to refuel.

 

The story of our life is still unwritten

Juan Carlos Romero (right) celebrates his silver medal

The 2011 Pan-American games, which took place in Guadalajara, Jalisco, in Mexico, recently concluded and as is common in international sporting events, we are exposed to the history behind the heroes– personal stories that helped form today’s winners.

——————-

You have probably never heard of Juan Carlos Guerrero; neither had I. In this excerpt (translated by me) he describes his life in an interview, the day after he won a silver medal:

An evening in the summer of 2004, at a billiards bar in Zacatecas, began a dream that yesterday concluded in a silver medal for Mexico in the ten thousand meters, for running.

Juan Carlos Romero, with a drink in his hand, watched Ana Gabriela Guevara racing in TV, in the Olympic Games of Athens, and the inspiration he felt made him resolve to change the course of his life. “I ran in middle school and junior high and then the life I had was of alcoholism and smoking, I grew up, it was a dangerous neighborhood”, he recalled.

“When I’d come out of a bar drunk, I couldn’t even stand up straight so I would sit for a little while on the curve and then I’d wake up the next day, at 11 am with people starting at me”.

He assures that [Mexican runner] Ana Guevara was his inspiration. “I was 26 years old, and one day they aired the Olympic Finals of Ana Guevara, and seeing her, I stopped drinking right there. I told my friends I was going to start running, even though at that moment I was holding a beer and a cigarette”, he admitted.

“I have friends in jail, dead friends, others still in rehab centers; I was able to get out, I studied a career and one good day I bought my running shoes and now here I am, with a Pan-American medal”.

—————————

Immediately after the race was over a reporter asked him what had been his key for not giving up, for finishing strong; he responded with a simple yet meaningful “Endure, endure, endure”.

In racing, like in life itself, he sure has.