I just got my Garmin Forerunner 305 in the mail today. It’s a $200 GPS enabled sports watch the tracks my running and tells me how fast I’m going. It comes with a heart rate monitor which straps around my chest and displays my heart rate on the watch while I’m running. Pretty nifty. I can’t wait to try it.
I got it mostly because of my failed attempt at running the Aloha Run in under 1 hour. I want a better way of keeping track of my speed while I’m outdoors. Hopefully this will help. I’m pretty excited about exploring the social features of the watch too. It records all my runs and can compare me to other people who use the watch through an online community.
The thing is HUGE though. I mean seriously. I don’t know whether to look at it or talk to it. I think it’s waiting for me to say “Beam me up, Scottie!”
“There are two kinds of failures: those who thought and never did, and those who did and never thought.” - Laurence J. Peter
Today, I failed. After running the Honolulu Marathon in December I challenged myself by running the 8 mile Great Aloha Run in under an hour. After all, if I can run twenty-six 10 minute miles in a row, I should be able to run eight 7 minute miles in a row.
I didn’t even come close. I did, however, learn a lot from the experience.
To train for speed, I started running timed miles on the treadmill at the gym. Every minute running on the treadmill was excruciatingly boring. My eyes were glued to clock in front of me. Watching the seconds tick by killed all my passion and love for the sport. Running a 7 minute mile was really hard for me. I could barely do two in a row without feeling like my lungs were going to explode. Without passion, I simply couldn’t devote the energy needed to succeed.
I didn’t fail because I didn’t enjoy running fast. Being good at something often requires that you endure some sort of overwhelming hardship to get to where you want to be. I’ve never been a fast runner, but I want to be - and that desire is enough to get me there. I failed because I didn’t change my approach when it was clear that what I was doing wasn’t working.
I find this particularly relevant when I communicate with people. It’s like vigorously trying to change someone’s mind by repeatedly telling them they’re wrong. Sometimes an approach just won’t work no matter how many times your try it. That doesn’t mean your goal is unattainable. It just means you need to be smarter. Take a step back and get a fresh perspective. Better yet, get someone else’s opinion.
The irony is that had I just trained normally by running outside like I did for the marathon, I would have done far better than I did. I would have run at least twice a week for 8 miles at a time, greatly increasing my cardiovascular endurance and speed in the process. What I did instead was half heartedly run a couple miles a week on the treadmill.
I like to think that if you don’t fail, you’re not trying hard enough. Some people venture to say that you should fail as often as 50% of the time, just to make sure that you’re trying hard enough. I don’t know if you need to fail any set amount of times, but I do know that the ultimate failure is not learning from your mistakes.
Ok, so this is meant to be a blog about business _and_ fitness, and I have yet to write anything about the latter. Here’s my first post on personal fitness: train your brain.
Your brain works like a muscle and, like any other muscle, it’s use it or lose it. Not only will exercising your brain make you smarter, but it’ll relieve stress and help you think more clearly as well. Some of my favorite ways to stay mentally fit are to play casual games and puzzles like sudoku and chess.
If you’re willing to spend some money, the absolute best place for this is Lumosity. This is basically like a web based version of the very popular Nintendo DS game, Brain Age. A bunch of neuro PhDs got together, did some research, and actually crafted a series of games to help you increase your IQ. The games are a lot of fun, and, I shit you not, you feel noticeably sharper after playing for just 10 minutes (and no, they’re not paying me to say that!). I find it’s a great way to regain focus after staring at my screen for too long all day.
I just went Kite Surfing for the first time yesterday and it was nothing like what I expected. Since I’m pretty athletic, I expected it to be easy. It wasn’t. It was more like “kite drowning.” At the same time, I also expected it to be hard. It wasn’t. It was all about finesse and control, not strength.
If you’re looking for an exciting way to burn _lots_ of calories and spend time on the ocean getting a tan (I know, not everyone lives in Hawaii), kite surfing is the way to go. I’ve had one lesson and I already feel like I’m picking it up. There’s nothing like the feeling of controlling a huge Kite above your head. I can’t wait to actually get on the board, ride around, and do jumps. It looks exhilarating.
I just went through a really tough time where I hurt my back and could barely move for three weeks. It was painful because not only could I not move, I also couldn’t work out and that was the hard part. I didn’t mind being in pain most of the time. It would have been fine if I could still go to the gym four times a week, pause the pain, and lift some weights.
It’s strange though, I felt really guilty at times for feeling that way. So many have permanent conditions that prevent them from ever doing any real physical activity. I was debilitated for three weeks and I was going crazy. Made me really appreciate my good health and good fortune.
