Shifting Gears

It has been a big week for me.  I celebrated National Blueberry Day with a bottle of Sea Dog Blueberry Ale and what would July 11 be like without a trip to 7-11 for a complimentary slurpee on National 7-11 day?  So many holidays in one week I almost forgot about the pursuit I am on ... Almost!

I've talked about the Inner Spark the past couple of weeks.  It's that little drive deep inside that you may or may not be aware of.  It doesnt have to be a raging inferno, although it might be, but simply can be that little bit of umph needed to start a project, maintain an existence, continue to battle along on a journey, or in the case of my buddy Chad, beat brain cancer.  Nobody will argue that Chad's inner spark saved his life.  What has your inner spark done lately?   Is your journey along the road of life, or Ironman someone else's Inner Spark?  Hmmm, I got you thinking now.

This week my Inner Spark convinced me of something that I already knew - and that is that I HATE my current Ironman training plan!  There I said it.  The one blue print that  I put all my stock in stinks.  I was tired of moving things around for the distances and trying to figure out the stinking metric system.  For pete's sake, we are Americans and we don't use that stuff.  So after much research and debate with other Triathletes, I found a plan that is centered entirely around time and not distances since after all, Ironman is one very long day of you against the clock, regardless of the distance at hand.  So in a couple of weeks I get to start a training plan that will take me right up until THE day all based on times.  My inner spark is smiling now - its a nice a comfy place to be.

Listen to your inner spark.  It may be timid as a mouse or fierce as a lion, regardless of its magnitude, its a powerful force to reckon with.  Your's might be driven by a spouse, a child, a whim, or even a best friend.  It might be a combination too, either way, embrace it and let it help you hammer on the journey like I am doing.  Who knows, you might be the reason someone very close to you wants to climb Mt. Everest or do something very crazy like become a long distance runner or triathlete.  ;-)

Happy National Blueberry and Slurpee Day everyone!

Let your inner spark shift your gears from time to time.  It's okay.