First Challenges

A long, long day, yesterday was. Cold, rainy and very windy weather wore me down. I ended up having too much desert and some biscuits before I went too bed. Certainly not the end of the world but considering how good I've been flowing lately it is enough to annoy me. Luckily though a minor setback like that doesn't derail me like it did before and I am up back on it today, my rest day.

The roots of the wearing day yesterday arose from my early start, waking up at 3:45am before my 4:30am alarm. I had only 4 hours sleep but I am was rockin' ok. I than made the mistake of using the scales to check where I was at. Good news I had cracked the 90kilogram mark which for so long had been a barrier. However the numbers weren't as great as I thought they'd be and this allowed the usual negative thoughts try and slip through. I jumped on my bike and rode to the gym for a session. I was stretching when I caught some of the negative thoughts trying to sneak in and I smiled. I smiled because one, I caught them and questioned them before they could sink in but I smiled mainly because the thoughts were completely non-founded. While the numbers might have not shown it I knew and could feel a massive gain in fitness and fat loss. It humoured me that these thoughts were completely off line. Despite the early start I continued to grind out a big day with shopping, catching up with mates and a Uni practical then grabbed a bus to pick up some protein powder, which I had just ran out of that morning. As a cornerstone of my diet, the lack of it really took the edge off my diet and most likely caused the minor blow-out last night. I think it has such a profound effect on me because of its appetite supressing qualities and also the ease at which it can be consumed.

Anyways, it is back to all quiet on the Alpha front with a rest day coming in as always at a good time. I will do some planning today and comeback to training tomorrow with force looking to improve my cardio, pack on some muscle and tweak my nutrition. Lets Getit, Alpha and Out!

A.L.P.H.A

The recent boom of positivity and momentum I have been enjoying along with the fork the road nature of this time period has got me reflecting on everything- goals, aspirations beliefs etc. I have successfully managed to tie in some of my deeper beliefs to buzz words based on the letters of "Alpha". And here they are!

A is for Ambition
And I've got bucketloads of it, sometimes to my detriment. I've got the desire to achieve great heights in any and all of my endeavors I pursue. My ambition drives me out of the depths and up to the sky.

L is for Love
Love and respect is what it is all about ultimately. I am a great believer in respect and I believe that love is built on a deep and profound respect. The so called romantic side of love gets layered on top.

P is for Perseverance
That is what has kept me going in the face of sometimes mountainous adversity. Anything worth having requires hard work and belief I.e. they all require perseverance. Diet, weight training, triathlon training and building social skills requires perseverance and endless tinkering.

H is for Heights
I want and will achieve great heights in any field I choose. I have the will, belief and power to set high goals, plan and achieve them.

A is for Adventurous
While at the moment I might not be particularly adventurous I'd certainly like to develop this to be become extremely adventurous. I'm talking climbing mountains like Everest and K2, cycling crazy distances, competing in triathlons around the world, going out to clubs all over the world, even performing in those clubs in some facet. Watch this space it is the final letter and the final aspect for me to truly develop.

Well that's the wrap up of some of my key beliefs and lifestyle hopes and aspirations. Let's go work it out, Alpha and Out!

I Hit It, I Hit It Good

A mere day after running the Zone I ran smack, bang into a big, bloody, brick wall. The wall is another sports psych term explaining when the endurance athlete suddenly loses energy and momentum. His legs become leaden, the air becomes thick and hot, the solid ground become a muddy bog sucking down each leg as you pedal, run or swim. And damn today I hit the wall harder then ever before.

I hit it good and furthermore I'm even happier that I was able to be in a position to hit said wall. A mere month ago I would not be able to reach that point in the road. It occurred while on my first large bike ride from Brisbane City around the Mt Cotton area. I managed to keep up with my mate but on the return leg, riding along the freeway, a baking sun, simmering bitchuem and cramping and sore legs all added up to the brick wall. But besides the last couple of k's it felt awesome to be out in the open , riding freely, cranking some solid speed, enjoying the descents and attacking the hills. It was a great start to my experience in long range riding. Let's keep the Perfection rolling, Alpha and Out!

In The Zone

A packed weights room greeted my entry to the gym so I went straight to the cardio room to crank out a long tempo run. I had planned a big leg session but it was clear that wasnt going to be possible with the number of people in the gym. At the end of the day it was for the best as I have a large bike ride planned for tomorrow and having sore legs would not be to pleasant. So I jumped onto the treadmill and began the tempo run.

Music pumping, admiring my form in the mirror and the pleasant temperature soon had me churning out the steps in the fabled "Zone". Now kids gather round while I tell you about the Zone. Where to begin, ah yes, no pain. You almost lose total sensation of your legs as if your running on air. Your pumping out the Km's but your breathing fine and untroubled, there is no burning despite the intensity of your run. Ontop of this weightless, painless feeling you enter a intense focus leading to tunnel vision to the goal your chasing. Damn I love it, Alpha and Out!

Mental Thorns Can Be Crushed

Less than 4 hours sleep last night after finishing work late and an early morning lecture resulted in my mind trying to knock me off my perch. I was tired, worn down physically but mentally I was pumping with positivity. Such was this positivity that I overcame my physiological weariness and actively attended all 3 lectures today, hit the majority of my study goals before crashing late afternoon.

However throughout this period my physiology was crying out for attention, it did not like being shunned and over-powered. It was saying screw this you tired you can catch up on those lectures later, study can wait, you done good this week you deserve a reward. I call these mental thorns. They are simply subconscious thoughts trying to entangle you to protect it from change. The body hates change. In fact a great deal of my studies in science are associated with mechanisms to avoid change and return to "comfortable" levels. These mental thorns are protective, they're just trying to keep you comfortable. But the key to mediocrity is the realistic while the key to success and greatness is the unrealistic. The unrealistic has led to all modern phenomenas such as airplanes, mobile phones even basic western staples electricity and tap water were unrealistic concepts before some came and CHANGED their view from what was unrealistic to what was realistic and engaged in activities to persuade others of this view change. So while mental thorns are protective and natural to the body they inhibit the new, exciting and beneficial mental processes required to succeed. So crush them thorns and achieve your dreams. Damn this is a good post, now I'm gonna go practice what I preach, let's do it, Alpha and Out!

Nuff Inspiration To Fuel The Nation

4 hours sleep, 1 sore back, 5 small meals and what do you get? Constipation?...Hell No! You get Inspiration. I was on fire today and it all comes back to the momentum of my perfection pursuit I began on Sunday and decided to continue. Combine this positivity with the euphoric response of the body to lack of sleep and a high protein diet and man, life becomes limitless. This limitless feeling lead to a mind racing with creativity mainly surrounding the opportunity I have to use my journey as a jump start to a personal training and life changing business. Let your dreams fly! I do have to be weary though as often on days like this the euphoria of lack of sleep can easily be replaced by weariness and irritability which can lead to food blow outs and a negative mood. I am confident though that I am in the right mindspace to successfully manage this potential situation, Boo-Yah!

And all this positivity despite a sore back which luckily coincided with my rest day (unluckily for my Oztag team who were knocked out of the semi-finals). This means that depending on how I feel in the morning I will only have missed half a session of training, at least for cardio, I will put off weighs for another couple of days to be safe.

Let's keep the ball rolling in the pursuit of perfection, Alpha and Out!

Perfection Is My Reward

I found myself in a familiar position today. After the rampaging success of yesterday I walked into the kitchen for morning snack time. Goodies peered out at me from every corner. Jatzs, brown and golden. Cheese yellow and moist. Cashews salty and satisfying. Upon sight of my previous vices an unwelcome voice chimed in. "You had a great day yesterday, you deserve a reward," Hello, Awkward, old friend. Along with the voice the cravings gripped my mind. But I pushed forward, grabbed some kiwi fruit, filled up my protein shake and sat down to read the paper. I cut up the kiwi fruit, which I find helps increase the perception of large quantity due to longer time and sipped my shake. Upon finishing the snack, the voice chimed in again. "Come on, you know your still hungry, just a couple of jatz won't hurt?" Usually I have no support in such situations and cave in. But this time another powerful, booming voice chimed in. "Are you really hungry?"

"But you deserve a Reward,"

"The perfection of yesterday was the reward!". Alpha wins.

Yesterday's pursuit of perfection was a resounding success. I hit all my diet targets, study targets, made it to the gym and coped well at work. And as I knew would happen my mind and body worked along smoothly despite only 4 hours sleep and a large exercise load. I also found it very helpful tweeting my thoughts, cravings and happenings throughout the day. The perception that people will be able to track my progress throughout the day helped hold me to task. Also I now have a minute by minute, almost, of the positivity perfection gives back. My mindset was full of positive thoughts, feeling I could accomplish anything, create anything, complete anything. It was intoxicating.

So intoxicating in fact, I am continuing it today!

Alpha and Out!