So….I coached an indoor cycling class last night at the Mystic YMCA. That’s a great facility, with some great people who love life and who love being fit!  Despite the horrible weather, a whole bunch of them still showed up to ride and suffer!……it was GREAT.  The cyclists really gave everything they had, and they got the most from their time in the saddle.  That, is what makes coaching so much fun and so rewarding for me! Thanks folks!

As I was sitting down last night at the computer late in the evening to answer some email and finish up some last minute business before hitting the sack, I wondered to myself whether or not those folks occasionally have the same doubts as I do, and so many others do - doubts about whether or not their effort to just get there, with all of their gear in tow, and train so hard, is really worth it, or not.

Yes, it IS worth it!

Worth EVERY Trouble, and Difficulty….

Becoming the best athlete you can be regarding of your sport, IS difficult in so many ways, but the rewards that come with the commitment and dedication to a goal and a dream are worth every difficulty that challenges you.

Even if the daily trials and frustrations every one of us experience, as we strive to BALANCE our lives and get our daily training in, were multiplied by ten or by a hundred, they would not exceed in magnitude the fulfillment, the joy, the possibilities, the experience, of being an endurance athlete……….of being truly alive!

The only reason troubles or frustrations come along is because - well - life has already come along. This is life! It would be impossible to even recognize any difficulty if you did not have the extreme blessing of being alive with which to compare that difficulty.

Accept every challenge and the difficulties and the frustrations, and work your way through them, and in the process, you will receive life’s priceless abundance in the bargain.

When it seems like you have more than you can bear or that you cannot keep at it, keep at it anyway. When it seems that it’s simply not “worth it,” remember that it IS worth it.  When you do, you’ll find a treasure bigger than you ever could have imagined, a treasure that will make the difficulties truly trivial by comparison - you will empower yourself and others in ways that you can’t even imagine right now.

Enjoy your day today, and train safely!!

On the heels of a very nice and sincere post about some training plans I wrote that some really nice runners used and had some success, the time has finally come for me to get this blog off the ground and in the air!  I’m ready to rock! 

First, if I have raised your curiosity a bit, go to the fitness-for-mommies weblog and read it HERE.

I think these ladies are really onto something! Not about using MY plan per se, but about using A plan, period!

And yes, many…of the athletes (swimmer or biker or runner) that I meet and greet and talk with on a routine basis…..the single factor that very often limits there success is a lack of direction - the lack of a “plan of attack.”

The actual training plan - who wrote it or where it came from is honestly less important than the fact that it IS a plan!

So many athletes are doing the same workouts, the same way, day after day, week after week, and not approaching their training progressively and smartly, and yet expecting different and better results…

If you want to improve, stay injury free, and increase the chance that you will be at your peak fitness and readiness for your most important race or event, then GET A PLAN!  Of course, ideally you will use a plan that is written by someone who’s philosophy you agree with. Do your research, ask questions, and by all means, trust your intuition…

As it relates to this post, I told these ladies that I really appreciated that they took the time to post their feelings about the plan. In a very real way, their words really made me smile!

When I wrote those plans, and even beforehand, when I sat (and sit) here, and ask questions of myself, and read and experiment and try new things and seek a BETTER WAY to train and to improve, I do it for one reason, and that is to see others, LIKE YOU out there reading this, have success in your chosen and most important events, and enhance your life and empower yourselves in so many ways, through that success.  These two ladies, in a very real way, have done more for me through their success and their words of appreciation, than I ever could do for them!  You see, this is why I coach! Their words, feelings, and expression of sincere appreciation and respect, is MORE THAN I could ever ask, and it IS why I do what I do….

Onward and upward…

Make it a great day!