Keeping Pace

Keeping Pace

Archives for January 2019

2019 OCR Training — Let’s Go!

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Another year has begun and, with it, plans for more Spartan Races have been set. While last year, it was YaYa who sent me down the path of getting Spartan fit, this year the goal is to support my brother, Robert as he chases his 1st Spartan Trifecta. Lil Sis (Carol), who jumped in with me for my Spartan Beast last year, will be joining us as well.

As you may know, Robert’s first race was the Stadium Sprint at AT&T Park. The event is a good introduction to the world of OCR but in no way compares to the intensity of the races yet to come. It will be a challenge for everyone who takes on these races. Besides the fact that I love my brother, my willingness to stay with him and support him along this journey is because I know that he will do the work (and research) to train appropriately for what is coming his way. In the meantime, I have plenty of work to gain the skills that have tripped me up on my past OCR adventures.

I have been doing my dead hangs, and specifically working on improving grip strength. I am at a new athletic club which has so much more in the way of state of the art strength training equipment as well as a few monkey bar options on which I can practice the skills I need and, more importantly, work on gaining the confidence I need to master them. I have also begun working with a personal trainer who has done an amazing job of listening to what I want from him in order to develop a program to help meet my goals. There is much work to do in the areas I’ve identified with include the development of back strength, forearm, and grip strength, improving ankle and hip stability and mobility, gaining the confidence to traverse the bars, rings and other hanging obstacles while learning to land safely when jumping down and/or falling from them, and overcoming my fear of heights.

There is much work to do and, I realize it cannot all be done effectively in the gym setting. In addition to getting out and running, I need some time working with the walls, and other obstacles. While I have a climbing rope of my own, I am currently limited to a super short climb on it as I haven’t found a high place to hang it from. BoBo and YaYa also gave me a Spartan Training Kit which has the bucket, spear tip, and pancake to work with. It’s a great start but I needed more.

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con·sist·en·cy

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A year ago, BoBo asked me to attend the Holiday Party/Awards Ceremony from his work in Reno, NV. That year, the invitation came too late for me to be able to pull off, so I deferred to the next year (a.k.a. January 2019). The 12 months between events passed rather quickly. In that year, I watched my son put all his energy into his career. Chasing the next promotion, he always seemed to keep his long term goal in mind, foregoing many a late night out that would make it difficult to wake up early the next day. Each week, he would write out his goals and send them to his boss and others as a way of being held accountable. He networked with those whom he admired to inquire on ways to overcome the hurdles he was encountering on his entrepreneurial journey, and acted as a mentor to those who were just learning their way in the business. He did this with admirable consistency throughout the year.

At the meeting this year, when the CEO of the company was describing the recipient of the “consistency” award, I had a hunch that BoBo was the one receiving this award after hearing a minute or two of the introduction. I picked up my phone and began recording the speech – hoping that my hunch was right.

Of course, I was overjoyed when his name was called. Moreover, I was incredibly proud when I heard what my son had to say as he accepted the award. His ability to speak eloquently in accepting the award was excellent. Thanking his superiors for the opportunity, he left everyone motivated to go after their own success. I was in awe at his grace and composure. He certainly didn’t get from me. But I think I know who he did get it from and know that he would be so proud if he were alive to see it.

across the street and nextdoor

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We used to have a neighbor (Mrs. Across theStreet) who seemed to call the cops at every observed deviation from her ideal. We joked that the police would take their time when being called to our street as they were called there for every little thing. This included my son hitting the “pokie balls” at the nearby light post with his baseball bat.

I thought of her last night, as I was awakened by an unfamiliar car parked across from my house with its engine running and musical base rattling my windows and sending alarm through my every synapse. It was just shy of 2am and just over a week since my next door neighbor’s house was broken into. On top of that, the reports of break-ins, thefts, and the other have seemed to be in the rise in my emails from the not-so-helpful Nextdoor app. Although I was unable to identify the type of car loitering outside now, I did know that it was similar enough to the car seen leaving my neighbors house with the carload of hooligans.

 As I stood there, I scanned the neighborhood for movement but saw nothing. I went downstairs and tried to get a better look. I checked all of the locks and turned on the porch light. Then I returned to my bedroom window to watch. I googled non-emergency police, called the number but, upon hearing a recording, hung up. I watched, and waiting, watched, and waited….and prayed they would just leave. But they didn’t. I finally returned to bed and tried to return to sleep. Of course, I couldn’t. With every sound, I bounded back out of bed and to the window, clutching my phone at the ready. Until just after 3am, the sound I heard was a car alarm. I couldn’t tell, but I think it was their car. The car doors were open and the two hooded guys put something in the trunk than got back inside. The alarm was still going and they were not moving. Scanning the area, there was nothing in sight out of the ordinary.

 I called 9-1-1 anyway.

As much as I was afraid of being “that neighbor”, always falsely calling for help, I didn’t want to be the neighbor that ignored the strange car only to find out that someone nearby was getting robbed or worse. The cops came out, talked to the guys briefly, then drove away. I returned to bed but still couldn’t sleep. I got up and looked outside; the car was gone. About 20 minutes later, I heard the car alarming about 5 houses further down the street. Around 4am, I finally fell back to sleep.

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