Do you have the eye?

This is just a note before bed and a question for all of you out there. Do you have the eye of the tiger? Clubber Lang had it. Rocky got it back. Take a second to listen to that song on my page and then ask yourself, "do I have the eye of the tiger?" What the H. E. double hockey sticks is the Eye of the tiger (other than a GREAT song)? The eye of the tiger is the power to overcome ANY mental wall we might be fighting. I can tangibly feel something inside me that is different. I did something I didn't think I could. Now I know I can, so now I am going to do something else I haven't thought I could do, that is drop weight. You ALL can do whatever you want. I know that now. Get that "eye of the tiger", look your foe in the face, and claw the hell out of his/her eyes, then move on to the next obstacle and do the same. GO TEAM!!

Will Smith said, "when I hear that inner voice telling me to stop or I can't, I ignore it..." (not an exact quote) Ignore that negative voice.

Triathlon number one...done

On Thanksgiving morn, Dixie, Eric and I headed out to the Goodyear YMCA for our sprint triathlon. I woke up at 3:45 a.m., and then again at 4 because I was ready to roll. What can I say, I'm a pro. Anyway, we all left my parents house around 5:15 or so. I won't bore you with all the details. Pictured above is Eric and I before beginning the race. These shots below are me just finishing the run portion and getting ready for the bike. I had to give Lana a "money shot" of me chuggin' down the liquid refreshment...



One thing in my favor was that they shortened the run from 2 miles to 1.5 because the rain had ruined part of the "track". Eric and I started 15 min. before Dixie. He finished the run a couple minutes or so ahead of me. Then I took off on the bike. It was a three "lap" ride. Each lap was 4 miles. After the first lap, my mind started fighting me, "Just go slower. No one is expecting anything less. In fact, act like you're going to barf or something. No biggie. Take as long as you need..." It was at that point, I had a breakthrough mentally, and realized that I can do what I put my mind to. I kept saying, "Just one more, just one more, just one more." Pretty soon, there was no more to do. (Here I am doing a little backstroke to get some relief!! And the other shot is one Lana took of me from the final lane--finishing strong!)



Eric beat me, and although Dixie didn't pass me, she beat me too. But I felt great about what I had just accomplished. I realized that with better eating habits (number one), and harder, more dedicated training, I could do MUCH better. So, that's what I'm doing. I'd go so far as to say, I think I could beat Dixie. But, I won't say that until I actually feel that way. I don't feel that way now for sure. Well, except for a 100 yd dash--I can still win that one. hehehe.

A great experience! Everyone should start training to do one of these things. Lana and the kids came too. That felt extra special when I saw how proud of me she was. How rewarding.



Crossing the finish lane...and the aftermath...:) "Please don't puke, please don't puke...." However, my brother was behind me ralphing all over--his wife got a picture of that. :)



Here is Eric (talking with our dad on the cell), Dixie and me after recovering for a second. We were all feeling pretty good after it all. Well, I think Dixie never really needed much recovery, but who cares?!



Here's a picture of the family getting ready to head back home. Lana and the kids drove out with her brother Dallin to watch and take pics. Dane was pretty exhausted and slept the entire hour drive back home. I was too pumped to think about sleeping!

Hmm...That was different

I have been training on a treadmill for the running portion of the triathlon. Now, I'm not so naive that I thought there wouldn't be that much of a difference between the treadmill and the real road. But, the last two days have been a real eye opener. In fact, they have caused me a great deal of discouragement. After my "run" this morning, I came home defeated, downtrodden, and all around upset. I felt like I wanted to call it off and skip the race. I couldn't go a 1/2 mile without stopping and felt like my legs wanted to give out. It was a bad feeling. Then, as the day wore on, I decided that I didn't care how I did at the triathlon--that the most important thing for me at this point is to simply finish the race. My time doesn't matter to me. That thought made me feel better. I'm more determined to simply "get better". So, with that said, I have the "Eye of the tiger" all anew. My eating the last two days--for the first time since I started--was OUTSTANDING! I think that has been more encouraging than anything. I'm ready to take it head on.

Over the last couple days, I have realized something. I have learned another life lesson about myself. Each of us are sent to this earth to learn anything and everything we can about the world around us, God, and ourselves. We are given the right to choose. To make choices that will make us and God ultimately happy, or to make choices that might give us temporary happiness but in the long run will make us and God miserable. Each of us has been given some type of trial we, and only we will have to face, fight, and eventually either succumb to or overcome. I will not speak for anyone but me in this. But I have been given my own personal challenges to fight. But the lesson I learned this week, is where all of my personal trials stem from. Whether it be a trial of faith, or a trial of eating, or a trial of organization, or any other daemon I have been faced with. This week I found the source. I have talked about it forever, but my heart finally realized the battle that will be mine to overcome in this life. And it's not eating, organization, addictions (sorry Costa Vida), or anything that we see in the world. Any of those personal struggles are only manifestations of my trial of the flesh that God has given me to fight. I learned that my trial is pride. I felt it so clearly and powerfully that I now know what God wants me to focus all of my energy on fighting. I am not a bad person by nature. I don't judge people (most of the time, wink wink). But for years, I have rationalized my prideful nature by comparing my strong points in pride to other's weaknesses. "I'm not so focused on possessions like 'Bill'" or "I don't rip on 'Joe' for being Peter Priesthood" or whatever. Instead though, I would ignore peoples needs, "I just don't have time" or whatever my rationalizations might be. It was so clear to me that these selfish feelings are what lead me to have any number of other trial manifestations. I know this is total rambling, but I think this is true of everyone.

In the human society, a lot of what we see people do isn't really a representation of their real problem. Someone who is addicted to drugs or eating for example, really has another underlying problem that they haven't put their fingers on yet. Maybe they feel like their personal needs aren't being met so their true problem is feelings of self-worth, so they manifest their hurt by eating or drinking or whatever. Maybe someone feels like they will never be successful so they steal. Is stealing their problem? Nope. It certainly is a problem. But poeple will stop that problem when they find that inner need that isn't being met or addressed. Whatever it is, usually the problem we see, is not the real problem. That was the long way of me saying that this week, I finally pinpointed my real problem. A problem that I see in myself much more than anyone else might. So, when I feel like quitting, or I feel like giving up on my workouts, or I feel like eating that cookie, I now can step back and say, "Don't let your pride get in the way of your success." Every reason I have to sabotage my success is completely selfish. I'm only thinking about how to avoid being uncomfortable--who cares how this might affect anyone else. Well, those days are over. Will I be perfect--not a chance. But now I know what I'm fighting. SO SORRY I went off on that thought. But hey, it's my blog. :)

I know I can win in my struggles. I might get discouraged at my progress, but I am on my way to being fit and to being the kind of person I know that God can be happy with.

On your marks. Get Set...PUKE!

Yesterday, I was just coming off having some type of periodic, oral herpes. Day number four. Usually, it lasts much longer than four days, but to the delight of my gum tissue and my throat, I have come close family and friends who gave me this new fangled drug called Valtrex. I took it and voy oh lay, all better. So, it was with this increasing health that I went to pick up my daughter Tatum from my sister Dixie's house.

I'll leave out the rest of the boring details of the day and get down the the "brass tacks" of the story. Whilst chatting at Dixie's, the subject of shoe purchases when we were younger came up. She joked about (and very accurately I must add) how I used to have my mom buy me shoes based on the traction design on the bottom of the shoe. Why? Because they made me faster, that's why! So we laughed about how much faster the shoes actually didn't make me, but how I beat her most of the time. I bucked a little at that (thinking in my mind that I NEVER lost a race across my front yard to her). Anyway, we started joking about who might be able to win a race now. Long story short...we ended up at the nearest jr. high school in total non racing attire. I called my dad because I knew he didn't want to miss this. He says, "Man, I'm not sure who to put my money on." Again, the hurty stab in my heart.

Let me say this: Dixie, at this point in time in our lives, can beat me in probably every physical activity that goes longer than 25 yards. I mean beat me bad. With one exception--this 100 yd. dash. I was not about to let this happen.

So, we lined up and then....We were off! For and accurate description and pictures, go to her blog at www.thedaytondixonline.blogspot.com. But, I want to let you all know what was going through my mind.

As we took off, my first thought was, "hey, what's wrong with my legs? They aren't keeping up with my arms." Then, I noticed that I was pulling ahead. So, around the 50 yard mark I says, "Self, start high striding it and kick it into 4th gear." Self said, "No way. Self is trying to keep you upright." "OK, says I. What do I need to do?" Self says,"Tilt that big fat head of yours back. Further. Further!!" So I followed orders. Dixie wasn't gaining, but I sure as heck wasn't pulling away. My back was perfectly arched, and I felt like I was staring at the sky. But, I prevailed. Of course I did. I put my hands on my knees and smiled, "I did it. I kew I could." Then Dixie says, "Shane missed the picture. Let's do it again...well a 50 yd dash." "No way!" I said. But then I thought, "hey, I already won the bet, what's 50 more yards."

We lined up at the 50 yard line, and were off, and again, I was ahead. Less this time. Then I felt the shift. The legs clocked out early. My weight started moving forward. More forward, more forward. My back arched and arched until finally I had to shut it down. She coasted past with 15 yards to go and that was that. But, once in my car, I felt the damage. My body was P. Oed. I was shaking, and nearly lost my lunch the whole ride home, and some time after. Anyway, I sent Dixie a text you can read on her post. A learing experience for me for sure. So, I have a LOT to do before the triathlon and LITTLE time to do it. But, I'm planning on enjoying it as much as possible...not winning it. The next one I might try to beat Dixie. I'll have more prep time.

Thanks for reading this rediculously long and silly post. Bye.