…couch potato time!!!
This is HOW I got on my “Ironman quest.”
Back in the summer, I went to Tony Robbins “Unleash The Power Within” (the “firewalk thing”) with my bff Maria. I was pretty depressed about the economy, my sorry state of health and fitness (haven’t really committed to working out since 2006), and the like. In doing some of the hypnosis-esque exercises (which are crazy powerful, whether you like Tony Robbins or not), I was concentrating on the “health and fitness” portion of what I wanted to accomplish, and something happened that I’d like to share today.
You do each area of your life – relationships, $, health/fitness, etc. Near the end of what is basically a guided meditation when concentrating on Health, the vision that came to me wasn’t just me getting my butt out of bed and getting to the gym or walking the dog. Ho, no. It was a full-on vision of being on the bike in the Kona Ironman. I know the course, because Maria’s condo literally looks down on the course. Obviously, I fought that. I struggled with this “stupid vision” until I had a real “a-ha moment.” I remembered that “way back when” I was doing triathlons and such, I had as a goal to do “The” Ironman before I was 50. (Back then, there weren’t a plethora of Ironmans – Ironmen? – this was 20 years ago – it was really just Kona.) Back when I had this vision, “Olympic-distance” triathlons were all considered hardbody still – and so an Ironman was just completely out in the stratosphere insane.
One of the things Tony Robbins really talks about and gets back to your forebrain is what you have “given up on” in your life. It’s upsetting, breath-taking, sob-inducing…powerful. This was a big one that I had given up as “impossible.”
As I tried to dismiss it and concentrate on something actually “attainable,” my vision was poking me in the forehead, reminding me that “before 50” meant NOW. I’m way on the end of the 40s, and if I had as a completely crazy dream of “doing” Kona, I would have to do an Ironman “qualifying race” beforehand, AND get in in qualifying time, AND win the Kona raffle. Hmmmmmm, that means – getting my butt of the couch bigtime! I kept trying to get my mind to re-focus on, oh, say, going to the gym (even the gym PARKING LOT) 3 times a week. It kept delivering up me on the bike in the lava fields. Off the couch. In the lava fields. Off the couch. In the lava fields. Poke, Poke, Poke. It wouldn’t let go.
I remember getting back to the room that night, and telling Maria that my “get fit” goal had somehow morphed into doing the Kona Ironman and that meant I had to get going NOW. She is such a good bff. Her response? Not “oh my GOD how are you going to do that Ms. Trufflebuns?” No, it was “oh, that’s perfect! I will have cocktails for you at the end, at the apartment!” (Who loves her? ME!)
So after UPW, I was still musing on how to get this vision OUT of my head. But it kept poking me. I knew about Team In Training from various folks who had done it before, looked it up, and saw there was an IronTeam. I signed up to go to the Mill Valley introduction right after UPW so I wouldn’t chicken out. I was still not really sure I was going to do it (I mean, COME ON, I am so out of shape that small children pass me…). Until I got there.
One of the head coaches was there, Couch Doug. He was a total hard body scary hottie guy, but super patient talking to me about it, and really kind. He made me feel it was actually, possibly, “do-able.” I had another meeting in Mill Valley about 2 hours later, so I sat in the atrium of the place we met, and read through ALL the paperwork. (As a lawyer, I guess that’s part of my curse.) It included the crazy amount of $ that I would need to raise. While I was still sitting there, contemplating, Coach Doug came over again (I didn’t realize he was still there) and chatted with me about it, again. Then I called my husband, and we went through the cons (a lot of them) and the pros (me doing something I had wanted to do since way before we got together). He said that thought he wasn’t really sure it was the smartest idea – and that it would take a LOT of time away from “us” which he guards jealously, that he knew that both of us always do better with some sort of “goal.” We did the Big Sur Marathon together in 2002, and hiked the length of the French Alps together in 2004. (And stopped exercising totally together in 2006, concentrating instead on our passion for cooking and wine – bad!) So anyway, he bought in, though as I have blogged, I kept saying “Ironman” and he kept hearing “triathlon.”
When we were at Unleash the Power Within, I got a necklace, one that Tony himself wears. It is a Chinese “protection” coin and has great juju. When I went to the T Harv Eker Millionaire Mind Intensive, at the “penny exercise” (I am not giving anything up here, but if you’ve been to MMI you know what I mean), I got my penny – and actually superglued it on the back of my Chinese coin to remind me of MMI. Then, on my first run training for the Ironman (I still can’t believe I just typed that), I was out running on an old railroad track here in San Rafael, and I came across ANOTHER penny. One of the things you learn in MMI is that you want to pick up ANY $ that comes across your path – because the Universe doesn’t work in “denominations,” so if it sees that you will “stop to pick up $” it will give you more if you celebrate it. I picked up that beat-to-crap penny and did the whole “MMI happy dance thing” with it (kiss kiss kiss) – and then glued THAT to the back of my coin, too. It represents starting out on this journey of Ironman – and also following up on MMI AND UPW, both of which are combined in that one coin to me.
I’m kinda procrastinating here (gotta actually get the dog out – it’s a “free” day on the IronTeam calendar so I will hike Jake up the hill). But the last thing I have to say is to remind anyone who has been to UPW what we all promised (and if you haven’t, just stand up and repeat after me):
NOW I AM THE VOICE!
I will lead, not follow
I will believe, not doubt
I will create, not destroy
I am a force for good
I am a Leader
DEFY THE ODDS
SET A NEW STANDARD
STEP UP!!!!