On Pain (a sensation)

LP Crit, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

This past weekend I did a very big stage race. I learned a lot about pain, and although I can tolerate a bunch of it, I chose this weekend not to experience too much of it. I watched a team mate suffering with flu symptoms just torture herself. It was amazing. She dug so deep as if her life depended on staying high up in the pack.

For me....

Sunday I woke to the feeling that I knew I didn't want to work very hard. (that was in my soul). I guess because I was sitting in 24th place (not 4th or even 20th), I certainly didn't have a good show the first two days... so my soul said, "have fun, 'cause you don't need to work too hard." Well... as much fun as 60 miles with 6K feet of climbing can be.

What is interesting about bike racing is that you must choose pain. But pain must be worth it - however you define the value (and to a bike racer this can be a personal thing). To be successful, you also must put your mind aside and realize that it's not pain, but just a sensation and its ONLY our mind in that tells us it is not right. What if we didn't place any judgement on that sensation? What if we didn't place judgement on any "negative feeling" sensation we encountered in life... wouldn't life be more tolerable? Wouldn't in the end you'd see victory in anything we encounter as we move from sensation to sensation? I guess life would be sensational?

I wonder.
I think I shall inflict more sensations this weekend.
Join me?

Fat Lip

Independence Valley 2009, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

So I remember when I was a kid, and I wasn't happy about things exactly going my way... I would show my parents a fat lower, pouty lip. It was to suggest that I was sad or the event(s) didn't meet my expectations.

Today didn't go as planned; but then again I didn't make plans - other than to get in my car, visit with a team mate and travel to a race south of Olympia, Washington (about a 70 mile commute one way). The weather was horrid and got worse the further south we drove.

In the end, after 40 minutes of watching popsicle team mates stroll in one, by one.... then going inside to view the shivers, shaking and general palsy of those attempting to find warmth... martha and I got back in the car and headed NORTH for Seattle. Saying something like "we shall live to fight another day!"

Yes. Indeed.
This was our experience. We enjoyed ourselves and made plans for other days.

No fat lips here.

Foodloging

Seattle Shooting#2, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

So I just created the new term of foodloging. For the past 60 days I've been entering all my food data to create my own accountability for getting myself on a training nutrition; making sure I eat foods that heal me, recovery me faster. The public display of this data is HERE.

Wow, what people know about me...maybe more than what I know about myself.

I decided to make this public because I think I've been feeling superior forms of recovery after racing. What my foodlogging doesn't cover is KEY supplementations and techniques.

Here are my secret daily routines AND the post race recovery info:

AM - routine
a) VSL#3 (medical grade probiotics - to process all the good stuff in gut)
b) E3 Enzyme Supreme (because we don't have enough enzymes to break down nutrients)
c) H-Minus (Active Hydrogen - super antiox)
d) E3Live (AFA Superfood to feel like Superman - buzzzzzz) - 1 Shot
e) Omega-Cure (High Grade Fish Oil - awesome anti-inflamatory & lubicates jointes) 1 TBL
f) 50K Vitamin D (1 capsule every 10 Days - 10 known cancers are linked to deficiency)

PM - routine
a) VSL#3 (same as above)
b) Triphala (digestive support)
c) Trace Minerals (to repair muscles you need trace elements)

POST WORKOUTS - routine
a) Montmorency Tart Cherry Juice (anthocyanins for anti-anflam and healing)
b) Whey Protein (add banana or with Agave nectar)
c) Compression Tights (hard race days)
d) Soaking Bath with Himalayan Rock Salt and Ayuvedic Anti-inflammatory Oil

Just in case you wanted to know...

Creating Space

Mason#3, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

I officially finished my first CAT 3 race of the season; a boost of confidence for the possible; not just the possible of what my body can do, but what all of me can do.

I wrote a letter to a friend from high school today who recently lost her mother at the age of 40. I lost mine at 24. I told her that I gained much and learned much from my mother's passing. Intrigued, she bravely asked what could that gain be. I wrote her the following:

I learned that the future is NEVER as good as the present, because we never get the future right and our mind likes to dabble in all the anxious options. My future has become superlative once I realized LOSS = GAIN. When we allow us to leave/let go of the LOSS it create space for things we NEVER imagined.

My parents leaving me created space for me to find myself (true self) - not the ones I thought they wanted me to be; it created space for me to feel and be open to other kinds of love; it created space for me to explore places when my parents would have thought otherwise; it created amazing space that has allowed me to be who I am today. I can't imagine my life without going through the loss... because the gain continues to be marvelous.

We all need to (gradually) know that letting go allows us to have more space for the exact things we need in this life/in this experience. Its not detachment, but rather not becoming attached to things that eventually leave us; parents, relationships, health, iPods, money, etc.

That was and is my BIG lesson. I live it and love it every day.

Ballard Shooting

Seattle Shooting#2, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

Murphy, Fin and me did a good ol' Sunday shoot um up. We decided we'd go to Ballard Sunday Market as it would be a target rich environment. WOW. Even Finlay was giddy about all the cool foodie foods at the market -as it had been a while for me. I can tell this will be a regular Sunday affair as the elements in this Sunday market are truly artisan, careful of craft and worthy of praise.

It was fun to use Fin as a decoy for us to take cool pictures. He would look so cute walking up to things taking pictures that we could naturally follow. Its amazing how people feel comfortable with the photo inquisitions of a child rather than those of a full grown kid (me). I guess we all know that the intentions of a child are innocent. As for me... we never know.

Xanax

Tour de Dung, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

Xanax (not to be confused with Zana pictured here) is habit forming (per the drug dictionary website). You can become physically and psychologically dependent on the medication. Withdrawal effects may occur if Xanax is stopped suddenly after several weeks of continuous use.

Kinda like bike racing. I realize its addictive. The community, the ritual, the efforts to test oneself on a crappy rainy day.

This weekend started this season's Xanx, and I took this picture of Zana at Tour de Dung in Sequim Washington. It reminded me of a drug advertisement.

Diggin' this Shot

Ice Breaker TT, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

I took this picture of Guy last weekend. I'm really diggin it.

a start

Ice TT, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

This is a shot by Brian Snyder (my teammate). This is where I was looking fast, but not fast enough to get to the race's start line in time to hit my scheduled departure.

Net result was that my tardiness added a raw 20-30 seconds to my overall time, not to mention just being "off" through the entire race. I also didn't have time to remove my jacket or the dragging water bottle in my back pocket. I can say it was a good ride, I liked my new fast position, until the last 2-3 miles where the saddle nose was digging into my frontal area. I'm still feeling that pressure this morning.

So...
I need more work. I can't be discouraged, because this is my journey. I must experience some greater intensities to get stronger. Again, this is synonymous with life - eh?

TT Sunday

Tucson Training Camp, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

So....
Sunday begins the start of my racing season. Its the icebreaker TT and I'm feeling ready. I have a new position that is lower, aggressive and maybe a challenge to ride. I suspect its a lot how people see life right now given the challenge of our economic times. But honestly, these lower more aggressive times makes us more nimble, faster, creative, hungry. Yup, another analogy that bike racing is a lot like life. Ride hard.

climbing machine

Tucson Training Camp, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

love lemmon. its a magical mountain. I had such an amazing time of riding for 10 days in the desert. fried my lip, got weird tan lines and got super fit for the start of this year's racing season. my new team rocks. so excited.

Tucson Training Camp

Tucson Training Camp, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

Just back from camp. It was amazing weather. Rode hard, played hard, rested hard. It was hard. More to come.

Ponder Connectedness

Me and sissy probably 3ish.

So I ponder some thoughts as a friend of mine sent me an email about his lack of creativity and being in a rut...

I say to him (which he may never ask my opinion again...):

From your life, my life and all the lives that have gone past we are connected. See all lives of all living being magically resides within us (irrespective of perspective as we are irrefutably connected via DNA, lineage or just time - and that is pretty cool). Our past experience and our lives today are completely integrated into the cross hares of our lower basic root energies (some say meridians, some say chakras, whatever) - its sitting right there in us.

This energy, say our connectedness, lies our purpose, to clear what has past, but not what is left.

We may be ready to let go of the old patterns (like those crazy things we see ourselves do that our parents did), yet we feel it hanging on to us, me, you. We can only work moment by moment, and it may take more than THIS life to clear it.

Let your goal be to NOT have a goal. Living in this moment, we can utilize what the universe (i.e. God, consciousness, etc.) has to offer; And if we are in a clear state, at home our chances of clarity and going beyond will be far greater and you can leap into pure sunshine (creativity).

Let us Radiate. Rad on!

friends

backshot, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

I had a conversation with a good friend last night. We probably hadn't sat down to visit in over a year. It was time.

Some people think (and therefore attempt to make true) this notion that friends should be an eternal gift (or at least while you are on earth). Some how we think them like family, that you must keep working it even it the relationship is strained or no longer serving either of you.

I think friends come and go. they are a marvelous gift that is really without obligations (like you must do this or do that - often seen with family). Friends don't have obligations, just commitments made. You do things because you truly care (or don't).

The lost gift is that often we have friends that no longer serve us (or us them); AND some are stuck working it, yet we are free to fill that void with someone who will teach us, guide us, laugh with or at us. I've even found that some of these friends that don't fit, some how fit later when we've both matured in new ways. So different than family, yet its the only family I've really known.

15 watts

Two words - Fifteen Watts!


To non-cyclists that means nothing. To cyclists that could mean an extra 4 weeks of hard training to gain that kind of power at 30 miles an hour. Well... in ONE purchase I got 15 watts. Yup, these are the bad boy time trial bars that cut the wind like a fine Global knife. Just get a load of those inline brake levers. Look out Sile!

Got them in the U.K under aggressive dollar pricing against the Pound. There are some benefits of global economic meltdowns. income may be down for the year, but I can sure buy speed... for a little while.

Vitamin D

I'm on 50K IU of Vitamin D. I take it every 10 days. Its liquid sunshine. I took another dose last night. I'm flying. Love it.

News?

There is a lot of bad news reported these days; 1000 jobs lost here, market another 200 pts down there, 3300 jobs gone here, friends out of work there, friends worrying they will soon be out of work, yet work for those of us is eerily busy. What to think?

THINK about what you are thinking!
THINK how much of what you are thinking is creating your worry, your anxiousness, your fret about what may happen later in the year.

now... FEEL your knowledge in how resourceful you are;
FEEL the comfort of your many friends;
FEEL how fortunate you are, how wealthy you are no mater the 0's in your account.
FEEL how rich are your experiences; knowing that all our experiences make us more profoundly the person we are to become - even those uncomfortable times made you better, caused a new realization, a new you.

This is an AMAZING time my friends.
pay attention. don't let your mind trouble you in places that don't exist...
realize that those who rise above negative thought will conquer this time; be victorious; thrive not just survive.

this is an AMAZING time my mindful souls.
there are many that will grow ill, sick, terminal in thought; thought that is so venomous they will not survive there own pity perilous party.

this is an AMAZING time my conscious friends.
As Tolle said, in the evolutionary process... the reptile who came upon the land manage to take flight and become a bird. The process to become the bird was painfully slow, yet, the moment the "reptile" took flight happened in a split second.

This is an AMAZING time where all our laborious efforts allows us to fly...
And,... it seems very, very close to the coming second.
Got it?

Bikin' Cougar

DSCN1863.JPG, originally uploaded by b.p.s..

So Brian snapped this one of me as I was slippin' a text to Chels after shooting down Cougar mountain (whooped me). I was running late for brunch at Portage Bay. Damn those IJM.org kits look good.

GrayDays

GrayDay, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

Seattle has been particularly gray. Thankfully my MD friend turned me onto sunshine in a capsule! Vitamin D in 50K iu. Woah! Yeah... I take it every 10 days and its like a jolt in the arm. LOVE it. I took this shot last weekend after a full out 4 hour INDOOR workout day. This is taken right by the 99 bridge in Fremont after I ducked into Speedy Reedy for a little bike repair. Oh... I LOVE SEATTLE.

I light a candle....

San Xavier, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

okay many candles about my return to sloggy, wet, snowy weather. Ok... so it rained all night in Tucson and I woke to wet weather - yet still going out for a ride in it; yet I still think I mourn my departure. Oh, but its a new year, new stuff, new light, new work, new things, new learning. YES!

San Xavier

San Xavier, originally uploaded by lmpicard.

After doing a ton of blood work this morning (a way to usher in the new year), I had a great conversation with a like minded soul on the future development potential arising in our next cycle. THEN, I raced home for yet another ride, food then a photo shoot out at the grand ol' white dove of the desert. The image really speaks worlds of why it is so aptly named. This mission was built by the franciscans to christianize the natives (as they came up from Mexico). The settlement dates back to the late 1600's and this church was completed about mid century 1700's. The naive is unbelievable. The spirit and soul of the walls was deep, profound and I must say good. There was a reverent vibration in the space that caused you (or shall I say me) to be no where but the present.

Outside the church the native tribe was frying up some good ol' "Indian Fry Bread" complete with honey, sugar and other non-nutritive empty calories. I abstained and ate my apple on my drive back. Yeah, yeah... whatever.