A Sharpened Mind Can Shape Our Bodies

How You Think Is Everything. Be Positive. Think success, not failure. Beware of a negative environment. There are two types of people, those who say I can’t and those who say I can. Don’t watch the game, be in the game. The will to peruse success in athleticism is not shared by the greater majority of our society so embrace it; you are different and represent that 1%. Following the herd is a sure way to mediocrity. Don't let other people or things distract you. Do not just cruise but challenge yourself to bring your A game and take performance to another level. Keep your head in the game.

Pursue Life’s Goals. Write down your specific goals and develop a plan to reach them. A reason to believe, even against poor odds, is enough to stay focused on reaching a successful outcome.

Take Action. Goals are nothing without action. Don't be afraid to get started. Just do it! Take responsibility. Be persistent. Be dependable. Be consistent. Address skill issues with training. Work hard. Success is a marathon, not a sprint. If things go well, look through the window for someone to praise; if things go bad look in the mirror to assess your own impact on the results and what you can do to correct it.

Learn to Analyze Details. Get all the facts, all the input. Learn through experience and learn from your mistakes. Ask a peer or a coach for meaningful feedback, explicit to understand exactly what you should do more of or less of. Commit to being the best at what you do, perfecting even the smallest task. Everything worth doing is worth doing well. Choose the discipline you are passionate about, go deep into what you choose and study, study, study sharing ideas and thoughts with your peers. Doing this homework is an acquired skill. Cherish not just the physical aspect but the intellectual dimension of our sport.

Manage your Time. We all have scheduling considerations in our lives. Family, health, work, climate, hobbies, social involvement, church - you name it, they all influence our daily decision making on where you spend your time. Evaluating your triathlon objectives within this context is a very deliberate act that each of us must undertake. Balancing all these considerations is a two way street – both triathlon and the non-triathlon commitments have needs for your time. Things work out really well when there are many points of intersection between the two. Conversely, it isn't always a happy story when the two lack alignment. Frequently, there is a frustrated and overwhelmed athlete in the middle of these moments. If you find yourself in that moment, step back and do the analysis. What are your most important considerations in your life? What environment gives me the best chance to line up all these priorities? Which considerations am I most ready to sub-optimize to preserve another? The formula is different for each of us. In fact, the formula may be different for each of us at different times in our lives. My message is very simple, be deliberate about your decision making and don't just let your environment dictate your circumstances. We all have the freedom of choice, just be deliberate about the choices you make. There is no doubt that a good athlete carefully looks for time management opportunities and deliberately plans where he wishes to spend his limited resources.

Kings Canyon Rae Lakes Loop 8/20/2011

The Rae Lakes Loop is a back country trail in the Sequoia and Kings Canyon national park. The loop is 42 miles long, and climbs from 5035' at the trailhead to 11,978' at Glen Pass.

The trail head start with Randy at Roads End station.

Yosemite like views without trails being trampled by tourist, there's something unique about isolation in the untamed wild.

The rugged terrain boast big trees, high peaks, pristine lakes and deep canyons.

Nature's streams provides all the aid stations needed (using my MSR filter).

Unspoiled nature.

Nature is a piece of Scott Nelson's character, not an abstract idea so being in nature is how I'm trying to connect with the space he left behind.

Climbing Glen Pass oxygen gets thin, only 70% as compared to sea level.

The view from the top 11,978' at Glen Pass

Randy at 11,978' Glen Pass

Enormous rock faces.

LIving life in the presence of nature.

A display of nature on the John Muir Trail.

Running through back country wilderness surrounded by cathedral like peaks.

Josh and Randy at the end of the trail, 12 hours 47 min. total trip.

My friend Scott Nelson

A close friend, Scott Nelson passed away yesterday around 7pm. He was on an after work training ride on Rocky Hill. Comming down the hill he announced to a runner 'on your left'. The 14 yr old runner was not paying attention and while doing hill repeats, proceeded to turn around going toward the midle of the street without looking, directly into Scotts path. Scott swerved to avoid, collided with the runner and flipped directly over his handle bars still clipped in landing on his neck and instantly dying due to head trauma. His best friend, John Perez was riding with him and found Scott not moving when he went by his side. John spent the next two hours at the scene of the crash at Rocky Hill. Both John and Scott work at Mt Whitney High School and for today's first day of school the whole community is in morn. Our Visalia Triathlon Club is getting together tonight and I'm preparing a slide show with these pictures I've compiled from last year. John also shared that during this ride, they were just discussing this weeks Visalia Tri Club newsletter, see below, so riding safety was at the forefront of their thoughts. Unfortunatley, awareness was not there with the other party who just as well would have turned to run into the street in front of a car without looking.

Great Monday Morning VTC!

I wanted to discuss a few points on downhill riding. Descending a hill at speeds of 30-40 mph can get quite precarious. Add in oncoming cars, narrow roads and loose gravel and you have yourself a tough situation. You must stay aware and cautious at all times. You should always be looking ahead; looking for turns in the road, oncoming cars, rough road, and/or other cyclists. Don't ever let your mind wonder on fast downhills, be in the moment and conscious of what you are doing. Hands should be on the brakes, slightly pumping them when you need to make a turn or slow down. Don't just hit one brake or the other, use both of them to aide in better decrease of speed. Be ready because cars do not look out for cyclists. Oncoming cars can be coming around a corner at high speeds, be ready! Communicating with other cyclists is crucial. "Car Back!" "Car Up!" "Gravel in the road!" There is no such thing as too much talking when on the bike with others. Remember, safety is first when we are out there on our bikes. If you are by yourself and wear headphones, keep the volume very low so you can hear what is going on around you. If you are with a group, headphones should be left at home. This becomes a dangerous situation when you wear headphones and are with a group.

Let's continue to have fun out there. Be careful, safe and keep working!

To morn his Death I wish to tell my story to celebrate the last year of Scott's life.

Scott's a teacher and he taught me to set a course and enjoy every moment in its persuit, not necessarily just the destination. His deminour is very accepting of what low points are thrown at you in life while very encouraging on every bit of the progress made thus far. Scott welcoms people for who they are and in turn they gravitate to him like a coach or father figure. I recall him expressing utter shock that a girl like Cara would be interested in him and how lucky he felt. His course was a relentless persuit of weekly flowers, weekend family camping trips and placing the idea of a shared experience with their extended family and friends at the top of his priorities. We had discussions about Triathlon and his thoughts on this season was to spend the limited time he could train to optimize the bike leg, just focusing on riding and team up with his best friend John to do the run and girlfriend Cara for the swim along with the entire family to go camping at Wildflower. Everyone gets to have fun perspective and it was not even so much about the race as the shared experence with the people he was around. The humble course he set at Wildflower to seek experience first and results will follow odviously paid dividents and they took second place in the Wildflower relay 2011. Arriving back at the campsite the first words that came out of his mouth were 'how did you do' but to anwer this question would be almost impossible with an obvious medal he was wearing posing my response to inquire about his experience first before boasting about my own. Scott's patience was amazing, his daughter Audry's softball coach, his son Ethan's camping & fishing guide, his students calculous teacher and the like. His riding style was selfless letting the entire group draft him to the base of the hill then attack past him up the hill only to pick up anyone who blew up their legs in doing so to let them draft him home. Being around Scott is like having a springboard that provides the basis for you to excel. He took responsibility to set up base camp necessities to share with everyone when camping, let the group draft him when riding, always brought an ice chest with an abundance of extra chocolate milk & gatoriad to offer his training partners, always brought the best micro brew beer to create an experience to have a beer with a good friend, knew the best bands arriving in town to rally a group of friends to go see, insisted on picking you up to drive there, etc. Everything about Scott created a better shared experience and I hope to have learned to from the examples he set in our lives. Next time I offer to pick you up for a course I've plotted and have an ice chest with cold Gatoraid and perhaps even a fat tire, don't than me, thank Scott for demonstraing to me how to help the people you surround yourself with enjoy today just a little more.