The best way to predict the future is to create it...

Day 51

Such a sweet bike ride today, Hardscrabble to Pipeline, which has a lot of rocks covered in yellow leaves at the top. Some of those rocks are hard to see, I took a pretty good spill but came out with just a sore right butt cheek. Did the whole ride in about an hour and twenty minutes; I shut my GPS off by accident, Oh well?

Day 52

Went on a mellow run this morning with my new New Balance minimus 10’s, thanks to my little cousin and mom for such an awesome present. Run felt really good, defiantly a different feel when running, but I liked it. Did not track mileage, just ran for about 40 minutes.

Day 53

Calves are really sore today from the new shoes, going to take some getting use to, but I really like them.

 I am getting excited to start my personal trainer training. It is just another tool to help keep me motivated for getting into optimal shape.  I really need to start preparing my meals for the week better. I have been much better about the stretching; now I must conquer the preparing of food.

I am at work for 16 hours today, but am planning on a nice 11pm treadmill workout. I am going to add 5 reps to all sets tonight, time to step it up a little bit. 25 pushups, 20 leg thrusters,  15 squats, 25 sit ups, 15 crunches, 10 handstand push ups, run for two minutes in between x 4. We’ll see how it goes?

I've been thinking lately about what is IT? What is the difference between succeeding and failing? Kai Green, a really successful body builder says, “Success comes from stringing together efficient action day after day.” Seems so basic, but it is so true. With any goal the key is to visualize it and than day after day manifest actions that bring you towards that goal. Knowing this information will not allow you to accomplish your goals, it is the use of this information that will lead to success.

It's not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not.

Day 46

Busy day so tonight will be a nice long run on the treadmill after work!

And so it was a nice long run, 5.503 miles in 60:05. I was not going for speed just wanted to put in a good hour long run.  Little bit of stretching afterwards and some hot tub before I headed home and crawled into bed. Than I crawled out of bed three more times to help with my almost six month old son who is not a big fan of sleeping thru the night.

Day 47

Awesome MTB ride today with my old neighbor Matt “single speed” Hendrix. I chased him up and down bone yard for what was one of the most gratifying bike rides I have had yet. For those of you that don’t know Matt is fast. Just the mere fact that I was able to see him for most of the ride lets me know that what I am doing is working. Ordinarily I am no where near him up or down. We also flew by three other riders on the way up which is a first for me.

I am at work now and extremely tired from no sleep and lots of exercise. It is going to be a late night because we have a wedding in house. Hopefully I do not fall asleep in my chair.

Day 48

Awesome rest day with my family!!

Day 49

Hit the iron a little getting ready for Trainer in the morning! Go Broncos!

Day 50

Meet with the personal trainer again this morning and again I puked. Now this is getting crazy. In my defense it was an 8am meeting which is not really my cup of tea and I probably shoved my food down around 7:40, but still this is crazy. My stomach is a officially a huge wimp. That being said, I puked and continued on with most of the workout.

Workout was awesome. Totally random spin bike, medicine ball throws, running while dragging the trainer, which is what made me puke, and some boxing which was super fun, lots of push ups and sit ups!!

Also talked about me starting my personal trainer training ASAP, which I am really excited about! Hope anyone reading this is doing well although I get the sinking suspicion no body is reading this. Which is really okay, this is really just out there to keep me honest, and so far at day 50, it is working!!

vincit qui se vincit

Day 43

He conquers who conquers himself...

This is the motto for the high school that I attended. For four years I saw this everyday and it never meant a thing to me. Now at the age of 37 I realize just how true this statement is. We are no good to anyone until we conquer ourselves. Conquer our fears, anxieties, doubts and beliefs. There is a great quote I read the other day by Anthony Robbins, "What we can or cannot do, what we consider possible or impossible, is rarely a function of our true capability. It is more likely a function of our own beliefs about who we are."

This is what we have to conquer. We have to conquer the negative thoughts we have about ourselves, and all the negative thoughts we have about others. We have to keep our minds open to new possibilities, new ideas, and new beliefs. The smartest people are those that are willing to challenge their own beliefs when faced with new information.

What ever it is that you want out of life, it is there for your taking. You just have to convince yourself of this fact. The fact that we are capable of 100 times more than what we currently think we are capable of. Sometime this year try to do something that you think is impossible, you just might suprise yourself. This suprise might just change your whole life!

I did a treadmill work out late night last night, finished the whole thing including 10min warm up run in 36.48. Late night work outs are the shit. I have the workout area, pool, and hot tub all to myself. It also makes for a great nights sleep, if my six month old son cooperates!

Day 44

Rest day, because sometimes you got to go to Lowes instead of working out. Hopefully I will have some new blinds installed in the bedroom by the end of the week. Great day hanging with my wife and than watching the kids! Although it is the hardest thing ever, being a dad is also the most rewarding!

Day 45

I am going to embark on a long ass bike ride today. More details to come later…

Hell Yes! Road Biking is so fun, and really allows me to zone out and get my head clear!

29.82 mi in 1:56:26 Avg. speed 15.37. I think my time was a little better than this because I started the clock before I really got going, so I could roughly knock 5-10 minutes off that time. It is so fun going for that long of a ride and I could have gone farther for sure. I could see this getting addicting. I also did my good deed for the day when I got flagged down by a gaggle of ladies from Arrowhead and changed one of their flats.

I followed this up with a couple miles of hiking with the family. It was so beautiful and just an Awesome Colorado day!

Men make plans and God’s laugh...

Day 40

Go Bronco’s!

I beat my best 5k time last night, 3.208 miles in 24:25. Pretty pumped about it. I know it is not that fast but it is a solid 4+ minute drop from my first time! Getting rid of the next  5 minutes is going to be tough. I did not get a ride in this morning, going to take a rest day today. I feel beat up from my run last night.

Day 41

I am headed to the gym for a workout today. 

I am starting to realize that Just wanting something is not enough. Once you decided you want it and start striving for it, that is when the real challenge begins. That is when life starts to test your will, that’s when you start to get knocked down. The questions is how many times are you willing to get back up, to get back up and run even faster into the proverbial wall?

Day 42

Work out was good yesterday. Also went on a nice hike with my wife and son. Going home now for long ass bike ride. Peace!

Men make plans and God’s laugh… No such luck on the bike ride ended up having to take care of an energy audit out at the Ranch. Oh well, looks like another late night run at the hotel or maybe even a treadmill workout.

I also followed up on an epiphany I had the other day. If this whole personal trainer thing is working so well, which it is. What other type of personal training could I do? Well I have a 10:30 Friday morning appointment with my new financial advisor. Time to start killing it in that department as well.

I’ve also been checking out Eric Thomas the Hip Hop preacher a bunch on You Tube. If you are into motivational speakers, he defiantly has a unique style that I like.

Till tomorrow.

“Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.”

Day 34

Day was a bust work out wise. Took the family to dinner.  Was super tired from the night before.  Ended up camping in the front yard with my daughter  which was awesome!

Day 35

Got in a good gym work out today! While I was there I witnessed about five ladies on their respective eliptical machines working out. At least they thought they were working out. None of them were sweating or really seemed to be working on anything. What is the point of that. I am glad that they are there, that is more effort than most people put in, but why waste your time working out if you are not going to get after it 100 percent. I am not trying to hate just making an observation. They would feel so much better if they really put a workout in, and they may actually see some results?

Day 36

I had to work the night audit again last night. Woke up and got a quick road bike ride in about 30 mins sprinting up and down a hill by my house, than off to work at the Lodge at Vail!

Day 37

Treadmill workout today. It was super fun and my daughter joined me for the last two sets and did her version of the exercises which made time fly. And yes I am starting to find this workout fun?

Day 38

I have been really crunched for time lately with work, kids, etc. I was able to squeeze in a 40 min run. I say run because that is what I am starting to do. I used to jog, but I am starting to run!

Day 39

Time! This seems to be my nemesis these days. The desire is there I just can’t find the time to get the longer bike rides in. I really wanted to go MTB biking today but no such luck. As of yet I have not got my workout in, but I plan to run at 11pm tonight when I get off work. Thinking about a heater 5k. See if I can beat my 28 min time. I am going to try and wake up in the Am and get a boneyard mtb ride in!

Tomorrow we will find out more information about possibly getting some horses out at the ranch!!

Stay focused, trust the process, never quit.

Day 32

Great bike ride yesterday although I was trying for a Hardscrabble to Pipeline and I think I might have come down 2^nd gulch? There was a fork in the road and I think I choose unwisely. I will do some more investigating soon. It is such a beautiful ride and so much fun to be out in the mountains. ColoRADo is  awesome and I am so thankful to live in such a beautiful place.

I had to work late last night and early this morning. I tried to wake up even earlier to get a run in, which I did. Although the run was a grueling, both mentally and physically, I ended up being short on time. I basically did a sprint interval workout. One minute on, one off for 3.2 miles running at an 8 than 9 on the treadmill. I had no food in me, my legs were tired from yesterday, and I was tired from no sleep. Whaaaaaaaaa! Such a complaining little, whatever word you want to put in here.

I am going to try to get do some yoga later just to stretch everything out.  For some reason I have not been good about stretching and I need to be more diligent about it. My hamstrings are already naturally tight and all of this exercise is not making it any better. This upcoming month I will place focus on a good stretching after workouts. I also got a couple free yoga classes coming my way and will throw those in the mix as well!

 Diet is still going well and getting easier, I just don’t eat junk anymore, my food is my fuel. Craving for sugar is gone and I do not miss alcohol at all. There is a wedding party waking up at my hotel this morning and they all look like they got their asses kicked last night. No thank you!

I have been critical of my appearance in the mirror lately. Even though people are telling me I look better I impatiently want to see new and improved results everyday. This is obviously not going to happen. I remind myself that there are going to be peaks, valleys, and everything in between on this journey.  Stay focused, trust the process, and never quit. Tomorrow back in the gym for some IRON!

Day 33

In looking over this blog I notice that I have been complaining about work since day 16. I am going to stop doing this because there is no point. I am happy and thankful to have a job and the best boss I have ever had. Someday I will support my family in a different way. For now I am going to stop whining and focus on the positive aspects of my job!

That being said I am at work it is 2am, the night auditor called in sick, I will be awake all night. At 7am I will head home to get some sleep. I will try to get about 5-6 hours wake up head to the gym and spend the afternoon/evening with my family.

Before coming into work I did about 30 minutes of yoga on an awesome site that I found www.doyogawith me.com. This site has all different yoga classes and is totally free!  Felt really good and reinforced the thought that a little yoga needs to be sprinkled on top of all this working out.

Also found another great blog by a guy named Steve Maxwell.  I really enjoyed his blog. If you are reading this you should Google him, you will like it. He talks about dynamic health and balanced health. This really resonates with me because the eight pack that I named this blog after is superficial if there is nothing to back it up. I don’t just want to look like I am in good shape I want to be in good shape. I want to create a lifestyle that encompasses eating healthy, exercising healthy, living/thinking healthy. I want to own these things so that I can share them with anyone interested in learning. I am not the master of any of these things yet, but I am finally on the right track.

Stay focused, trust the process, never quit. This is my new mantra!

The happiest people do not have the best of everything, they make the best of everything they have!

Day 28

I only ended up running for a bout 38 minutes because I kept getting distracted by work. It was a good mellow run to follow up the crazy work out from the day before. Today I will head to the Gym for a little iron. Always watch a little Arnold before heading in!

Day 29

Lifting weights is fun! The gym did not disappoint. Saw my trainer there working with other people and I was glad I was doing my own thing. Although I am constantly pushing myself beyond my comfort zone!

Today I went for a road ride and just hammered hills for about 35 minutes. Not as long as I would have liked but I felt like I really got after it in the time I had. I am taking today and tomorrow off to be with my family. It is so rare that I get to take two days in a row off and already today I have gotten multiple calls from work. I am jealous of people who actually get days off from work.

Day 30

I had to go into work first thing this morning to take care of a few things. That is right this is my second day off, kind of?

The rest of the day was spent in Vail with my awesome family. I cheated a little on the diet with some low fat yogurt, and had to help my daughter clean up her mint chocolate chip cone a couple of times.

I hammered a treadmill workout late last night. Finished as the sun was just dropping below the horizon and I let out a yell to remind the universe that I am around.  I’ve started adding reps to this workout!

Day 31

An official month down and I am pretty excited as to how things are going. People are starting to comment on my appearance. That definitely helps keep the motivation up a bit. Although it is not the biggest factor, far more satisfying is the knowledge that I have stuck to this for 31 days and have no feeling of wanting to give up.

It is difficult to find time to train, but thanks to my wife I have been able to keep this up. I am going to go on a mountain bike ride later and am really looking forward to it. I can not stress enough the support this takes from the people in your life. My wife has found the patience to let me work out even in the face of two tired kids and a puppy we are babysitting, and again I can not really say enough about her!

One month down and eleven to go!  I am torn about only one night. Should I or should I not have a couple drinks at my buddies wedding at the end of the month? I think it will be a last minute decision. I am leaning towards no, although a little vodka on the tongue sounds awesome! Only time will tell!