That oughta last me 3 days... Reluctantly packing... Pastrami over Kalamata Olive slices

My 3 day take from TJ's...

Uncured Pastrami, Peppers stuffed with a Turkey and Rice, Diced roasted chicken breast, kale, nuts and dried fruit, Ritter's milk chocolate with hazelnuts, 4 bananas

Packing my clothes for the flight back to Texas.

Pastrami over kalamata Olive bread under tomato.

Cardio Blow-up on CrossFit Open 15.5... Another vote for SF... Another vote for Paleo!

This was the last week for the CrossFit Open workouts and this week was 15.5

Which was a 27 - 21 - 15 - 9 for time on

Calories while Rowing followed by 95# Thrusters for Men;

27 Calorie Row    27 Thrusters

21 Calorie Row    21 Thrusters

15 Calorie Row    15 Thrusters

  9 Calorie Row      9 Thrusters

This is a workout I should have excelled at....

And probably would've done better....

But I went out too fast on the first Rowing session....

And felt the effect of the Cardio Overload on a respiratory system plagued with a cold / flu / allergy condition I've had for the last 3 weeks.

No excuses.... but I wasn't at my best.

And I hit a Cardio Wall I haven't hit in a long time.... Basically I redlined in the first 5 minutes and by the time I recovered....

It was all over....

In 16:09.

Not a bad time.... but not my best.

Not the way I wanted to leave Zia CrossFit but it was the best I had for today.

I wanted a momento of my stay at ZiaCrossFit and bought one of their tanks before the workout and put it on.

Mark, one of the trainers, snapped this pic of me in one of the row sets.

I gotta say.....

I wear the shirt proud.

This is truly a great group of people at ZiaCrossFit and I will miss them.

I don't know what the future holds or if I'll be able to come back to Santa Fe....

But I know if I do....

I want to be part of the ZiaCrossFit family.

Live Long and Prosper my Friends!

I stopped at Java Joe's for a refuel after the CrossFit WOD and whilst downing a wonderful Grande Cafe Americano and a Green Chile Croissant drizzled with honey, I was looking through the paper and had to take a pic of the 7-day forecast page for Santa Fe.

Notice the humidities.... 19%, 27%, 15%, 23%, 21%.......

That is one of the main draws to Santa Fe.... Sunshine 325 days of the year.... and low humidity!

Meanwhile back at la Casa, the same ole same ole beat goes on....

A base of Spring Mix with carrots, radishes, tomatoes, drizzled with EVOO and balsamic, dusted with a spice mix of salt, pepper, cayenne, turmeric and 21 season salute, then a few red grapes and some sunflower seeds.

Where's the Beef?

Sorry.... No Beef in this dish, but I deboned another 6 oz of chicken from the Colossal  Roasted Chicken from Smith's and paired it with the last of the baked Sweet Potatoes.

And threw it in the Jethro bowl under the salad and mixed up a double portion of my Chocolate Protein mix.

A stripe of Honey Mustard on the chicken...

And it's done....

And the rebuilding is begun.

My New and Ultimate Goal is to....

Do No Harm to myself...

Or anyone I come in contact with.

Sounds simple but difficult to execute.

I've hurt a lot of people in my history...

Not by Intent...

But by Design....

My Design.

My Goal is to change that...

By changing who I am...

And how I respond and react and interact.

Always seeking a Kinder and Gentler version....

A Remake of what was...

To What Can Be....

It is the Ultimate Result...

Of a Life of Regret and Pain....

And a Vision...

Of Peace...

And Discovery.

The Older I Get Redux...

See what I mean....

Hit the Send button too soon and cut the post off short.

So where was I...

Oh yeah.... Confident of Nothing.

Used to... I felt like I could judge people.

That guy's a wimp... That lady's a bitch.

Truth is that dude might have a Black Belt in Kick My Ass and that lady might be Mother Theresa.

Ya just don't know.

So now I just assume every person has some redeeming value and some incredible talent...

And I am rarely wrong.

Funny how that works.

Maybe there is a correlation between Age and Wisdom.

The older I get the Less I know and the Less I'm sure of

It's an old adage but one I've become victim of as I've grown older.... Funny how that works.

I used to be sure and confident of a lot of things.

Now I am sure of little and confidence

Fight or Flight?

How 'bout a flight at Duel Brewing?

From near to far....

Fantin, Titian, Dark Ryder, Grunewald, Goya

Most definitely the best tasting flight of beers I've ever had....

Light to Dark.... I like 'em all!

You only have to be good at a few things....

Another positive post.... I know... how boring!

Here's the thoughts / concept behind this post.

Society puts a lot of pressure on folks to be well rounded, to be great parents, spouses, students, friends, workers, athletes....

To be courageous, humble, kind, understanding, flexible, steadfast, noble, dependable, fun-loving.....

Yada yada yada.

First of all, it's impossible.... to be good at everything.... or even to be good at many things.

So you're a failure.... right?

Not by a long shot!

Lemme submit a different demand to you....

A different approach....

A doable assignment.....

A mole hill you can climb.

Find something you have a natural talent for.... Something you seem to be good at.

And I'm not talking about soft emotions here - like being nice or forgiving or humble or kind.

I'm talking about skills, vocations, career choices, niches of effort and activity.

Find something to be good at.

No.... not good at..... that you Excel at.

For me.... ironically.... it's Excel worksheets.

I'm no Excel Guru.... but between practical knowledge of how work is planned and executed.... and a reasonable working knowledge of the standard (non-Visual Basic) functions available in Excel.....

Over the past few years, I've been able to make a pretty good living..... doing Excel worksheets.

I'm not good at a lot of things.....

But I like to Cook.... and I cook pretty good tasting healthy food.

I like to workout.... and I'm pretty good at it.

I'm pretty good at Planning.

I like to work on Excel worksheets.

Let's see.... that's 4 things.

Not really sure I'm good at much else.

But then I don't have to be.

And neither do you.

Pick a few things to be good at.

It makes Life easier and happier.

Everybody's just doing the best they can.... How Santa Fe scores on the Asshole Index!

This is one of those feel good posts I have to put out every once in a while to take the edge off the Do or Die philosophy that seems to be rampant in my thought process and lifestyle.

Let me tell ya what I'm talking about by the post title.

There's some negative stuff in the world....

and some people that can put the hurt on your day or your attempts at being the best you can be.

But here's the kicker....

The other side of the coin....

The Story that doesn't get told enough.

I've been out of Texas for 3 months now....

In Santa Fe New Mexico most of the time and a week or so in Durango Colorado.

And I've met quite a few people.... Not 500.... but maybe a hundid or so.

A lot of them at ZiaCrossFit in New Mexico.... some at Durango CrossFit... many at Anytime Fitness....

Some at local restaurants, bars, grocery stores....

Some at real estate companies, property management companies, some recruiters, work associates....

Some while hiking, others at the Coffee Shop....

Pretty much a random number generator of Social Interaction....

And you know what I've discovered... what my experience has been.... how the people have interacted with me.... how they've treated me....

How these people are....

They're just normal, good, hard working people that are doing the best they can....

To get through their own lives....

And do no harm....

To themselves or anybody else.

I mean maybe I've just been lucky.... but I don't think so.

I've been a Stranger.... A Newcomer.... A Texan in New Mexico.... A Guy riding a bike down the busy streets of Santa Fe NM....

And I've been met with greetings, introductions, kind words and acceptance.

A while back my son and I talked about an index that I could use to judge the people in a new location....

We called it the "Asshole" Index....

And the way it is calculated is.....

# of people you meet who are negative or mean divided by the total number of people you meet

So if you met a hundred people and 10 were assholes, that area would get a score of 10 on the Asshole Index.

So obviously, lower is better.

So how does Santa Fe score?

Well.... 0 / 100 =

ZERO.

That's pretty hard to beat.

I may be Crippled.... But I'm getting Stronger!

It doesn't get much simpler, easier and faster than having a roasted chicken and some baked sweet potatoes on standby in the fridge.

Dice up a half a chicken breast and 1 baked sweet potato and season and heat in a hot cast iron skillet.

This high protein, good carb meal took me about 3 minutes to fix.

For a bit more pizazz, dice up some link chicken sausage and turkey meat loaf, saute' all the veggies you got - peppers, onions, carrots, kale - top with some avocado, chili sauce and nuts and dried fruit.

Eating like that and taking plenty of amino acids, Creatine and a Protein supplement and getting plenty of sleep and doing 3 rep Max workouts in the Basic Movements like Squats, Deadlifts, Push Presses and Bench Press is one way to get.....

Stronger....

And I have....

At 168 lbs, I could barely get 185# for 3 reps.

At 174 lbs, I got 225# for 3 reps pretty easy.

That's a significant quantitative increase in Strength.

And the basis for everything is.....

What You Eat!

That's at least 8 oz of Chicken Breast over a pile of Spring Mix with all the goodies - tomatoes, avocado, carrots, radishes and red grapes with a good drizzle of Balsamic and EVOO and another 30g of protein in the chocolate shake on the side.

And today's meal after a pretty rigorous PIYO Strength workout at Anytime Fitness....

Kale and Chicken Breast below Spring Mix and tomatoes, carrots, radishes and grapes....

With another 30g of protein shake.

I came to Santa Fe with both knees messed up from the moving I did in late December.

I strained / sprained my Achilles Heel doing some heavy calf raises.

A long time lower back injury has been bothering me on and off the whole time I've been here.

And the Spring Allergy season in Santa Fe has hit me harder than any Texas version I remember.

But I've worked around the injuries and kept eating right....

I've stopped jumping rope in the CrossFit workouts and substituted rowing.....

I've hobbled from one station to the other in the WOD's.

Through it all and despite it all....

I've gotten Stronger.

At my age, Pain and Injury are something you just have to deal with.

Going belly up is not an option....

Unless you're doing crunches....

Or a Bench Press.

What are you waiting for..... Death?

Pretty shocking title right?

But believe me, it's not a morbid post at all.

This post is inspired by a conversation I had with a very special lady in my PIYO Strength class at Anytime Fitness.

I'll just call her the Amazing Ms Sue.

First, let me tell you about the Amazing Ms Sue.

Gorgeous Woman.... Long Flowing Hair.... Beautiful, Lean, Graceful Body.... With a classically sculpted face that speaks to you of a life lived well.

I don't know how old the Amazing Ms Sue is because her body and energy and attitude belies her age.

Maybe she's 60, 65, 70... I don't know and it really doesn't matter.

She acts like she's 40.

We've had a few short conversations over the past weeks and it turns out she likes to dance.... I mean real dancing.... Ball Room, Tango.... stuff you actually have to practice and have a natural talent for.

So I got to PIYO early this morning..... like the first time.... ever.

And I had a couple of extra minutes so I turned to the Amazing Ms Sue and asked....

"How was your weekend?"

And she responded.....

"I'm tired..... I danced Friday, Saturday and Sunday night and drank way too much".

I wasn't surprised but responded.... "Well it sounds like you're living the High Life".

And in a moment I will remember for the rest of  my life, the Amazing Ms Sue quipped.....

"Well.... What have I got to lose?"

Her response hit me like the epiphany that it was.

This lady was setting no limits - challenging herself with workouts that are hard for me..... living life in it daily events to its fullest....

Dancing and Drinking and Celebrating.....

I knew she was special....

But this moment humbled me....

And shamed me in a way.

At 52, I sometimes find myself complaining about this or that and losing the passion for the moment that is the present.

And here I am being coached by a lady that I suspect is at least 20 years my elder on the Passion for Living and Life.

So when you look at the Day, the Week, the Year....

the Life Ahead....

Ask yourself.....

What am I waiting for?

What have I got to lose?

For trying something new?  For stretching yourself beyond what you thought you were capable of?

Don't Wait....  Don't Watch....

Jump into the Challenge and Passion of Life.

Discover Your Joy Everyday.