M-Cubed for 12.22.2014

M-Cubed (Monday Morning Musings) for December Twenty-Second Two Thousand Fourteen...a random smattering of thoughts that end up here on Monday morning.

- Tick tock, is your shopping done?! 4 days until Rudolph covers the planet in the efficiency that only he, his fellow reindeer and Santa can. 5 days until the tree can come down! :)

- "We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected as a Hammer Nutrition athlete ambassador for the 2015 season! You are among a very select group of athletes and we’re excited about the opportunity to help you fuel right to feel great to your most successful season yet!" ~ yea, that happened last night! Woo hoo! I wrote about this recently and I'm super excited to be selected for my 2nd year! It will be a year with not as many bibs being pinned on but very key races being chosen to challenge myself. Hammer will fuel every step and continue to fuel my recovery both on the road and trail and after workouts in the box. "HAMMER ON!!!!" :)

- I have friends who are police...friends who are firemen...oodles of friends that are veterans and/or whom are serving right now within our borders or somewhere on the globe. Is it not a sad testament to the condition of our world and our fellow man's heart that all need to watch their back while on U.S. soil? From tweeted instructions from terrorists to find the military to police officers being assassinated while they sit in their squad car, it's sick. To watch it is a feeling of helplessness. "What can I do?" Well, I can start in my own home and practice intolerance of hate, racism, and discrimination and teach my family about serving those around us and what we owe and to whom for our freedom. Outside my home, I shall remain vigilant "watch my 6" as I've read many times lately from those in blue. I know the feeling of sitting in a restaurant and while enjoying my meal, keeping my range of vision to include the entrance to the establishment and on those around me. It IS that kind of world. Be safe out there, friends, and look out for each other.

- On Friday, my bride and I traveled about 3 hours to our southwest and joined about 300+ others for our annual awards banquet. It was a GREAT time and felt good to get dressed up again, bow tie and all! I was also very thankful to receive the "Inspirational Leader of the Year" award. Not only for my district but for all districts that cover the eastern side of the United States...very thankful! I couldn't be happier to do a job in which I can finally lead others without restriction and can pour my heart into every last thing I do.

No, that's not me! ;)

- So today wraps up Week 7 of CrossFit and I've been diligent and accountable to sticking to it. I've missed one day and this week, will take Christmas Day off. In that time, my running has taken a severe downturn in volume/miles BUT has remained strong. One thing that I've struggled with for a long time and still do is post-run, my flexibility is nearly non-existent. In CrossFit, I have found how unflexible I am and how poor my mobility is but once warmed up, it's gotten a lot better, especially my squat. After a run, though, I can't squat to save my life and can hardly untie my shoes by bending over. The longer the run, the worse it is. Interesting. So, after Saturday's afternoon 10 miler in the country, it was more of the same but I decided to "cool down" with squats. You'd think that after 10 miles, I'd be all warmed up and limber but that couldn't be further from the truth. The muscles necessary to run are good but that's very limited movement and range of travel within the needed muscles. So as Lisa, one of my coaches, has pleaded with me, I stretched post run but worked in a squat workout to facilitate it. I did 4 sets of 50 air squats and in between each set, did some of my favorite static stretches. The early squats didn't get far down at all and were a struggle. However, as I neared the end of that first set, I was getting nice and deep. By the 200th squat, I was sweating and feeling the burn! It was an AWESOME way to cool down and limber up...and work out my flexibility and mobility.

- So do you have a Christmas Day movie tradition? More often than not, I end up in a movie theater on Christmas Day and I know I'm not alone. If I was, the movie makers of Hollywood wouldn't always have some major releases right ON Christmas Day. This year? Well, we have Into the Woods and Unbroken. American Sniper is not too far behind it on January 16th, the one I can't wait to see. However, Unbroken is definitely on the must-see list. I have a feeling my kids will want to see Into the Woods and Annie.

- Back on November 25th, a man whom I had only met once sent me a Facebook message asking if I could answer some questions about general health, exercise, etc. He has been consuming pop/soda from morning to night for years, never drank water, didn't exercise, yet had free weights and a pull-up bar in the basement like many Americans. Sound familiar? I told him some basics that included weening himself off the carbonated poison, cooking good food, the "couch-to-5K" program to begin running, and greatly starting and ramping up the water intake. That was November 25th. He checks in a few days a week to give me a status update and/or ask a question but as of two days ago, he's down 10 pounds! He's down to 16oz of soda a day, drinks a lot of water, is working out on his not-so-dusty-anymore workout equipment in his basement and doing the C25K program. I told him the holidays would be tough but he's doing it! WAY TO GO, J.F.!!!

- I used to hate on CrossFit...I did! Many will attest. Well, my wife and I stumbled on this short video series that is ongoing right now. It's being produced by CrossFit HQ and each video is about 10min long and so far, 7 videos have been published. It's dubbed "Fit to Teach" and is tracking 15 teachers and administrators from a school who began CrossFit (episode 1) and follows the progress. Of course, by episode 7, not all 15 stuck around but it's awesome to see what's happening to those who did. It's not just the physical, either. The ripple effect is cool to watch and inspirational. I highly recommend to all! Here's the link to the video series on YouTube.

- To say goodbye, I'll leave you with a very short quote that I grabbed from the Fit to Teach series. It's true, you know! Have a great week, everyone!

"Believe you can and you're halfway there!"