Wholistic Fitness

LIVE EACH WEEKEND LIKE IT’S YOUR LAST!: Coach Attacks Peleton – Dance of the Unknown – and “JoyRiding”!

on Saturday, i attacked the entire peleton on the very first hill. Why? To separate the Warriors
from the Wannabes. i call it my “log-splitting technique”..sever the huge block of racers
down to the Warriors who are really there to race their guts out. It’s amazing how,
even athletes…let alone ‘regular folk’…are so scared
of high intensity. With my attack, i singlehandedly chopped a 40-man peleton down to 9! thus,
my own Willingness to draw first blood by attacking, i moved from “pack fodder” to the top-ten!

if i teach anything it is to just
Be Brave.
Be Willing to Endure.
Be Devoted to cultivating the best from deep within yourself!

What go(o)d is fitness “training” unless you apply the Training to something extra-ordinary?

My first USCF race in over 3 years, “THE DEVIL’S PUNCHBOWL” race was a hilly, hot, hurtfest
up in my local San Gabriel Mountains. i entered on a whim to test how my Wholistic Fitness
general level of training stacked up against the cycling-specific athletes. Most of these
guys log 10+ hours weekly on their bikes. That’s okay.
Cuz i train like YOU, Noble DL Reader…i train and TRUST in WF training!

less specific training,
more Wholistic training!
we cultivate the CHI behind the specifics!

This race, a “C” Priority level in the scope of my 2005 Competition Plans, offered me a low-key opportunity to race against
sport-specific athletes.

so, i did what any Master Student of WF would do before a USCF road race; i fasted on
SUNRIDER herbs for 15 hours before the event.

On the morning of the event i meditated for 30 minutes,
did 1.25 hours of asana,
“ate” pranayama for “breakfast” instead of food,
drove to the race chanting kirtan
with Deva Premal’s new CD,
did not warm up on my bike at all instead did more Pranayama and Tibetan energywork,
got on my bike,
rode to the Start Line,
heard the gun go off,
and attacked the entire peleton like a ragin’ fucking lunatic on the very first hill of the 40 mile race!

my only goal for this “C” Level Priority race was to Be Brave and Test my WF Fitness against cycling specific athletes.
well, okay, i also just wanted to cause some trouble…i am, by nature, a distinct TroubleMaker. i in-Joy rocking the boat.

I caused trouble awlright, in the way James Brown would cause trouble in a Baroque performance.

i attacked the entire peleton on the first hill,
put my head down and hammered into an Anaerobic Pratyhara.
what go(o)d is Yoga if you don’t suffer yourself deeply into the notion of UNION in a pressured
situation?

after 4 minutes of utter solo suffering up this 2-mile, 1,000′ climb, another racer hauled up next to me,
his breathing was heavy and rapid.
his words came to me in the way the dying speak,
“How strong are you?”
i allowed a few of my own turbulent breaths to pass before answering,
“It’s my first race in a few years…i am just testing.”
“Well, your crazy attack got about a 30 second gap on the entire field, what do you want to do?”
“Let’s fucking go, bro!”

That is the Art of Relationships in bicycle road racing.
You create teammates by shared levels of verve and fitness
(that is – by the Way – precisely how, karmically, you find yourself with your Loved Ones in ‘regular life’),
and then,
if you outwit and out fitness the rest of the peleton to the end,
you must turn on your ‘teammate(s)’ and kill him (or them) by outsprinting him at the Finish.

thus it went,
he and i united off the front,
until a Chase Group of 7 caught us.

i helped organize us into a rotating paceline of effort, each of us giving short
efforts to break into the Mohave wind before allowing the next person to take the lead.
thus it went on for miles. bicycle racing requires blue collar endurance with moments of sheer intensity.
it’s far easier to step on the accelerator of your car than it is to step on the accelerator of your Spirit
when you are suffering like a dog dead of loyalty. i feel most Americans would do well to race bicycles.
it would make them appreciate their fucking cars.

yet, it is Suffering which
hallmarks the Warrior Breed,
and suffer we did in our BreakAway Group.
It was fun
exciting
and
utterly painful all at the same time.

It felt go(o)d to be racing again in a USCF race.
sure, i know this race was not the
Tour de France
and i am no Lance Armstrong,
yet this was a Race
and i could feel my Warrior Bones,
just like Lance does.

no, i did not win.

i got dropped on the final hill and i hated every moment of not being capable of keeping up.
yet,
it was i who, many, many miles earlier,
was the One
brave and willing
that attacked the mediocrity from the start
and
in my bones,
My Warrior Bones,
i think and feel
it is that sole act of individual courage
to trust in oneself
to trust in ones ability to breathe
and Be
that
will matter most
when
i
die.

feeble ilg says,
sue me,
kick me,
outrace me,
yet,
i will remain
willing to endure
in my OWN stance,
in my OWN way,
that which must be endured
which is the Way of Changing Multiplicity and Spontaneous Fitness and Wise Discrimination…

what i am saying is mere Repetition of my Beloved Teachers;
Bring on the Bardo, baby!
for i will be brave!
feeble ilg wil attack with confidence borne from Sweat and Self Lived Spirit,
the Dance of The Unknown!

will you?
*****

Sunday came. time to enjoy the special feeling arrived from racing well done and share the
companionship of Mother Earth mingled with a loved one. what better choice than to take
the Ever Willing For An Adventure Ananda to Red Rock Canyon? Oh, Red Rock Canyon!
So seductively have you nested yourself within the sandstone folds and
creek fed ravines of Old Topanga Canyon…i breathe your
essences of sage and paintbrush, of manzanita and buffalo berry nearly every week! what a treasure
to share our sanctity with Warrioress Ananda…

Ananda, in her first year of mountain biking, shows the benefit of a coach; her form on a bike is
pro level;

especially her uphill technique! check out that WF + SUNRIDER herb carved physique and lung capacity!
she rides the hills like a pro!!!

well…almost!
hey, 28% dirt uphills will make all but the very elite of the elite dismount their bikes!

at the end of the day?
we shared a beautiful ride through yet another stunning Gift from dear Mother Earth!
dude,
if you are doing WF training and the herbs,
then do yourself a vital necessity;
GET OUT TO MOTHER NATURE AND ENJOY YOUR WHOLISTIC FITNESS WTH THE BREATH OF THE DIVINE!
WE ARE ONE PLANET!
WE ARE ONE PEOPLE!
WE ARE ONE MIND!
DANCE, WARRIOR!

what happens when you die and God asks smilingly to you,
“So, did you have fun down there or what!?..Beautiful, wasn’t it?!”

to what degree of Dance would you be able to reply to His questions?

there is a TON of stuff coming up this week in DL…so keep tapped into the Nation’s Original Transpersonal Source
of Body/Mind/Spirit..all for FREE!!!

May your Practice be Radiant and Helpful to Others Who Have Yet To Awaken From Their Slumber,
your feeble teacher,
coach ilg