Wholistic Fitness

“I swear the earth shall surely be complete to him or her who shall be complete. The earth remains jagged or broken only to him or her who remains jagged or broken.”
– Walt Whitman

The “garra” or “chi” or “prana” is still quite evident in my eyes after completing my third mountain duathlon race in three weekends. With only 5 running-specific workouts, i used my WF Training to get a 7th place overall, an Overall Victory plus a new Course Record, and this past weekend barely squeaked onto the podium with a 3rd place in the 40-49 Age Group and 11th Overall at the Soulstice Trail Race. Oddly enough, i did not see ANY of my cycling peers at these running/duathlon races. Ahhh, the Path of the WF Athlete is a lonely one.

the Soulstice Race was a big one for me. It took place beneath the Sacred Peak in the hills just to the right in the picture above, which i took this morning. elevation to the running course was between 8,000′ and 9,000′, although i did make a duathlon out of the race by riding Gunther, my mountain bike, in the wet, raining, and sleeting conditions to the start, which added another polite 1,000′ vertical to the day.

*coach’s legs as photographed by Wayne Williams, once again proved their functional fitness against the sport-specific runners.

MY WARRIOR INTENT: KEEP TO THE STRATEGY
all that a Warrior needs in life is a strategy. in fact, one reason why the Warrior Adepts have lost their fear of death, is because their Teachers have imparted to them a Strategy for their Death Moment; Warriors know precisely what to do as they enter their final breath; it’s training that erases all Fear.

for the mountain athlete in particular, strategy is required to keep the overall average speed high enough to crush your opponents confidence yet low enough not to blow yourself up and be reduced to a slower than all out attack mode. to get onto any podium worth attaining, means training yourself and doing what is required to launch and sustain an attack upon not just your competitors, but your own inner dragons of doubt, hesitation, fear, and addiction to comfort. i am not a big fan of entering a race just to enjoy the scenery. a race to me is Bardo Training; all i care about is overcoming my egoic forces and physical pains that attempt to keep me from doing my best.

*besides a beautiful trophy, i got a personally signed Race Poster by the local artist himself , who has hit big recently and will be soon leaving Flagstaff.*

If, on Race Day, i bring my Best and if i can be brave enough to do the do, then i know that the degree of pain that i am willing to endure is going to make anyone who wants to beat me do so by being more fit than i on that day. a Warrior can always cope with losing to a ‘better’ opponent on a given day. that is the Satya about Sport; the race clock never lies. you just lay your shit out onto the course and may the best Warrior win. if you don’t win, that is fine. you can still be an Olympian by toeing the Start Line and as the Gun goes off, say to yourself those immortal lines of the Olympian Way;

“Lord, let me win.
However, if i cannot win,
let me be Brave in the attempt.”

This is called, “Developing Character of Self,” and is absolutely critical training for the genuine Yogin. If you never do what is required to even start a Race against your peers, you can never, ever truly Know How Tough or How Willing Is Your Current Spiritual Aptitude.

* “Within the structure of a mountain trail, there is a universe of freedom. the elegant mountain racer sees lines of ascent and descents that others do not; they know of a freedom within the structure that remains unseen by those not as skilled. In life, the yogi sees and cultivates freedom within the Structure of their lives by a balance of Inner and Outer.” – coach ilg on one of this five training runs for his incredible string of victories these past 3 weekends.*

Race Day dawned cold and wet. Perfect for ilg. The more epic the conditions, the Higher i perform. i arose when the dark was still deep to go through my WF Early Morning Rituals. With practiced ease, i merged into a Pratyharic Realm whereupon i superimposed race visualizations within the ascending ratio of Prana during my practice. i knew in my heart that few, if any, of my competitors were up at that wee hour, doing this “do” of WF Practices that i am so Blessed to have learned in this lifetime. that Thought alone began to snowball my confidence. In fact, by the time my other competitors were just awaking to suck down their coffee and do their feeble token gestures of “pre race stretches,” i had completed an elite series of body/mind/spiritual sequences that gave me a head start before the Race even started.

Out the door, onto Gunther as the rain bit into my face and soaked me wet and chilled before one of the 8 miles up to the Race Start had passed. as Part One of my Strategy, i chose to ride up the gravel road that the racers would be driving their cars up. i did this so they would feel guilty and feeble as they passed me, splashing me with mud and exhaust fumes from their Fancy Outdoor Athlete SUV’s.

Several cars stopped and shouted encouragement to me up the Schultz Pass road as the rain turned to snow:

“Hey ilg! You are my hero!” shouted one…
“You’re mine!” i shouted back.

“Hey coach! damn dude, you wanna ride?” another offered. his car was passing me right at a steep section so i had to gasp a few breaths before i replied,
“No thanks, bro…i already have one!”

Finally, it was one of my own HP Yoga Students that stopped his car in front me, rolled down his window, and i could see him smiling and shaking his head,
“Coach…god damn…i KNEW it had to be you riding up here in this shit…i just KNEW it!”

You see, Oh Noble Sangha, that moment right there between a Teacher and his Student is what i care about leaving for you. My life is my message. Yoga, at least HP Yoga, is not about doing fucking Scorpion Pose. Yoga is about UNITING with what is; be it rain, snow, cold or Fear. The best Scorpion Pose is to find the Venom of the Scorpion and play judo with it; turn the venom of the Stinger inside out and let the poison turned into Divine Power that inspires All Beings. To leave the spirit of the Scorpion upon the Yoga Mat is a sin. One of the worst kinds, because leaving a Scorpion on a Yoga Mat breeds arrogance and arrogance is a sure way to go backward instead of upward.

* photo of the Soulstice Start by Josh Biggs of the Arizona Daily Sun.

At the Start, my Strategy was
1) a mindful cycling – to -running transition,
2) go conservative up Sunset Trail the first super steep climb of 1.8 miles, then establish a fluid meditative elegance during the traverse and gentle rolls of miles 2-4.5 and attempt to pick off runners in front of me,
and
3) HAMMER the SHIT out of the long, steep, technical and wet downhills and then, if need be, sell my soul to outsprint anyone near me on the final short headwall to the Finish Line.

i had pre-ridden the Race Course on Gunther two days before the race. i do my homework. on that day however, i was unsure of precisely how the Race Director was going to finish the race as several options existed. so, on that cold mucky morning of Race Day, i swung off the Schultz Pass road and onto the muddy trails to ferret out exactly where the Finish Line route was. This Warrior Effort, would prove to be quite important about an hour later!

As the Gun went off, i fell into an easy stride in mid-pack. i practiced Non-Attachment as i watched the elite mountain runners start scampering up the long, wet climb and disappear into the mists of the rocky heights. it is Wisdom that lets a Warrior know his or her own Limits. i could not have hung the first mile with those dudes as much as they could hang with me in a HP Yoga Class or on a bike. So, i let them go. That is called, Strategy of Patience. it can take a feeble warrior like me, several decades to learn.

within a mile, the chain of runners ahead me began snapping like broken links. they had either gone out too fast, misjudged the terrain (did not pre-inspect the Course), or were just idiots. i enjoyed passing them and really felt like i should be handing out Free Class Cards to my local HP Yoga class to them. If they only knew that the guy in the cycling clothes that just passed them has only run 5 times this year, they might be inspired to do more non-Running workouts!

the Trail was like running up a waterfall. my Merrell Trail Shoes were sticking like Velcro however, and i just trotted up my ol’ mountain biking trail that i know so well like you might converse with a friend. i dropped into my own Teachings of Mula Bandha Awareness, Big Toe Push Off, Pistol Grip, etc. All the stuff in my books were as valid and potent in that moment than they were when i first wrote them. True Chi Running, you see, comes from Tadasana, or the basic yogic principles of Pranic-Based Alignment. All sport techniques can be traced back to Yoga. We don’t really enough need outdoor sport coaches. We just need real Teachers of Yoga.

By the top of the initial climb, i had probably worked myself near 11th or 10th place. the 2 runners in front of me, stopped for water at the top of the climb. i ran past them, excited to begin the descent. i LOVE running down mountain slopes as fast as possible. it’s like one of the best Gifts Available to the mountain yogi. sooooo fun! all sorts of mini-lines, energy vortexes, and foot-strike possibilities. running downhill fast to me is like Anaerobic Chess Playing; so many possible combinations at any given moment when you are suspended in mid-air! make a poor choice? turn your ankle and go down HARD! make a Wise Warrior Choice? and you Soar Like Osprey through the rainy, wet pines! even the wildflowers will applaud the mountain yogi who finds his or her Practice in mid-flight!

i guess my downhill meditation was cranked up, cuz i never heard the two runners behind me again.

yet, i had Work to do, and Warriors work not to acquire. Warriors work to become. the next guy in front of me was a stalwart running ‘guru’ of the local mountain running scene. this ol’ guy lived, slept, and ate mountain running. for all of that though, his very Presence was as lumbering as a Sasquatch. i studied his running form – or lack thereof – like a wolf calculating his Prey. his foot strike, everted, was sloppy. he wore his shoulders like ear pendants, crimping his lung capacities. in his ungainliness i found the fever to attack him. i wanted to Teach him how to run like a wolf, how to breathe like deer, and how to merge like sun into water. i felt the best way to Teach my opponent was to kick his ass as elegantly as possible. so i pounced upon him during a switchback and glided sharply by him like an early winter wind, leaping across boulders and above the wet tree roots which would remain for his ox-like movements obstacles instead of spiritual launchpads.

i worked soft and easy within great pain as i fancied myself a heat-seeking missile; my target? the next runner. sure enough, i came upon my next victim. strong and sure was this guy. Strategy Here; take a page from my road cycling experience. Draft the motherfucker. Just stay on his “rear wheel” and bug the shit outta him. Just let him know i am Here, right behind him. If he slips, i’ll fucking run right across your damn face; better traction for my shoes. So, that is what i did. I figgered i would spend the rest of the race right here with this guy then, do my best to outsprint him at the Finish. i have been trained to do this for several hours in cycling races. no big deal for me. oh, i also climbed into his Mind and fucked with it by over-exaggerating my Foot Strikes and my Breathing. i wanted to LOOM in his Mind. i wanted him to just keep thinking about me.

you know what?

he pulled over!

surprised the bejezus outta me!

the DUDE JUST PULLED OVER AND STOPPED!

i could not believe it.

hmmmff, i thought to myself. that was odd. so, i accelerated into a Zone 4 Heart Rate for about 30 seconds along the narrow trail etched into the steep slope. i did this acceleration to discourage him from hanging onto my draft like i did him. i hate that shit. after a minute or so, i took a chance to look around (not recommended on such terrain!). he was gone. talk about a pysche job! you GO ilg!

the next mile was Nirvana; though in significant back pain from my spine injury, i kept elevating my conscious attention to the mental deck of cards that i play when competing. i just never allow my ego to pull my Higher Awareness into the Pain. it is a Mental Dance which begins at the level of just dying to pull over and stop and yoga squat to relieve the searing neural pain in my lower back and right hip and ends at devoting all the Pain to Brahman as karmic purification.

then another miracle happened. i saw one of the top guys. i caught a glimpse of him as his form dashed between misty pines; he was just about to begin the long descent. i calculated where the Race Course had to go before that particular place. damn. i ain’t gonna catch him. so, just as i was almost ready to let my ego be satisfied with 6th or whatever place i was in came a Race Course Marking! the Race Course totally cut off a large portion that i was psychologically prepared to run! Holy Entropic Decline, Batman! i am only minutes away from the final descent! with that Knowledge, i spurred myself to go clobber that mofo in front of me. just before the turn onto the mile long steep descent, he turned and looked at me.

“Oh shit,” i bet he thought, “It’s that cycling guy!”

i saw Fear in the way he turned his head away from me. That was all i needed. Crank the Leg Turnover Throttle to High. Go hard ilg, you are almost to him. the hill began dropping away like a roller-coaster track at it’s high point. this is MY Terrain, you mofo i in-couraged myself. within 40 seconds i had made a successful bridge to my next victim! GAWD I LOVE RACING! having seen my OverExaggerated TailGater Obnoxious Teachnique work so well on the trail just before, i employed it again. i ‘sat’ right on this guy’s heels so close that his backkick was nearly scrapping my shins…

“You like dat shit, huh?” i thought-smacked him over and over again, “You like me running right up your ass down this shit? huh?”

within a mere 40 meters, you know what?

he slowed so much that i became concerned with getting caught from behind so i pulled out from my Life List Of Long, Arduous Mountain Running Descent Memories a certain card; my course record descent of Pagosa Peak in Colorado. one fall and bang, bang you are dead! so, i veered off to his left shoulder, stuck it in HIGH GEAR and shot myself down that trail like snot from Floyd Landis’s nose during a breakaway. the dude didn’t know how to respond to this attack. his Teacher did not impart to him the proper anti-Ilg weaponry. so long, thanks for playing!

mind numbing descent. pain in hips. elegance through difficulty. i see two more guys in front of me less than 800 meters before the final kicker headwall to the finish. one of the two is walking. must be his knees, i thought. not enough strength training baby; fuck you. you should have done the WORK, baby! i did and now it’s time for me to drop your walking ass. the other guy was just about to pass Walking Guy. he looked fast. i had zero choice; i had to hammer by both of these mofos and crush them on the final few meters of this descent cuz i am going to be vulnerable on the final climb.

i was in a world of hurt and i knew i had to hurt more…i felt that i was, miraculously enough, within striking distance of the Podium and God Hath No Fury Like That Of An Ilg Within Sight Of A Podium.

it was a black and blue lycra ninja warrior that sailed past those two mofo’s that morning in those resplendent high woods. i hit them hard as possible. Walking Guy attempted to run by the sound of it. Running Guy glued himself onto my draft because, well, he was smart. he knew i was a faster descender than he and he was going to contain me until the final uphill and put the byattttach slap on me.

what he did not know is that i had something he did not.

i had myself another Strategy! like i said earlier, all a Warrior needs sometimes is a Strategy.

* photo of the Soulstice “muck” by Josh Biggs of the Arizona Daily Sun. you can still see Gunther’s tire tread marks from my pre-race inspection ride; a Warrior Effort that kept the Podium within sight for me during the bleak, painful moments of the final kilometer.*

see, when this punk ass fool was sipping his god damned capafuckingchino while driving his SUV with his pinkie finger up Schultz Pass Road this morning, you know where i was?

i was on my mountain bike suffering up the finishing trail of this race.

and you know what i found out by doing this?

i found MUCK!

plenty of good, ol’ fashioned MUCK!

MUCK after MUCK and MUCK extending for 300 meters before the Finish Line.

That MUCK, my Noble Friend Along The Path, was my final Arrow in my Quiver. i knew that if i could just get to the MUCK with even a few seconds lead over this mofo who is drafting my ass, he would have a whole world of hurt trying to outsprint me in the MUCK. see, HE DIDN’T KNOW about the MUCK, cuz, well; he was lazier than i. reminds me of so many people, unwilling to pre-inspect the Bardo Terrain. they just die with ignorance and unwillingness to at LEAST pre-inspect that Terrain of the after life. Stupid, stupid, STUPID!

so, leading into the final steep, rocky uphill before the MUCK, i pulled out one of my most potent Cards In My Deck: my “I’ve Done WAAAAAY more Jump Squats Than You Will EVER Even Imagine Doing,” card and ran point blank into that headwall as if that headwall was itself the Finish Line, for in my Strategy, it was. I attacked the climb at a Zone 4 Heart Rate and heaved my gasping carcass up every foot of that headwall as an exorcise to my inner demons. i yelled. i screamed. i purged myself.

i had no idea what Running Guy thought. actually i do. he probably thought, “Oh good, that crazy guy was gone waaay too early, he will blow up and i will get him right before the Finish and beat his ass! Haaaa!”

you know what he got instead?

MUCK.

and that’s the Way the Cookie Crumbles for those unwilling to do the DO!

i had no time to linger after the race, i had a bike ride to complete before hypothermia set in. as i arrived back at Two Tree Manor, my body was shivering with cold. yet, a Warrior always takes care of his Faithful Pony before himself. so it was in the cleaning of the Muck from Gunther, my Soul rose from the Muck of the morning like a lotus flower, radiant and warm, and bringing to me a degree of Sacred Joy that can only arise from Warrior Effort In The Muck.

i bow to Muck.
long live the Muck in our lives.
it serves High Purpose in Transformation.

if we are Willing to travel into and through it.

are you?

om so ti

thank you for reading. may it help your Practice and Performance so all Beings Everywhere be freed through the Muck of Spiritual Ignorance.

your mountain yogi

this DL is a devotion to my feeble natural capacities in Cardio, a WF Discipline that has proved to be such a Teacher to my weaknesses and Pain. thus through my sweat and spirit, this DL i honor Sutra’s 57 & 58 of the Shivasamhita:

“As the mastery of breath-control leads to a vision of the Clear Light, it is necessary to work hard for its success. – 57

“Success is not far away for him who practices this regularly. He undoubtedly gets a command over his breath gradually.”
– 58

photo above; Coach holds his trophy and check for his win at Gaspin In The Aspen one week before the Soulstice Race.

***
COME, RACE NEXT YEAR!!!!

SOULSTICE RACE COURSE INFO:

www.natra.org/

special thanks as per DL of 10*14