Wholistic Fitness

Noble Sangha,

i reckon you woulda had to break your spine, smash your pelvis, live paralysis, rise above it, and live in chronic pain for your entire adulthood to understand…so, i truly pray that NONE OF YOU truly understands what it takes from me to race Imogene Pass Race each year…

yet ilg does.

pretty much for you.

i don’t want ANYONE to say that they have an excuse NOT to do what it takes to Toe The Start Line of this 3rd of my 3 Sacred WF Sacred Sweat Pilgrimages*.

oh, i’ve been running…

however,  not enough.

ilg can’t run enough.  my back is broken, my pelvis is twisted beyond recognizable degree, and after this many years of living, racing, and being in chronic pain?   i’m just tired of it.  come the second Saturday in Sept, sure, ilg will once again do my best to Rise Above the the 3+ hours of pain required to complete the race course which tops out at over 13,000′.  and yup,  i’ll still try to summit in the same time it used to take me to finish the entire race and be in the top 20.

and yup,  i’ll still try to teach yoga on the Monday following the race…something which even youngsters a half century younger than i can’t do.

or, aren’t willing to do.

it’s one thing to be fast and specific.

quite frankly?

sport-specific athletes bore me. always have.

it’s another thing entirely to be a wholistic athlete.

one day? the Outer World will once again catch up with us.

ilg is wholistic…if nothing else.   i’m taking that one to the Bardo.  gu(ran)teed.

last year at Imogene, (photo above) i ran a 3:28 Noble Effort, go(o)d enough for 16th in my AG.

of course, i plan to break that this year. i’ve got better shoes (Saucony’s Peregrine’s which is the best trail running shoe i’ve EVER had the honor of treading upon Mother’s skin upon), i’ve got ASEA Sacred Water which has basically kept me glued to podiums, recovery, and health since i started it last fall.  i’ve got the mind-boggling effective MAP Amino Acids which i don’t TAF i need to elaborate upon (if you are NOT yet on the MAP?  get on them NOW!), and of course, the SUNRIDER Herbs; my stalwart cellular/nutritional ally since 1982!  i’ve also had a very consistent and podium-filled spring/summer even in my dryland season which is NOT my forté…so my spiritual and physiologic quiver is feeling full of chi.

ilg is also spiritually vitalized by having several of my Students toe this amazing Start Line again this year with me (see my Teachings Blog with Master Student L’Gaté from last year at this Pilgrimage!). Let’s see…at last count we got; Lisa Goldsmith (former IPR women’s champ and my Mt. Taylor record setting partner), Bryan Bishop from near Denver, Julie “PY” Mueller (who has knocked off the Mt. Taylor Pilgrimage last Feb., which makes her a primary candidate for the ONLY WF Student to successfully take on and complete ALL of my three WF Sacred Sweat Pilgrimages!), HP Yoga Student bRad Tafoya of Durango, Dara Marks-Marino from Flag, M. Wilkes, Elena, and probably at least several more which my feeble brain cannot recall.  How stoked am i at this Student Turnout!?!?!   measureless!

my girls will be c(om)ing up on Saturday to Telluride to meet me at the finish…then we camp for two days as i soothe my aching limbs in the Ouray Hot Springs and just chill in this Switzerland of America which is fortunately just a stone’s throw up the road from my home.

i’ve been racing this Pilgrimage since the late ’70’s.

each year,  i swear to myself as my heart about’s to abort my mental and spiritual tenacity climbing up those cursedly Blessed headwalls over 13,000’…“next year i’m NOT going to do this…i’m too old and injured…” only to return again and again and Endlessly Again to these historically rich, pranically potent, and spiritually vital ethers in my high, beloved San Juans…no matter what the cost,

no matter if i re-paralyze my spine,

no matter WHAT…

(IPR, 2009)

this Pilgrimage is GOING DOWN!!!!

AGAIN!

today’s yogis speak so easily of and teach of Mula Bandha,

they speak and teach of “universal alignment”…

they speak  and teach so often of lofty, esoteric, ancient principles and techniques of the Ancient Enlightened Ones..yet,

year after year…it seems to feeble ilg… few – if any – yoga teachers do what it takes to simulate a yogic resume like mine which shows in black-and-proven-white what Mula Bandha, Universal Alignment, and Sacred Pilgrimages…year after year…are all – truly – about.

yet, you do.

you ‘get it’.

and that is why, feeble ilg and his battered back will once again Toe The Start Line the Saturday after next and get my fat ass up and over the summit pass into Telluride.

for you.

and for me.

we are one.

head bowed,

infinitesimal ilg

* the other two being:  Mt. Taylor Winter Quadrathlon in February, and the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic in May.