Wholistic Fitness

for the first spring in a while,

ilg did not c(om)pete in the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic – one of my Three Sacred Race Pilgrimages of Wholistic Fitness®*

see, my lil brother was gettin’ hitched in Albuquerque (yeah, the Duke City) and so that glorious event put a kibosh on my usual Iron Horse Pilgrimage in which i’d contest the 3-Day Omnium;  Day One – 50-mile Road Race from Durango to Silverton over two 10,000′ passes.  Day Two – Circuit Race which involves ongoing violent uphill repeats.  Day Three – East Animas Time Trial which features a finishing slap-in-thy-face 8% climb for a mile as dessert for the preceding rolling 13-miles.

i gotta say?  after NOT doing all the early season riding (my primary sports are winter sports, so when i race the Iron Horse,  i literally get like one week recovery from winter racing before needing to get on the bike) and being able to enjoy:
• spending more time with my daughter/family
• enjoying more Wholistic Fitness® type of activites like rock/sport climbing, trail running, yoga, meditation, chillin’ at hot springs, etc…

ilg may not do Iron Horse for a while!  i LOVED having this early spring window in which to regain my more natural wholistic flow, especially as a father to a vivacious 8 year-old daughter instead of forcing my wholistic nature to specialize onto the road bike (and sacrifice valuable family time)!

the whole Not Doing The Iron Horse Thing really made me explore my intentions for even doing Iron Horse all these years (i’ve probably done 15 of them and have probably podium’d more than half).   eventually, i arrived at the perspective that all these years?   i really only raced Iron Horse, cuz, like, growing up here?  if you had a set of balls (or the female equivalent thereof)?  you were EXPECTED to do the Iron Horse.   Period.   so ilg did the Iron Horse.

now, at 54 – i know, ilg is a slow but deep learner –  i realize that the Iron Horse’s emphasis on climbing, climbing, climbing never really suited my style of racing even when i was a Cat 2!   i’ve always been a punchy, versatile cyclist;  great at nothing, good at everything.   that’s how – along with a GREAT TEAM – i won the Tour of Gila, one of America’s toughest Stage (multi-day) Races.

all of this self-realization has led ilg to what matters most about this offering which is, of course;  flowers.  particularly wildflowers.

see,  feeble ilg is a BIG FAN of wildflowers, as my students and followers know from decades past…

as a chi-ld, running free among the San Juan wildness which was my h(om)e with my pet wolf-hybrid, Apache?   my memories are imprinted with vivacious fields of wildflowers, seeming dancing just for us!  without Iron Horse training forcing me onto the slick asphalt ribbons cob-webbing this heavenly hamlet of Durango?   ilg has once again been set free to run, prance, and yes, dance with my nature friends deep in the high country surrounded by endless orchestra’s of  wildflowers and even more wild waterfalls cascading to my consciousness, re-aligning my true wholistic nature which just wants to frolic with focused fun across all sports, all activities, all physiologic capacities…

a few pics from the past week of my wildflower friends…

ilg chooses to run with friends…

oh, i’m sorry,   not Human Beings (they talk too much, they are more like Human Doings, not Human Beings),  feeble ilg rathers the c(om)pany of so many – much more silently potent in their conversations with me – Wildflowers Beings…(and Tree Beings, and Melting Snow Beings, and Feathered Friend Beings, and Furry Beings, and Mountain Beings, and Cloud Beings, and…well,  you get the idea,  feeble ilg LOVES running with my Friendly Beings!

a host of Dandy-lions stand like apostles before the rising Divine Light…some call Dandelions ‘weeds’…my family eats every part of their delicious, versatile, and immune-enhancing fibers!   pic by ilg, yesterday’s trail run.

ilg has sooooo many friends along the Medicine Running Way in the Sacred Woods!   Wh(om) have we here?   ilg sees some Paintbrush playing before an ocean of Native Cabbage backdropped by s(om)e Spruce Beings bowing before a bullet-blue, typically Southwest Father Sky!  What do YOU see?  pic by ilg, yesterday’s trail run.

oh my!   such a treasured m(om)ent!!   Red Columbine c(om)pete for the focal point with a ragingly beautiful Cascade Creek as Yellow Yarrow and sweet Navajo Sandstone wink with veracity before the ever  towering Spruce and c(om)manding Father Sky!

pic by ilg, yesterday’s trail run.

head bowed,
wholistic spirit vowed,

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• The Three Sacred Race Pilgrimages of Wholistic Fitness® which ALL genuine students of this Path are encouraged to engage at least one, once in their life,  are categorized seasonally.  Racing ALL THREE in one calendar year is known as the Coach Ilg Slam (which i used to do quite regularly).  Spring:  Iron Horse Bicycle Classic.   Fall:  Imogene Pass Race.  Winter:  Mt. Taylor Winter Quadrathlon.   C(om)mitting to and completing ANY  ONE of these Sacred Pilgrimages  are proven to Raise the Spiritual Vibration of the Warrior Participant.