by steve ilg
Now, I do Ironmans to train for Wholistic Fitness!”
– 65 year-young “Fit Kit” Johaneson of Vernon, British Columbia.
photo by ilg two days before the Mt. Taylor Winter Quadrathlon. Doko Oosliid is in the background, blessing my most treasured pilgrim from the far north.
#1)
you showed up at our h(om)e in Flagstaff recently to spend a night before heading over to the Mt. Taylor Winter Quadrathlon. this was only after driving from Vernon, BC…what in the Lords Good Name made you undertake such a long-winded Pilgrimage to do such an intense event?
The Mt. Taylor Winter Quad was the event – the motivation was to spend some time with you and meet your beautiful family. As a rookie at doing this event I wanted to take lots of equipment. 2 bikes, 2 pairs of skis , 2 pairs of snowshoes. Hard to get on a plane. Plus the trip only totaled 5600 Kilometers. For 2012 I will definitely fly.
Everything would appear . . . as it is, infinite.”
– William Blake
‘His Fitness’ – another one of my Tribal Nicknames for Fit Kit – was feeling the lack of O2 up here at about 10,400’…photo by ilg
#2)
tell our Sangha about your informal and formal WF Online Studies…
I started as an online Student in 1993, which was my second year of competing in Triathlons. I was an active online student until 2000. Your 3 books are beside my bed and although I have used other coaches for training for specific events I always fall back on the basic
ideas that are in the 3 – The Winter Athlete, The Outdoor Athlete, and Total Body Transformation.
#3)
What have you found most intense about living and practicing WF? Is it the Lifestyle Principles or the Fitness Disciplines?
Most definitely the Lifestyle Principles. You have to bring them into your heart and soul 24 hours a day. The Fitness is for a few hours a day – okay sometimes for many hours a day, but they have a start and a finish and you are allowed to recover in between
#4)
What’s the least intense?
The Fitness – See the second part of #3
but the Mt. Taylor Winter Quadrathlon is a world harder.”
– Fit Kit, on the well-earned Summit of Tsidool…check this baby off the Bucket List!
– photo courtesy of www.mttaylorquad.org
#5)
ilg LOVES that answer!!! what other Fitness and Sport Performance Path can actually transform an Ironman Triathlete into realizing that the countless hours of devotion to daily sweat and pain is actually the ‘easiest’ part of a fitness lifestyle!?!?! can you speak more about the rewards and joys of living a WF life?
I am on the wandering path. So easy to fall off the WF life, but what I have learned keeps me centered and grounded. I keep coming back to the path.
#6)
you still carry around the OUTSIDE MAGAZINE issue with Steve on the cover from 1993…why?
I always knew it would be a keepsake. Voted the worst cover of the last 30 years. Truthfully it is a symbol of the connection I have had with you for almost 20 years. I read that article and one other in Triathlon Magazine and knew that you were the person I wanted to have as a coach.
#7)
i’ve taught that we can become slaves to our sports if we do not Practice Wholeness in our training and life. do you feel – or have you felt – like you are an addict to endurance sports or, if not, how are you using ultra endurance sports as a vehicle of Enlightenment or personal growth?
At the age of 40 I was the typical over stressed, over worked small business owner. I couldn’t walk up a flight of stairs without stopping. Much like ‘Heartbreak Hill’ at Mt. Taylor. The most important part of my fitness is just the joy I get out of a workout especially when it is with friends. I do find, when training for Ironman, I have to fight against being totally wrapped up in myself. I enjoy life more because I am fit.
#8) you are known for your Irish ear-to-ear grin no matter what! it’s contagious! are you a Leprechan?
I try to live by the following ” If you are not Happy right now You will never be. ” How can you be grumpy when you are doing what You enjoy?
#9)
tell us about your first of how many Private Intensive Pilgrimages to train directly with me; what was that first one like, and where was it?
My first of four Private Intensive Pilgrimages was in 1993. You were living in Santa Fe and I flew in for a one day intensive.
We fit in a lot in one day. Snowshoe workout at elevation, gym workout, meditation, bodywork and Dharma talk. Now that’s what I call an Intensive!
The next 2 were in Durango and I drove from BC for both of them – had to bring the bikes. Podium finishes at a Half Ironman on the way home both times. The last one was in Los Angeles and you lent me a bike.
There was a group intensive that was in Mammoth, California. Turned out to be the Canadian connection with Anne and Grant!
#10)
you are an absolutely inspiring Human Being; an ironman triathlete that trains wholistically, you have been married for 43 years and running a successful small business with your wife for 33 years! feeble ilg bows! just how does a transpersonal approach to fitness contribute to the turning points in your life? which events or fitness m(om)ents changed who you are to others, who you are to yourself?
My son, who is now 40, credits my association with Wholistic Fitness® for making me a better person. I know that I can handle the ups and downs of business and life much more evenly since becoming a Wholistic Fitness student. My training and racing are a great source of motivation and fulfilment.
#11)
i know several people that have been kicking around toeing the Solo Start Line of Mt. Taylor for as long you…yet, have not done so. What would you like to say to them after your 8+ hour, 3rd Place AG podium at Mt. Taylor with me a few weeks ago?
Just Do It.
Hardest event I have ever done but making it to the Edge of the World and then to the very summit of Mt. Taylor is the best feeling I have ever had.
Just don’t drive as far as I did.
These teachings are the "Rasas" or "sap" of Wholistic Fitness. You’ll find insights to ponder, student chi to keep your own chi topped off, and plenty of proven training techniques to test on your own body, mind, and spirit! Also, you’ll find my very popular Race Reports, and news of our Sangha’s (community’s) latest transpersonal fitness adventures!