Sunday Story…It’s Time

Time is one of those things we constantly talk about…”I’m so busy,” “There isn’t enough time in the day,” “I could use 25 hours a day and still not get everything done.” We say these things all the time. They aren’t really true. We all get the same 24 hours, the same 168 hours in a week.

How I spend my time is the true issue. We all make choices everyday in how we spend our time. It may start first thing in the morning…do you get up early and get your workout in? Or do you hit the snooze button 3 or 4 times before dragging out of bed with barely enough time to shower and get out the door in time for work. Same thing at night…sitting and watching television for 3 or 4 hours? or working on your education? or connecting with your family? Same time different priorities.

It’s time to decide on what is important to you and stop complaining about not having enough time or being too busy. We all have the same amount of time. Everyone is busy. The question is this: Are you spending your time on things that are important or are you spending time on things that are keeping you busy. The two things are not the same thing.

Ask yourself how the truly amazing and important people in the world get things done. They probably didn’t spend an hour or two watching reality TV or playing video games. They didn’t spend their time facebooking or testing inane things to all their friends. Nope, they spent all their time on moving forward on their goals, dreams and aspirations. They didn’t start out as billionaires, or famous writers, or world class athletes. They set a path to their goal and then stayed on that path until they got where they wanted to go.

You can be great. You can be everything you want to be. Your life can be an amazing testament to your vision and hard work. It is up to you how you spend the time you have been given on this earth, in this life. You and I have the same amount of time every day, week, month, year. The difference is how we choose to spend it.

Get started now. It is time. It is overdue. The world awaits your greatness.

You don’t have to be great to start but you have to start to be great.

Namaste

John Mariotti
www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.martialartsnevada.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
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Sunday Story…Stories

The stories we tell ourselves about the things that happen in our lives are of greater import than the things themselves. Victor Frankl in “Man’s Search for Meaning” says very clearly that man is a meaning making machine. The only freedom we have is the freedom to choose our attitude about what is happening to us. No one can take this freedom away from us. It is what sustains people through horrible inhumane situations…their attitude about what is going on around them.

I was 17 years old and the second seed at the district wrestling tournament. I had completed a very successful football season (honorable mention prep all-American defensive back) and had a couple colleges sniffing around. I was looking forward to a berth to the Washington State wrestling championships where I was considered one of the top candidates for a title. 2 weeks before the tournament my appendix almost ruptured and I was hospitalized to have surgery to have it removed. It was a butcher job and I still have a visible 4” long scar. I thought I could still compete but they wouldn’t let me and rightfully so as the stitches came apart and you could see inside my abdomen. Needless to say I was devastated. I didn’t go out for track that spring. And I left high school before my senior year and went to Gonzaga University. That event informed so many things over my next 40 years it is frightening. As a matter of fact going into the CrossFit games I was sure my body would betray me again. I was super paranoid about getting hurt or something worse. It sucked. Now that I went and did well I feel like I have finally buried the demons that I created.

The decisions we make now can often have far reaching ramifications that inform our lives for years, and in my case, decades. We all have had things happen to us, it is part of life. What we tell ourselves about those things forms our life.

Maybe you didn’t get the bike you wanted for your birthday. And that meant what? You weren’t loved or weren’t seen? Or that someone loved you enough to get you the gift they could afford and thought you would enjoy. Maybe your parents beat you. And that meant you weren’t good enough or you have no purpose in life other than to be a punching bag. Or that you were strong enough to take those blows and survive and nothing else in life will ever be that bad?

You get to decide what those things mean to you. The younger you were when you gave those things meaning the more likely they are to need revising. You get a chance to change history. What happened is what happened. The meaning you assign to it is up to you. And the meaning you give it should show you how great, powerful and worthy you really are.

Namaste

John Mariotti

www.crossfit-odyssey.com

www.martialartsnevada.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

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Sunday Story…Stressed Out?

One of the most forgotten aspects of living a life of optimum health and fitness is stress.
Stress is a two-headed beast. On one side too much stress will kill you. And on the other side not enough stress and you won’t achieve anything. The key is to find the middle ground…be like Goldilocks…not too hot, not too cold, just right.

Way back in the day, we humans had to deal with very real stressful situations…finding enough food and shelter on a regular basis, not getting eaten by other large predators, or being attacked by other hominids who wanted our food or shelter. But these stresses (mostly from external sources) came and went. In today’s world our stresses, although seemingly less dire, are constant and coming from both external and internal sources.

In today’s world we are under constant attack. Work, home, and everything in between hit our system with little bits of stress. That cup of joe (or 2) in the morning hits my adrenal glands with a little zip of stress (that’s how caffeine works by the way). My morning commute sends my blood pressure soaring. The deadlines at the office, or the financial challenges my business poses hit my system and my breathing races. Maybe I get home and get hit with relationship challenges with my children and spouse. As modern humans our stress levels are constantly high. It is as if we are constantly under attack by saber tooth tigers and running for our lives.

Too much stress causes huge health problems. Everything from cardio vascular events to skin eruptions to depression to auto-immune disorders can often be linked to an over stressed system. We often respond to stress in non-productive ways as well…alcohol abuse, drug abuse, emotional eating, and other self defeating behaviors. The real problem with these responses is that they often cause additional stress on both our physical and emotional systems. Drinking too much is not good for your physical body as well as being hard on your relationships.

Not enough stress makes us complacent and lazy. Not having goals that excite and scare us (just a little) has us staying fat and de-conditioned. We need good stress in our lives.

The real trick is to develop the skills to handle the day to day stress of modern life in a healthy way. There are some very real things we can do to combat the toll stress is taking on your health. The big 3 are (you already know this!)…exercise daily and intensely, eat right, which means eating real food prepared well and eaten with purpose, and sleep 7-9 hours a night. If you do these 3 things you will be several steps ahead in the management of your stress.

Here are some other strategies and tools you might find useful:
Meditate or sit quietly without an agenda…when we sit and just let things be without trying to force an outcome our body gets a signal that is ok to relax and can come off of hyper alert status. A lot of the stress we experience arises from the chattering of our “monkey mind.”

Pray…experience your connection with the divine, something bigger than you and all the mundane concerns we have day to day.

Get outside…find your place in the natural world. Sometimes our stress arises from being disconnected with the real world. The world of plants and animals and other natural phenomena can have a calming effect on your mind and body.

Do something for yourself…get a massage, take a soak or whatever will feed your inner selves and have you feel love and connection with yourself.

I am sure you can think of some others that will serve you in taking care of your stresses. The important thing is to take the time to do them! So get out there and do nothing for a change!

Namaste

John Mariotti
www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.martialartsnevada.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
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Sunday Story…My Father

Last Monday my Father passed from the world. It wasn’t unexpected; his health had been failing for some time. I feel sad he won’t get to see what amazing people his great grandchildren will be and they won’t get the joy of having his wisdom and humor in their lives. Every time I spent any time with him over the last 5 or 6 years I made sure there were no unsaid things between us. I never knew if that time would be the last time so I made sure to say what ever needed to be said and to tell him I loved him.

My Father taught me many things over my 56 years and those things have molded me into who I am today.
My Father was a teacher for most of my life. He taught me many lessons from how to love to how to work. The example he set for me in all areas of life set me on the path I am currently on.
I didn’t always listen as well as I should have and I certainly didn’t follow his advice as well as I should have but he never made me wrong for going my own way (even when it was messed up!)
He taught me how to value other people based on who they were and what they did, not the color of their skin, their religion, or social status.
He taught me about compassion and serving the world through his own giving.
He was a quiet man; his actions spoke volumes about his character.
He taught me that if you were hired to do a job, you had an obligation to do that job as well as possible. If you were going to do something, do it right.
He taught me it was more important to do the right thing than the easy thing.
He taught me to set goals and stay the course until you get to the end. You are finished when you have completed the goal, not when you think you are done.
He taught me that what you did was not as important as how you did it.
He instilled in me a love of sport and competition and the daily training those things involve.
My father taught me to be a man of my word.
He loved his family and made sure we were supported.

All the good things I have become I credit my father (and mother). The messed up parts are all on me.

Daddy I miss you deeply and will every day. The impact of all the lessons you taught have been spread far and wide. Your legacy of duty, kindness, and hard work will live forever.

Thank you for being my Father and I love you.

Namaste

John Mariotti

www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.martialartsnevada.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
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Sunday Story…The Road to the Games---Aftermath

I’ve been home now for almost a week. I have had time to process all the experiences and happenings over the 8 days I was in Southern California.

It was an amazing experience. Reebok kicked out with some amazing apparel for all the athletes. I felt respected and honored the whole time I was there from picking up my gear to competing and after. It takes a huge number of people all working together to have an event of this magnitude come off the way this one did. If you watched any of this on TV or the computer you saw about 10% of what really happened. And a large portion of it was done by volunteers. My hat is off to both Reebok and CrossFit HQ for an event well run and spot on.

As many of you know this has been the culmination of a 2+ year quest. In April of 2012 I thought I could get good enough at this CrossFit thing to go to the games. At that time it meant I had to be in the top 20 in my age group in the world. For 2+ years this was my over-riding goal. Last Thursday the quest was complete. I finished the last workout and ended the quest #6 in the world. Did I want to be #1? Of course I did, no one does the work and shows up wanting to be #18.

I got to work out with some of the greatest guys I have ever had the pleasure of working with. 99% of my workouts are done alone. Here were 18 guys, all good, and all skilled and talented, and 18 guys happy to get to work. They were competitive and helpful. There weren’t any head games or blatant rudeness that I saw. In 4 days we created a community that will continue past Thursday. I look forward to seeing all of these guys in the future.

People have asked about nutrition and sleep and other preparatory tasks. I tried to eat exactly what I always eat and at the time I eat them. I brought my own protein powder and made sure I had avocados. I made sure my hydration was spot on…this is one place where it would be easy to fall down but I went out of my way to drink plenty of liquids. I slept well which was surprising. Normally the night before competing I would not sleep well but this time I was fine. After the first day I was exhausted…4 wods will do that. I think because I was just focused on my own performance I wasn’t feeling the pressure of competition. Bottom line is you don’t want to try new things in competition. You try to keep everything as close to the same as always…the warm up, the pre-workout food and the post workout ritual. This is part of the home field advantage that gets discussed…it is much easier to maintain your routine at home rather than on the road.

One of the unusual things that happened to me occurred on Friday. I slept in and got up with a sense of unease. I felt unhinged. It took me a while to realize that I had completed my quest and no had nothing on my plate. It was an unsettling feeling. The goal had been accomplished and there wasn’t a plan, a schedule, a drive for the next thing. It was an oddity. By Saturday I had found my balance though and was perfectly content with the world.

I was very happy with my performances. I went into the week wanting to leave on Thursday with no regrets. To be able to say I did everything I could do with tools I had. I can say that. I wanted to stay on track as the focused and confident athlete I am. I didn’t want my head to get in the way of my physical performance. I stayed out of the leader board, stayed focused on one workout at a time and got the job done.

Knowing what I know now there are things I would do differently if faced with the same tasks. Just little tweaks…like not going out so fast on the run rope or picking up that 70# medicine ball before hitting the playing field…little things like that. But overall I was so proud of myself for staying in my game plans and remaining focused on my performance and no one else’s.

At this writing I have had 10 days of rest. The most I have had in 2+ years. I feel strong and healthy. And tomorrow we begin again. The quest for constant and never ending improvement is always in front of us and so are the 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games. The Open is 7 months away!

Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory.
Mahatma Gandhi


Namaste

John Mariotti

www.crossfit-odyssey.com

www.martialartsnevada.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

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The Road to the Games…Day 5

It is the last day of competition. My body feels good. I had to go out and buy some gloves after yesterday’s 100 pull ups. There were 2 workouts today.

I had no idea going into today’s competition of who the leaders were. I had a pretty good idea who they weren’t though! I knew I was #6 going into the WODS though.

Today was hard. The “up down” did not go my way. I fell off the box on the 3rd lateral jump (got the rep though!) so I modified how I was jumping from lateral to straight on and off. These boxes are much wider than what most of us have been used to. I did some in the warm up area and thought the lateral felt right but in retrospect the size of the box was just a bit wider than I could handle and be at optimum efficiency. My rhythm on the toes to bar sucked and the wall balls were even worse. A clear target and the sun behind it really made it challenging (for everyone!). I think I no-repped at least 10 of these. The dips were good for me, although by this time I was pretty whacked and kept the sets down to 5 instead of 10. On the way back it was just embrace the suck. And suck it did, especially missing the last toes to bar…I never miss toes to bar but my grip was going and I just flat out missed. 17:26 minutes of fun and it was over.

In the final WOD I was excited…burpee muscle ups! I had practiced these just recently and was very happy with how they went. Sprint 100 yards…no worries until my left hamstring caught a hitch about 30 yards into it which slowed me down a bit. I laid into the burpee muscle ups with a vengeance and then I missed the last muscle up! AAAArgh. If you do muscle ups you know how bad it sucks to miss one. I tried again too soon and missed another. Waited and got up and just ground it out to the lock out, it was ugly but done. I grabbed the bar to snatch and lost the weight behind me (another thing that almost never happens to me!) I had forgotten about the hamstring and it hit me as I gripped and ripped…a tactical error when snatching. I settled and got the 5 snatches for a 2:27 time.

When the dust settled I finished 6th in both of the wods and finished the week in 6th overall. I was very pleased with my performance. There were some things I could have done better in retrospect but based on what I knew on Monday I felt I put out a full effort. Which translates to full victory…woohoo!

Next up: The aftermath of the games.

Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory.
Mahatma Gandhi


Namaste

John Mariotti
www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.martialartsnevada.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
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