Enjoy The Moment

Does the pace of life sometimes turn into a blur for you? The past several weeks have been extremely busy for me. When there are so many things to do and the pace is fast, time seems to fly by.

Although busy times and a fast pace can be stressful and sometimes frustrating, when we look back there were also a lot of shining moments. One of the things we can do is train ourselves, regardless of the pace, to make sure we enjoy special moments.

As endurance athletes we train ourselves for the long distance. Endurance athletes are masters at looking forward toward the future, establishing long-term goals, and establishing a plan to get to those goals. At the same time, however, there are always incremental successes along the way that can keep us motivated and moving forward.

Likewise, life is a long distance event and we need to train ourselves to seize the special moments along the way. So, like an athlete with long term goals we need to enjoy the incremental moments along the way.

Over the last 2 weeks Ive been cutting down my training to about 10-15 hrs a week in order to recover from the hard race at galveston earlier this month. During that time I spent my extra hours reflecting on the hard work Ive put into my research and training over the last few months leading up to it. In doing so, I smiled at all of the little, bright moments and the people that make life so enjoyable. Things like early morning coffee with Dave, the client who thanked us, the friend who asked for training advice and attending Michelle's senior recital.

Ive also learned that I should learn how to enjoy being in the moment more. Whether its resting for 20s off a hard 400 swim or having dinner with someone, all those moments should be enjoyed and cherished for what they are.

Keeping an eye on the horizon while effectively obtaining progressive achievements along the way is a path toward long-term and future successes while at the same time appreciating the here and now. One of the strategies I implement in my training is to have a longer term, two years or so, strategic plan which is our view at and over the horizon that will hopefully get me to the Olympics someday or turn me into a World Ironman age group champion. At the same time, in order to be effective in our daily activities we need to concentrate and focus on digestible and comprehendible activities and results.

So, while we are busy in our daily lives, with our long-term goals and pursuits, take a deep breath or a step back to “enjoy the moment.”

Enjoying the moment,

Yuen

And to all who are facing exams. All the best with revision! To my dear sister all the best too and enjoy your holidays after finally finishing your med degree!

Some Weekend Notes

As of the weekend that just passed, I hope everyone who reads my blog had a good easter weekend.

Over the weekend there were 2 incidents that happened in the same day that I thought was worth sharing with you folks.

As usual saturday was a 75mile ride for the team. To get to our destination we had to use the 360 highway which is usually a pretty decent place to bike as it has wide shoulders for cycling. However due to the fact that the terrain was pretty hilly, there were some parts where you were really flying on the downhills, and slow coming back up the other side. We were supposed to do 37.5miles, then turn around.

On the way back 2 accidents happened. The first accident involved Marie Archer, a 40+ yr old lady, really good triathlete, mum and wife. I was not in this group of cyclists as I stopped to help a friend who had punctured. What happened was Marie took a tumble, and broke her collarbone/shoulder (cant remember which). As I remember seeing her sitting on the side of the highway in pain, but still wanting to carry on cycling back. However we advised her not to and called the ambulance in, and when the paramedics came out the first thing they asked her was "Maam how is your arm feeling, and if you can rate your level of pain on a scale of 1 - 10 what number would it be". The reply came " ZERO!". Gosh I was impressed with this lady who had just fallen off her bike, definitely in pain but refused to think about the pain. She was also very positive about the whole thing, and joked about coming back into training with an arm cast or using just one hand to bike. All in all, pretty impressive from a 40+ yr old woman. It instantly struck me as, no matter how much pain or suffering youre in, you can always choose to be positive and think about other things. And that in return, will make everything recover, heal and get you back on track much faster!

Secondly was the more serious accident on the 360 highway. This is the excerpt from a local blog.

Anthony Kaim, the cyclist hit on Loop 360 at the Pennybacker Bridge Saturday morning, is scheduled for three surgeries this week but has no brain injuries, according to his wife.

Kaim broke several ribs and his left hip, shattered his pelvis, fractured his spine in four or five places and broke his jaw in three places, Heidi Kaim told me this morning. He’s in intensive care at University Medical Center at Brackenridge.

“I think it’s a miracle he’s as good as he is,” she says. “He’s actually conscious and talking and in his right mind. He’s asking a lot of questions because he is a lawyer.”

Anthony Kaim was riding southbound on Loop 360 when he apparently ran over debris or hit a bump, which caused him to lose control of his handlebars and hit the cement barrier on the right side of the road. He bounced back into traffic on the left and was hit by a car.

“It wasn’t like anybody was at fault, it was just a freak accident,” Heidi Kaim says.

Anthony Kaim is a Category 3 cyclist who rode on the University of Texas cycling team and now competes with the Gulf Coast Cycling Association team. He had recently finished law school and works as a clerk for a Fifth Circuit Judge in Austin.

He is scheduled for two surgeries Tuesday and another on Wednesday.

“He would just want to thank everybody for keeping him in their thoughts and prayers,” she says. “He’s touched by everybody rallying around.”

She’s sure he’ll be back on the bike as soon as he can. “It’ll take physical therapy for a long time. They’re thinking in six months he can be slightly active again. It’ll be maybe a year before he’s able to ride.”

Joseph LaFico was in a group of cyclists about 15 minutes behind Kaim’s pack. When he arrived at the accident scene, emergency crews had closed the roadway.

He describes Kaim as a “very experienced cyclist, definitely not a newbie. Just a good, solid guy who rides under the radar.

As I was cycling back I saw the scene of the accident and once again it told me how lucky I was to be here cycling and enjoying my life. Sometimes I tend to complain and to think "oh how unfair life is etc etc" but reflecting back on that day it seems that life wasnt so bad after all. As a triathlete Ive been in my fair share of nerve wracking accidents before that left me with permanent scars. The most scary one was skidding off a turn coming down genting highlands and almost going over the side down the ravine (and thankfully there were no cars coming the other way). However after witnessing that accident, I suddenly had more of a sense of appreciation for life and myself, plus also realising that life shouldnt be toyed around with but it should always be cherished and revered, as you never know when the last moment might come. I hope all you readers appreciate, love and accept your ownself, for having the chance to be alive and healthy is certainly one of, if not the greatest thing you can ever have! Hopefully everyone takes good care of themselves, and stay safe in whatever you guys are undertaking/doing. Always remember better safe than sorry!

Take care,
Yuen

An Email from a close friend

Hey,

How are you doing??? I guess youre off being pretty busy again eh..hehehe...=)

You know I got back from my first race of the season this year and once again Im confused between the feelings of joy and depression.

Once again the race didnt go quite as planned. I swam pretty ok, biked real hard and well and after 2 laps of the 4 laps run I cramped up very very very badly. Every step hurt -like a bitch and I had to limp/run/walk along. It was so so easy to just throw in the towel and nothing I did seemed to make those cramps go away. I lost probably about 10 mins on the last 2 laps because of the cramps that came along in the leg.

However, because I managed to hang in and dig really deep, I managed to make it to the finish line in top 20 (when I could have easily made top 10 given a cramp free day) and about 10 mins off my goal time. I also managed to come in first for the men's 20-24 amateur race. However there is this sense of sadness and depression in not making my time targets. And I also felt that Ive let my coach down in some ways though he says dont worry about it as this will give us something to work on over the coming weeks. Even though ppl tell me its ok thigns happen, the sense of not living up to a certain standard gets to me a lot, and I feel that Ive let a lot of people down over the last year.

Im depressed and at the same time also elated to have managed to dig so deep. I swear this was the toughest thing I ever did so far in any race Ive done.

Im not sure whether I should - be happy because I managed to dig super deep and fight my way through the pain not giving in

or

Be sad coz I missed my time targets that I worked so hard for, puting in 25-30hr training weeks over the last 6 weeks and training hard over the last few months to get that target that was so close and I was on course for during the first two laps.

I dont know...what do you think? Well at least now I know no other race will ever be as hard as this one..I hope..

Hope youre doing well my friend
take care
Yuen

And the reply was

Hey hey,

was actually thinking of what were you up to recently but hehe.. never really had the chance to sit down and write to you.

so here it is, CONGRATS!

well, i think you did very well and proved that mental strength can overcome physical fatigue, and by doing so, you still came out good with results that many others were vying for. if you had thought about this race not only as a test of your physique, but also a challenge to your inner well being, you'll find that you've crowned yourself a champion by showing yourself how much control you have over your body when you put your mind to it.

there is no reason to feel sad. by feeling sad, you are actually abusing your emotional health that actually played a large part of helping you make it through this race. this unfair treatment must stop. continuing to dwell in these thoughts only shows how much you do not understand (or how much you are refusing to understand) your body even after all those training! this is what i see: if you haven't had invested so many hours into training, you wouldn't have been able to conjure such strength (both mentally and physically) after your cramp and to be so adamant about not throwing in the towel. those training made able this feat, and that has to be celebrated!

as much as your coach has invested his time and hope in you, the only standards that were set, were by yourself. from your words, you already know although you feel that you have let down your coach, it matter greater when you felt that you have let down yourself. so, make this paradigm shift!

sports was never about time. time was just a device which we, humans use to "calculate" the well being of our physique. you, as a sportsman, should know that it is much more than that. it's about testing the physical limits of the body (not against otime) but against your mental strength. and you have proved that and should be rightly proud of yourself.

and there's one thing you have to learn about yourself, that is what your limits lie. do not build your standards upon what you feel are others' expectations. learn what you can and cannot do. being ambitious is good, but being realistically ambitious is even better. this, is my comment towards what you said about feeling that you've let down many people over the last year.

you're one of the people that i worry most, because although knowing that you have great physical strength, your emotional health often takes the blow when things doesn't turn up the way you envisioned it to be. so buck up! you will do yourself such justice when you can finally understand yourself.

hmm.. not sure whether you understand what i meant. english vocab shrinking in an alarming rate. gah.

well, you take care ok?

Well to the person who wrote the email back (you know who you are..assuming you still read this blog but I'll watch out on the counter). Thank you so much for this amazing advice that I found somewhat appropriate to share with other people in hopes that it might help them out with their own troubles in life. Hopefully you'll (and everyone out there) will always live a life that's full of joy and happiness!

Yuen

Power of the New World
It is a world that's been waiting just around the corner, and not all the current generations are able to accept such a world. Some would describe it as a world of acceptance, to others it is a world of distortion and the rest just couldn't be bothered. To me it is a world of confusion and soon they will have to redefine the definition of 'He' and 'She' in all the existing languages in this .... confusing world. The fact that Gay Marriage is legalized in some countries already signifying that the world is changing. Thanks to our most accepted governing style - the Democrazeeeee... See! I'm not entirely against it... i just couldn't accept it for now... Perhaps our next generation could accept it easier relatively speaking.

Only two letters to describe our changing world - GG! And what world is that? Click play below and you'll find out soon.


n!xx