Shooting Star

There are few things more enjoyable for me these days than the feeling I get after a great workout.  I have been working with a close friend of mine (who I shall refer to by his newly coined nickname "Kid") for the past month or so.  We don't workout together but we constantly send each other game plans for new routines, exercises, motivation and talk over what we have done and are planning.  It is just as valuable as having him there spotting for me.  Kid is a good dude, and he helps motivate me on a daily basis and not just when it comes to my workouts.  We recently discussed the difference between exercising out of anger or frustration and the negative impact it can have on your results.  Pushing yourself recklessly through a workout using your anger or frustration as fuel can cause you to hurt yourself.  Getting in that "pure" workout where you can free your mind and just let the music carry you through the routine is so much more beneficial.  When you are finished you feel so much more positive, you can find that you have actually pushed yourself to do more reps with more weight and set your own personal records higher.  It is a great feeling.  Anger is negative and you can't let that kind of negative energy control you.  A positive attitude will take you so much farther in a workout and in life in general. 

This song I have posted "Tears Don't Fall" has been the last song I listen to the past few nights as I am finishing up my workouts.  I have a pretty great mix of songs that I listen to throughout but this has been the perfect song to end with.  A great "moto" song for me, it helps carry me through my last burnout set.  Tonight I found myself jumping around and dancing and singing along to the words afterward because I was so jacked up after the workout.  Its a great feeling to push yourself through a good workout, or a long run or bike ride.  There is a powerful feeling of achievement you get when you finish a run a little bit faster, or you do a little bit extra weight in that last set, or you bike just a little bit farther than the last time.  Its almost a high, better than any drunk I have ever had.  The feeling is as strong as sex with a good partner that leaves you both satisfied in the end.  I love it, can't get enough.

This actually reminds me of a little story.  I was in the Marine Corps for a few years.  In Marine Corps basic training your last big test comes in the form of an intensive 72 hour circuit of training known as "The Crucible."  You barely sleep, march everywhere with your rifle and full gear and pack.  Obstacle courses, combat courses, live fire scenarios, tests on martial arts and first aid, all kinds of fun but physically and mentally taxing events.  They wake you up in the middle of the night, rush you into your gear and out of the barracks and you embark on a combat march of 20 miles to start it off.  They keep a fast pace and you skip breakfast with little sleep so its a pretty brutal start.  As we were finishing up this march and were entering the training ground that the Crucible is held on I witnessed something I will never forget.  I was at the moment just before catching your second wind, where I just hate life... I'm tired and hungry, my legs are burning, the pack and rifle feel like they weigh a billion fucking pounds, the goddamn sand fleas are biting my neck, the asshole in front of me smells and keeps clipping me with his rifle butt, I am ready to give up.  The column is stretching out in front of me into the night and we are walking out onto a long tarmac.  There is a clear night sky above us, with stars twinkling and a mostly full moon, but I couldn't care less at this point.  Than I saw a shooting star streak across the sky above me.  In that quick moment, a split second of time, my entire attitude changed.  A little spring came back into me step and I could feel that shit eating grin come over my face. The march was soon over and we had a short break and a cold MRE breakfast and our Crucible was Oscar Mike.  It was all downhill for me the moment I saw that shooting star.  I will never forget the strength that filled me in that moment, and sustained me throughout that night. 

This is one of those moments I use to help me through tough times.  When the bike ride is starting to kick my ass or I am having a really shitty day at work or whatever the situation may be, I always have my shooting star to get me through.  My determination and drive to not only succeed but to excel in life is the shooting star that guides me each and every day.