Birthday Challenge

They don't call it birthday easy so here's how the day's going down on December 19th...it's a friday so mark your calenders!
-27 mile run
-27 mile bike
-listen to 27 kiss songs (for Ken)
-270 pushups
-27 hangboard pullups
-drink 1 small bottle of Paddy (from Amber, hopefully she gives it to me)
-have 27 plus friends at the post party at Woo Dogs in Orion


This must be done within a 24 hour period to be a complete success. This year the challenge is dedicated to my late Uncle Ken Patch who never saw his 27th birthday. He was one to always live life to it's full potential and should be a reminder to the rest of us to do the same. The run will be last on the agenda probably starting around 1-2 in the afternoon. I am looking for participants especially for the run part, whether you can run 1 mile or 5 my goal is to have at least one person with me at all times. Party will start around 7pm and last till I pass out from alcohol or exhaustion. Good times to be had by all.

Purpose

What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?

"me and kyson love running!"

Thought of the day

It is when we are no longer allowed to be silent that we have truly lost our freedom.

Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming. -John Wooden(1910-, American Basketball Coach)



There are two ways (of many I'm sure) to look at the idea of giving your best. The above quote is a great summation of what arete is all about, becoming the best that you are capable of becoming. It's about doing all that you can whenever you can. The other way is that of Sean Connery in the rock... "Losers always whine about giving their best, winners go home and fuck the prom queen." In a certain way both ways are right on. Too often today we transpose "best" and "try". You'll hear it all the time, especially in amateur sports "don't worry about it, you gave it your best", which really means "you merely tried asshole and now we're going to lose because you couldn't stand up and show what you're made of." But it's easy to see, it's rarely difficult to tell the difference between trying and giving your best. This has a great deal to do with quality and our ability to recognize it but our inability to define it. We will all agree that such a thing as quality exists, however, once we begin defining it, all we are doing is defining certain characteristics, not quality itself. The same goes for arete, you can't really nail it down to a definition because the true definition is different for every person... it's about reaching full potential but that summit is different for each individual. So my advice is this, do your best, succeed in fulfilling your true potential and through this you will have succeeded in life. And no matter win or lose, if you do the above, I say go home and fuck the prom queen anyways.

top pic: me and kyson after our 6 miles this morning

middle: kyson getting his flea bath

bottom: our little lap dog

"Every failure made me more confident. Because I wanted even more to achieve things, as revenge. To show that I could." -Roman Polanski(1933-, Film director)

Often life seems to be about one thing, proving oneself. It doesn't really matter why or to whom, the point is that we feel the need. We feel the need to prove to ourselves, to our parents, to the ones we love and the ones we hate. We especially feel the need to prove ourselves to those cynical many amongst us, those of the cannot mentality. It is especially difficult to convince that overly cynical person when that person is none other than yourself. We must first convince ourselves we can achieve what we can dream. Realizing our capabilities is one of the most powerful things we can accomplish.

this blog is not working very well and in fact is never going to post just the way i want it to and i'll have to pull all my hair out trying to figure out how it works.............................................................................................................. scgfdgafg adf adsf dsffffffffffffffffffff

Right is right, even if everyone is against it; and
wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it.

Is it difficult to find happiness within yourself
and it is impossible to find it anywhere else.

Two very different quotes that upon first inspection
seem harmless enough, but upon further reading convey
some serious problems. What is right? Do we always
know? And more importantly is it always constant?
What is happiness? Certainly it cannot be a
constant since it must be different for all right?
And how do you find something that is already in you?

inspiration

You don't have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things -- to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals.

-Sir Edmund Hillary



There may very well be two kinds of people in this world, those inspired by acts of greatness and those whom are only capable of disbelief. Many of us lack the confidence in ourselves to believe that we can do something extraordinary, something inspiring, but we can adjust our confidence levels through our perception of what others are capable of. Even still we will often remain cynical, just because Ed Viesturs can climb to the top of all the highest mountains doesn't mean that I can climb a mountain, period, after all he's an elite athlete!However, when we learn that Joe Blow from South Dakota scaled Everest with one prosthetic leg, well then we reevaluate our perceptions of what it possible. If he can do it than maybe I can too. But inspiration doesn't have to carry over to the same sport or actions from which it came. Somebody running 100 miles in a day is inspiring but all it needs to do is make you realize that there are undone things in your own life that can be completed with the same level of commitment and determination. Maybe you just want to work out 3 days a week, or have the strength to leave a job you hate, or mend a friendship that is broken. The point is acts of greatness don't have to come from great people, in fact in most cases the most inspiring stories come from the average Joe. It's up to us to decide what we do with these stories. Do we maintain our belief that everyone but us is capable or do we dare to push our own limits into an unknown frontier? After all, only those who risk going to far can possibly find out how far one can go.

Top pic is Shannan crossing an avalanche shoot below Chasm Lake, CO

Pain

PAIN! It's a constant in life in-so-far-as where there is life there will be pain. Most of us have been taught to avoid pain whenever possible... why put yourself through more than you have to? Maybe so you can be prepared for more than you'll want to. There are those of us though that seek out pain in one form or another. If we can rise to the challenges we set for ourselves on a daily basis, then the daily trifles that we often encounter don't seem to be such a pain. For instance a rude customer at work is nothing compared to the 10 mile hill workout you did earlier that day or the killer leg workout you completed last week. Your boss can be a pain in the ass but not nearly as bad as the crossfit WOD that made you throw-up yesterday. Others think of their pain as a great reward. From the birthday challenge website... "With no pain, there is no struggle, no struggle, no rewards, and if no rewards, then why bother living at all?" Challenges will often bring about pain and through this we can do one of two things... give up or keep going. And that's what life boils down to... never does an inspiring story involve someone giving up. Pain is what reminds us that we are still alive, it is what connects us as a society, and it is pain that can remind us that pushing our own limits shouldn't be a comfortable walk in the park.

can't

CANNOT. It's a simple word and one we use continually on a daily basis... but it has come to encompass more than what it's simple meaning implies. We use it as a synonym for won't, shouldn't, and don't want to. Of course this word rears its ugly head in the face of adversity and challenging situations. I CAN'T run a marathon, I CAN'T do a push up, I CAN'T stop smoking. We as a people are more capable than anyone gives us credit for, including ourselves. From childhood we are continually told no and can't and don't. We are rarely told yes, go ahead and try it, give it a shot, and why not. Many of these cases may seem insignificant, but after years of repetition we begin to believe what we hear and soon we are not capable of much. Only those who risk going too far will find out how far one can possibly go. These are the people we call daredevils, risk takers, and in many cases idiots. 'Why would anyone want to do such a thing' is a phrase these types hear often enough. And this is what it boils down to, most don't seek to do things others can't do, but rather do those things that others won't do. We as a people are capable of great things, but we hold ourselves back and place restrictions on our own actions. The greatest feeling received from going through these challenging actions... ambition. Many marathon books will say your greatest achievement is not that you finished but that you had the courage to start... and this speaks to the point of the matter. If you are unable to find in yourself the ambition to start than the only logical outcome is that you CAN'T... no matter what the challenge may be. So lets pat ourselves on the back and recognize that we CAN... then go out and do it.