Are you freezing?

 

"I had to make you uncomfortable, otherwise you never would have moved."

I am and always have been a believer of..."How you do anything is how you do EVERYTHING!"

I have a problem often with moderation especially with endurance related athletic endeavors.

I have a switch in my head that I believe is broken or for some unseen reason got locked into the state of seeking the UNCOMFORTABLE! 

Not a day goes by where I am not trying to push the limits of something in my life. The problem, if it really is ever a problem, is that it often snaps back and bites me in the but. 

Years of Ironman Triathlons, years or running marathons and ultramarathons, years of daily exercise pushing the limits of what I can do has always just multiplied into what's next? I know for a fact that my wife at times is driven crazy by my inability to remain calm. I guess its the addictive gene that has been passed down to me and has just multiplied into a different venue. 

Its no secret that this fall I am attempting to swim close to 10 miles in the ocean and while not one ounce of it scares me...I continue to callous my mind as the one thing that holds us back is not in the physical realm but the mental environment we live in.

Physically we can do so much more in life than we ever give ourselves credit for. If you disagree then I challenge you to put something difficult on your schedule and be consistent with the prep. You may be sore, tired and humiliated at times but when you embrace the process you almost always succeed. 

Physical capacity for success is not overly difficult! What becomes difficult is the mush between your ears that tells you to quit, tells you its too hard, tells you that you suck, tells you its impossible, tells you its ok to sleep in and tells you only an idiot would sit in a ice bath at 38 degrees! 

Alzheimer's unfortunate has a similar effect except its not telling you the cant's and wont's but its just, simply taking away your ability to mentally engage! Physically you are fine but mentally the lights are being turned out! 

That said...I try and get as uncomfortable as I can as frequently as I can so I can build the biggest, baddest, ugliest callous in my mind so when times are tough my mind tells those negative thoughts to go fly a kite. 

Cold immersion, cold therapy and just plain being cold while no one truly loves it in the moment! The cold has this uncanny ability to build a better version of you! 

For the past three weeks I have sat in a cold bath at 38-42 degrees for 5-10 minutes a day! Why? There are physiological benefits but I truly don't care about them as they will happen anyways. What I know for a fact is that the anxiety prior to getting in and the will to immerse and survive has made me a stronger person each time! 

That mental edge will serve me well when hours into a multi hour swim my mind starts wandering towards the evil side...

Also being cold or simply uncomfortable brings out memories of survival in the past and how we won...

I have been to dozens of Chicago Bears games in my life...to say you are big Monsters of the Midway fans is an understatement! 

Over the past 30 plus years I have seen some of the greatest players of all time in person! 

However which games do I remember the most?

Two of the coldest games I have ever been to in my life...

You see my stepdad always had a rule...WE NEVER LEAVE A GAME TILL THE END!

Halloween 1995 it was pouring rain (rain was coming in sideways) and around 36 degrees out...to say that this was the most unpleasant I have ever been in my life would be 100% correct! Ouch! Frozen! Couldn't move! And to make it worse...Brett Favre and the Pack won! However that memory will always serve me as one of the greatest moments of braving the elements and overcoming! I owe that to my stepdad for callousing my mind then...

The next game would of course be another Packers game in the 90's in which the wind chill temp at the game was -28 degrees. It was so cold that if you purchased a hot chocolate that by the time you got back to your seat it was a frozen chocolate concoction. My stepbrother Doug and I complained the whole time that it was ridiculous! However in true fashion we stayed in our seats and didn't leave till the final whistle, although we probably never left because we were frozen to our seats! Yet another callousing of my mind for the future...

Why do I share these memories...

1. To remind my stepdad how special he has been in my life and to try and not let Alzheimer's win!

2. To remind myself of overcoming difficulty. When we do hard things it becomes crucial that we catalogue those events so when we face adversity again we can just pull out the rolodex of memories and tell our mind...I GOT THIS!

Make It Count!