The Brodacious Project

Every person should have a favorite movie that came out the year they were born.

 My "fav" from my birth year is Rocky IV.   In fact, two of my favorite movies of all time are Rocky III and Rocky IV.  Aside from the fact that both these movies have great characters, messages, lack of four-letter words, memorable music, and inspiring training montages, Sly Stallone's commitment to physical fitness for these movies is something to be appreciated.

Stallone is by far, one of the most dedicated physical fitness persons I have ever seen (actor or not).  I respect people who train hard--whether the reason being a film, sport, etc.--and sacrifice the things they want right now for things they want in the future. Giving up the things you want [long term goals] in order to have the things you want right now [instant satisfaction] only leads to the pain of regret, not the comforting pain of sacrifice (oxymoron).

In my "research" about men and women, I always come back to simple explanations.  The most simple, but accurate explanation to queries is, "it's a man thing."  I can't explain why I wanted to complete this project, train so hard, or find personal tests to go through. I just like it, it's fun, it's a challenge, it's a project, it's a Brodacious thing.  I ran my project idea by my sister, Mack, she wasn't interested (although she did help me with the pictures).  This affirmed that it is definitely a man thing. :)

*The two greatest contributions to society in 1985:  My birth and Rocky IV, in that order.

So let us get to it.  In Rocky IV Stallone trains and fights in wintry Russia.  It is one of the greatest training montages, complete with great music, I have ever seen.  I have a lot of time on my hands so I got to thinkin' how much fun it would be to 1. Do the training Rocky did in Siberia, and 2. Try to emulate the action shots of Rocky's training.  This was a project of entertainment, training, and honestly I found it quite satisfying.  Like I said, I like this movie, working out, and making my own unique adventures.  By the way, one of the best parts of the movie is when Rocky is training hard and Tony, the trainer, yells, "No Pain!"


Training Scenario One:  The Sled Pull

*Rocky pulls Uncle Pauly

*Brodacious pulls Nephew Uriah

Training Scenario Two:  Pull ups

*Rocky training hard, no pain!

*Brodacious training hard, no pain!

*I set a new personal record, 25 pull ups

Training Scenario Three:  Mountain Running

*I have other posts about mountain running, a picture does not do it justice

Training Scenario Four:  Wood Cutting

*No living trees were hurt in the making of this project

Training Scenario Five:  The Log Run

*Rocky

*Brodacious, still, no pain

Training Scenario Six:  The Strongest Version of Self

I had a lot of fun with this project.  The planning, the training, and the production was satisfying.  I love adventures and I love to have fun.  Any exercise or activity that gets people away from the TV and computer is a good thing.  However, it is rather ironic I type at the computer for my website about getting off the couch.  Who knows what I will do next, I train unconventionally because that is what it takes to win. :)  I hope you are smiling, because I am.  Push yourself to your limits, remember what it takes to be a champion. 

No Pain!

***A caveat. It's hard not to come off self-centered when you have a website dedicated to yourself. It's even harder when you have a website clad with stories, results, and pictures about yourself. I am not cooler, neater, or more awesome than anyone else.  My intentions have always been to share adventures, goals,  motivations, entertain, race, and have fun being healthy.  If you don't have your health, you don't have anything. 

The Epic Run

Enter the “Epic Run.” Some people love to run on the treadmill, I don’t. A few years ago I would occasionally run on the treadmill, but I haven’t been on one in years. This is not to say I don’t like it, after all, it is a great tool for exercise. However, I would rather run outside, sun or snow. I’m a triathlon-mountain-man. It’s the same with cycling, if the roads aren’t an immediate hazard in the winter, I pull Janet-Bike or my mountain bike out of the stable and ride.

The Epic Run is a five-mile loop through the mountains. To call it a run, is generous. To actually run the entire thing would be near impossible—I said near impossible, nothing is impossible with the right attitude—due to the extreme terrain. Some portions you have to crawl up, hop over and diver under trees, and side-hill like a mountain goat. The entire loop takes about an hour, but there is no sense of time when you enter the world of epic-ness.

*Any means necessary

The run starts with a six-minute stretch of relatively flat terrain. This is the warmup. The climb starts subsequent to this “easy” portion. The next 30 minutes is a constant climb deep into the mountains. No houses, no people, just trees, nature, and animals. Speaking of the latter, I always carry some form of protection on my mountain adventures.

*Marles Barkley in formation

I have had past adventures with wild animals. The most intimidating was an encounter with two HUGE bull moose while mountain biking deep in the woods. The overpowering size of the moose standing 10 feet from me will stay with me forever, what a powerful, awesome animal.

On the Epic Run I cut the tracks for the trail with my footsteps in the fresh snow. The route is unique to me, not many other people run the loop. Mackenzie runs the loop after I told her about it, so that would make two people. You get the point. I ran the same route the next day, but my tracks weren’t the only ones. I noticed the tracks of a mountain lion (aka mountain cougar) that accompanied my day old tracks.

Rather intimidating to see a mountain lion trekking the same path that I took the day before. However, things like this do not cause fear, just awareness. I had my bear spray (my chosen method of protection, it’s hard to run while toting a gun) and I knew that if the mountain lion was close the dogs would most likely “tree it” with their barking and natural instinct for pursuit. Animals are no problem at all, just makes for a good story, and heightened awareness of being alive.

I trekked the Epic Run through the climb, the spooky forest, the switchbacks, the burn, and then found myself on the best part of the run, the fire trail. The fire trail is about a mile long, slightly downhill, wide open, and perfect to let it fly. The fastest running is downhill running, it is also the most injurious.

*The spooky forest

The fire trail on the Epic Run was awesome because it had about a half-foot of snow cover. This allowed the speed of downhill running, but the snow cover combined with a behind-the-hip footstrike made for fast and soft running. The feeling of bookin’ down the mountain with soft footstrike and a body that begged for more speed was as close to flying as humanly possible. The momentum of the downhill would carry up and over the top of the few inclines on the fire trail like a roller coaster. My legs and lungs asked for more as the speed would pick back up. The dogs had a fantastic time in chase as we all blasted off the side of the mountain. Sweet...

The last section is a steep downhill to get back to the house. My legs, lungs, and my dogs were all tired. What a fitting end to the Epic Run. No other word would be fitting, epic. Here’s my advice: Find the “epic” in the things around you. The satisfaction derived from the things you do, is a direct result of what you put into them.

*Mack feeling, epic, duh.

Mountain Running - New Record

I did a lot of leg exercise in preparation for the mountain.  Leg workouts are awesome, I love the pain they bring. All athletes need leg workouts.  My two favorite leg exercises are lunges and squats, or any application of the two.  

*Notice the car jacks, I use whatever means necessary to feel the burn

*Oh man, now I'm feelin' it

I would say that, for the middle of winter, I am the most fit I have ever been.  Notice I said "fit," not "fast."  Being fit in the winter is a good thing; being fast in the winter is a forecast for failure in the summer.  If you are fit, then you have stamina, conditioned muscles and tendons, and motivation.  If you are fast you are most likely over-trained, over-sharpened, and setting yourself up for along season of fatigue and burn out.  A fast winter means your candlewick of race fitness is already burning. Trust me.

Scott and I have both been training for the mountain.  When asked, what is so important about getting to the top of the mountain as fast as possible?  The question reminded me of something.  I know a girl at the pool who, slightly accusingly, would ask, “Why do you swim the IM [individual medley]? You’re a triathlete, you only need freestyle.”  My reply to both her question and the question about the mountain was to smile and say, “Because that’s what champions do.”  

What’s the point of having a huge mountain if you are not going to see how fast you can get to the top?  What’s the point of only swimming freestyle when the IM presents much more of a challenge? The two preceding questions are rhetorical.  Overly simplified, we climb the mountain because it’s a man thing.  We want to run to the top as fast as we can because we want to be champions. 

*Uriah found a pair of my running shoes and wanted to join the summit team

*Actually, it was a half-dozen who made the summit, the pack

*Getting ready for the start

The climb was a tough one.  The footing was still pretty poor.  Scott and I were slipping from the start.  The first few minutes of the climb is when you feel the best. Your anaerobic system is accumulating waste, but it's not overloaded yet.  At about the 5 minute mark, the muscles start to get seized up.  At this time the mountain kicks up to the steepest grade for the last few minutes to the summit.  This is tough.  Scott and I suffered at this point, but we didn't quit.   

*Climb, suffer, climb, repeat

*Jealous of my camo outfit?

I kept my head down and kept pushing my legs up like seizing pistons.  I begged myself to summit and stop.  Scott was right on my heels, he ran before the record attempt so he had extra pain to push him to the top. When we made the summit, we had broken the record by over a minute.  We were both too tired to do much besides look at our watches, and slump over the fence posts we use as the finish.  Man, that was sweet.  Scott and I waddled down the hill with our seized up legs and overly anaerobic fatigue.  "Champions...."

*On the ascent!

*Mackenzie showing her trail running skills coming off the mountain

*Scott in climb mode, he broke the record

My favorite thing after a hard workout is putting on wool socks and putting my feet up.  There is nothing better than a job well done, a thrashed body, and a smashed record.

*Speed solving a cube puzzle in my office

*Take you eyes off the kid for one minute and he opens up the Christmas candy

Some people would wonder why someone (or multiple people in this case) would spend the holidays working  out so hard.  Why punish yourself with leg workouts and running up a flippin' mountain?  You know the answer to that question, I have said it two times in this post.  

The hard workouts were actually fun, it's fun to workout with a goal in mind.  Try it, see how far you can take yourself with personal tests.  The people in my family do hard workouts because we love to workout...hard, we also like to win [some more than others :)].  Breaking the record by over a minute was exactly what Scott and I wanted to do, for fun.

*The prediction is...pain

Holiday Fun 2

1.  I decided to change my image...

2.  But I obviously looked like a fool, so I had to change it back.

3.  I went to a Holiday party and found a HUGE cat.

*A 24 pound cat

4.  At that same party I found a 24 pound nephew

*A 24 pound cat and 24 pound nephew

5.  A flash mob developed in a basement

6.  I took it over with dance moves like this...

and this...

*Brodacious is in control now, the mob is all mine

* "Go B-Ry, go B-Ry"

7.  I gave Mackenzie a beat-down in ping pong

*Return to sender

*The serve that has not been returned in 2 decades

*Doing the impossible with a diving return

*Come get some, sucka!

 8.  I remained the family table tennis champion...with the best dance moves