Author: Crushing Iron

By Mike Tarrolly for the Crushing Iron Triathlon Podcast

The Crushing Iron blog began the day I signed up for my first Ironman. At 49-years-old, I was just starting to run after years of neglecting my health. The blog was meant as a place for me to be honest and sort through the often confusing thoughts surrounding the direction of my life.

I wrote almost daily, and shared it with the world. I’m certain this consistency played a major role in completing 5 Ironman races over the next 5 years.

I was open, fearless, and sometimes even funny in my writing. It was a process that helped me understand the demands of Ironman training all while cleansing years of suppressed thought and questionable behavior.

But a while back, for some reason, I couldn’t write anymore. At least not with the same freedom.

I was focused on writing for others rather than myself –and most good writers will tell you that is a fatal flaw. So, I flailed in my head looking for a way out and somehow landed on meditation.

Mediation

The goal was fairly simple. Sit twice a day for twenty minutes. Don’t sweat the excessive thought, just sit and “practice” meditation. That’s exactly what I did, and it lasted . . . two weeks.

I’d always dabbled in meditation, but rarely at this level of intensity. The results were powerful, and frankly . . . a little frightening.

Meditation is meant to calm the mind and help find your true self amidst the clutter. But when you open energy pathways, buried thoughts begin to surface, and they’re not always pretty.

I liken it to a detox similar to giving up drugs or changing your diet. These can be painful stretches that scare the shit out of you and I’m convinced it’s why most people struggle to change their lives. Detoxification can be brutal, and often feels like you’re punishing your body and well-being.

But like getting into shape, the pain is temporary. Maybe two days or two months, but depending on how big the change, eventually the pain is replaced by a new level of pleasure. The key is to either have a high level understanding of this, or have someone around (a coach, mentor, etc) who can confirm that, despite the pain, you’re on the right path.

I didn’t have the support and as I went through this stretch of meditation alone, my world got very dark.

Mental Detox

I sensed a deep calm, but on the surface I felt lethargy and mild-depression. I was very tired and leaning more and more toward isolation.

I knew this was a good thing in the long run, but couldn’t talk myself out of the darkness. I even went online and discovered meditation detox symptoms like: Increased sensitivity to pain, irritability, restlessness, hot flashes, weakness, body aches, headaches, etc. I was looking right at these words while experiencing these feelings and I still couldn’t believe it.

So I stopped meditating.

Almost immediately, I felt more comfortable in my skin. I’d been climbing without a rope and finally reached the ground again. The problem is, when you’re climbing, the place where you started is backwards.

I’ve been contemplating that experience the last two weeks without meditation. At my core I knew I should keep going but was afraid. So, I turned to writing.

Writing has always helped me find, and maybe more importantly, remember what I know at a deep level. Writing forces me to articulate my thought and it’s usually way easier for me to write the truth than speak it to someone else. Keyboard therapy.

Training Struggles

It almost goes without saying, but the struggles I’ve faced the last few weeks have all but crushed my training. I’m quite sure there is nothing worse than getting on a trainer when you’re sore, tired, and un-motivated. I tried several times, but failed miserably with a few easy 20 minute rides. I couldn’t get it going.

I was listening to my body and my body was saying, “fuck your workouts.”

The last few days I’ve been writing again. Not with a purpose, but to clear the air. Pouring shit out with no agenda. And (not coincidentally) the last few days I’ve found myself back on the trainer or taking easy runs. Last night was my first hour-plus trainer ride in over two months. I took it very easy. I let my legs spin without resistance. And when I finished . . . it felt great.

So, as always, it comes back to consistency and patience. We’ve done that with our podcast and it has grown organically. We’ve recorded two podcasts a week. It felt attainable and right. We had no agenda other than to just do it.

A Slow Burn

I think mediating twice a day was too much in the beginning. Trying to convince myself that I need to workout twice a day right now is also too much. Or writing for 3 hours a day . . . all too much.

For me and change, the slow burn is always the way to avoid shock. Whether it’s mediation, writing, or workouts, I have to remember . . . more doesn’t always mean better.

There are nearly 1,000 posts on this blog and I didn’t write them all at once. Day by day, they slowly uncovered truths that kept me closer to my path. Writing was free, natural and fun. And of course, those are the most important parts on triathlon, too.

 

---

The Crushing Iron Podcast has 100 Five-Star reviews on iTunes and releases every Monday and Thursday. If you’re looking for coaching, a custom swim analysis or camps, please feel free to contact Coach Robbie: [email protected]

If you’re interested in receiving new blog posts, videos, podcasts, etc… please sign up for the C26 newsletter on the upper right portion of this page. Thanks for listening!

 

 

 

By Mike Tarrolly

When you have your own business and work at home, motivation can go south in a hurry. So, Sunday night I made a commitment to do something productive outside of the house every day this week. It took one night to ignite inspiration.

Nashville is absolutely loaded with options these days and Monday night I decided to hit the once-a-month gathering hosted by Nashville Creative Group. They were having a “show and tell” event where creators get three minutes to share what they’re working on. About 15 people signed up to share and I sat comfortably in my isolated chair near the back.

The third person on stage was a guy in a black suit with a handle bar mustache wearing a top hat. The look was captivating, but the story was even better.

He started by saying he had a stroke 7 years ago. He was a chef at the time but the stroke stole his memory of how to cook.

One of the therapies was to sit down and write in an effort to restore his ability to think. It was a painful process that took years. But eventually his cognition started coming back and over time he wrote a book which he proudly displayed in front of the audience. I spoke with him at the end of the night and he said it was difficult to write the book because he always forgot what he wrote the day before. But he pressed on with action and because of this book he landed a 7 book deal with his publisher.

In my heart I know this is the kind of inspiration that is waiting around every corner when I step out of my comfort zone. But inspiration isn’t action and that has been a difficult concept for me to tackle. That night I came home and pulled out a few books to really zone in on my “dreams.” But sometimes I feel like I’ve read enough, or watched enough videos on YouTube and it’s time to “make something happen.”

I think this is a very common problem, actually. Someone once described it to me as “premature optimization.” We want to “learn” everything before we do anything.

But more times than not the best way to learn is to just do it. Dive in, make mistakes, push your body to the limits. That’s how we learn and grow. That’s what triathlon is all about.

On Tuesday night a friend brought me to his professional group to see a speaker, and it turned out to be the Iron Cowboy, James Lawrence.

If you’re not familiar with James, he’s the guy who completed 50 Iron distance triathlons in 50 days in 50 different states. He talked about a few of the toughest moments, but I have to imagine there were hundreds or thousands of “I’m just going to quit” thoughts he had to overcome on his journey. As it turned out, his 12-year-old daughter may have saved the entire quest. She came to his side at a pivotal moment early in the streak. He was out of it, wobbly and trying to find a reason, any reason to quit. But she made a commitment with him, saying she would run by his side for part of every day. It was her own “50 5K’s in 50 Days,” and she wasn’t a runner.

So, this brings me back to how does inspiration intersect with action? I kinda think that inspiration germinates inside and someone (or something) else turns those desires into action. It’s really the genesis of Crushing Iron. I started writing about this journey as a novice Ironman in training and it went on periodically for years, but it took a collision of that passion with Coach Robbie to turn it into what it’s becoming. We committed to releasing podcasts on Monday and Thursday and haven’t missed one in a year. We have hosted 3 camps and coach a growing group of amazing athletes who have become the motivational force to keep creating action.

This is the topic of our latest podcast. Thank you for listening and we hope on some level we have helped you do what you’ve done for us.

Check out the “Turning Inspiration Into Action” Podcast

Speaking of Inspiration . . . if you’re looking for a great way to prepare for an Ironman or other big race in 2018, check out the C26 Triathlon Camps. We have a few spots left in each and they are sure to make you better and more confident in your racing. Four days of excellent instruction, beautiful venues, and great people. Here’s a video from one of last year’s camps. Dates are below.