EB Tree

"If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between the desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day."

In the book, Confronting Empire, the late Pakistani dissident, Eqbal Ahmad says of Chomsky: "He has never wavered ... There is a consistency of substance, of posture, of outlook in his work. Consistency, of course, means repetition. Over the last twenty years, Chomsky has repeated himself a lot...the truth has to be repeated. It doesn't become stale just because it has been told once."

A couple of juicy quotes for a Saturday morning. The first from E.B White and the second about Noam Chomsky. Two gentlemen whom I admire tremendously.

Continuing my "meaning quest" begun only two days ago (we haven't gone far from the kitchen yet) these two have provided a touch of motivation for the day. As if a tri-geek in Cascadia needs any more inspiration than a splash of morning sun in February.

Steph is training for her first marathon, the North Olympic Discovery. We are in week three of her training program. This morning we have a flat 10K scheduled. We started with a 5K, added 2.5K last week and will now stretch it out, slowly, deliberately and today, in the sun. She is doing great as a result of her deep base developed thru years of cycling, which makes the transition to running all the easier. A fact she is proving to herself with every K. Tomorrow is our 7th 90 minute high-intensity Sunday spin, with half of Chilly Hilly's 33 miles afterwards. Yesterday I got in a terrific 90 min speed ride on the old QR. It was nice to have the gas in the tank when I wanted to stomp on it. And yesterday I stomped.

The world changes as it is enjoyed. Grin more, gripe less. And you can quote me on that.

I also gave a good deal of thought to the concept posted yesterday by Lucho about data and its misuse. Let's face it, at its most basic, I am in the data biz. That is what we do with CompuTrainer ergometers. My application with video merely supports the accumulation of numbers indicating, time, speed, distance, power and the body's reaction to them. So when Tim eloquently spoke of the changes in biochemistry at the onset of less than ideal data (higher heart-rate, fewer watts, slower mph) as being initiated in the brain as opposed to the body (motor), an eyebrow went up in a hurry. And stayed there most of the rest of the day. You might want to go back to yesterdays post and check it out again, I said to myself several times.

Which bring us to Noam and the beautiful words about him from Eqbal Ahmad. That "Consistency, of course, means repetition". Repetition. Ride hard, ride often. Consistency. Run lots, run in flow. Change. Follow an inside hard spin with an outside gentle one. Enjoy.

Motivation.
Inspiration.
Encouragement.
Change.
Enjoyment.
Consistency.
Repetition.

Time to go run.