A Champion's Creed

If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you'd like to win but you think you can't
It's almost a cinch you won't.
If you think you'll lose, you're lost.
For out in the world we find,
Success begins with the fellow's will,
It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are;
You've got to think to rise.
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man;
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the one who thinks he can.
- Author Unknown

Wanda tells me that this is from Napoleon Hill's "Think and Grow Rich". You'd think that I'd remember that since I read that book about 20 years ago.

Wanda said...

Hi, John!

Ummm...that poem is in "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill.
(^__^)

Mistaken Identity

No...
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This isn't me.
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1. This photo is obviously shot in San Francisco Bay, and I haven't lived there for over ten years.

2. The planking of this tender is lapstrake, and mine is cedar stripped. Plus I don't have a burgee flying off of the transom.

3. This guy is skinnier that I am and he has a beard. It's obviously not me... but I sure wish I was out there rowing.

So how could you make such a stupid mistake?????

Thinking of Pre and Jaz

It's so sad that Steve Prefontaine was cut down in his prime.
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He was inspirational in the way that he gave his all.
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Who knows what he would have accomplished if he didn't die so tragically in that car crash? He'd probably be a Nike executive, but I'm sure that he would have pushed the running envelope.
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After all these years, and even though he's dead, he still provides motivation.
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When I was at UMASS, there was a kid a year ahead of me on the track team that reminded me of Pre.... Tom Jasmine. He was a little reckless and seemed to push the limit.
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I remember running with him on snowpacked snowmobile tracks in the wooded Berkshire Hills. Jaz was a lot better than I was, and he was way ahead of me on the trail, but waited for me to catch up with him at key turns, so that I didn't get stuck out there lost and alone.
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He used to call me "kid" which seemed funny since he was only a year older than I was.
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Jasmine and his girlfriend died in a car crash too. A tractor trailer slammed into them out in the Berkshires at the end of his Sophomore year.
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I think about Pre and Jaz every once in awhile.

Spring

From an astronomical standpoint, the seasons have changed from Winter to Spring.. It's still freezing, but there was a flock of Robins in the Japanese Flowering Crab and the snow covered lawns on the street yesterday.
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They always look out of place in the cold and snow.... but they must know what they're doing.
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After all... it's Spring, and Robins are the experts.

Foggy Mountain Breakdown

This is just in case you haven't heard enough "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" by Earl Scruggs lately.



Johnny B. Goode

Careful Preparation

Brown and Wojcik are in Las Vegas. Do you think they are preparing for the Epic October Event???
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Me Neither.
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As you can see, I have carefully and thoroughly planned my approach to success in this matter of pride, honor and manhood. Brown and Wojcik will taste ignominious failure in October, due to their frivolity in March.
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I have reduced the training phase to a spreadsheet complete with links to Hal Higdon's marathon coaching web sites for an 18 week intermediate Marathon training program. If any of you pretenders want a copy of the spreadsheet, I will email it to you free of charge.
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That's how confident and magnanimous I am.

On a Streak

I hope that most of you don't come to this Blog just to check my workout stats. But just in case you do, you will note that I have worked out every day for the last seven days - an adult personal record.
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The establishment of consistency is an accomplishment in and of itself. And Maintaining that consistency is a strong motivational influence.
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My knee ( the one that I screwed up by taking the advice of the insidious Wojcik ) feels great. And I feel pretty good, although I'm definitely not ready to leave the bike and go to the treadmill. There's plenty of time, and I am keeping the faith.

Farewell, Lagavulin

I just finished another bottle of Lagavulin.
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It's like saying goodbye to an old friend.
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I can't keep torturing myself like this.

Wisdom...... and POTW 9

Peeps....
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Those of you who know me well, know that while I'm not always right, I'm seldom wrong.
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So let me give you these words of wisdom.
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If some pompous Asshole decides to tell you in a highhanded, condescending, sanctimonious way that his point of view is the moral and ethical alternative.... prepare to be lied to and/or cheated by said Dipshit.
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Heed my wisdom... I'm damn right about this.
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Announcing....
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for Week 9 of 2008

• Doug Maxfield
• Lauren Rathbone
• Sam Simons
• Bill Hillegas
• Mike Nestor
• Steve Farrar

BTW, the above wisdom applies to none of these individuals.

Doctor's Appointment

So I called the Doctor's office to get my Lisinoprin High Blood Pressure medication renewed, and they said that I had to get a checkup again with Dr. Casale.
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That's so premature.
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I wanted to lose at least 25 lbs before I am to be subject to his sneering attitude as he ridicules my weighted state of being. Plus I hate those rubber gloves.
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The problem is of my own making. Louis Casale was my MD when I was 18 years old and weighed 160 lbs. I should have switched physicians in the meantime so he wouldn't have such a clear point of reference.
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Just because he hasn't changed in 30 odd years, he expects me to weigh as much as I did as when I was a carefree, young stud.
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Although I was never really that. Carefree I mean.
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This will be a good benchmark though as I make my assault on marathoning history.

Hunch Plays Out.

The great stuff that I thought would happen on Monday happened today instead.
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Totally out of the Blue.
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I was completed blindsided.
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It couldn't be better.
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Too Bad I can't tell you what it is. I'm sworn to confidentially.
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But it's real good.

Workouts are Working Out

Ever since the insidious Bob Wojcik ridiculed my workouts, I've picked up the pace, and I'm feeling pretty good about it. Plus, ArchRival Joe Collins informs me that he has been keeping up with my workout progress by reading this pathetic Blog.
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So, I have to log 10 miles on the bike and note it on the Blog to keep Collins honest. I have no place to go but up, (or in this case, down... based upon my current overweightedness.)
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The good part is that no matter how your day goes, if you get a workout in, you've done something good and positive. And exercise definitely reduces stress.
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My problem is that after I work out, I feel like I've deserved a beer, or anything else that I can scarf down from the refridgerator. So weight loss doesn't seem to be keeping in step. But my pants do feel a bit roomier. My scale is off, so checking weight has not been a consistent metric in this regime.