Working Out...While You're Out Working

Link: USA Olympic Shooting

The Quiet Eye occurs when your gaze remains absolutely still at the target pick-up point just before and as the target is called for and the gun move is initiated. There are two important aspects of this basic yet essential skill: location and duration.

I've written about my short visit (last fall) to the USOTC (United States Olympic Training Center) in Colorado Springs. Surfing the websites, looking for information and inspiration to make progress on some of my own Fit and Effective goals, I learned about the Quiet Eye.

One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries. - A. A. Milne

Last weekend, I met up with a former running coach of mine. He was in line, and I was sipping coffee and noshing on a bagel, at our local roasting company.

"You running today?" he asked. It was a "typical" fall Saturday in Ojai, CA...60 degrees, not a cloud in the sky.

I didn't know yet, I told him. My Saturday plans were still in the works.

Well, I did eventually get out to exercise - though, I rode, I didn't run. And, the course "changed" about every 10 minutes of the ride. Where I thought I was going to go was renegotiated 7 times on one ride!

I admit I knew I "would" get out, that was the for-sure part...what was really exciting was making up WHAT I would do once I got there.

There's got to be something you're going to do after reading this post: how can you get in and get going before you think about it too much?

What if you scheduled a workout that you "always" started, but never finished? If that session didn't end, would you want to even begin?
Do you know how some people spend a lot (and I mean a LOT) of time reading, closing, and re-reading e-mails? Well, here's a note someone shared about an idea they implemented... of course, I can't make a rule for everything, but in a world of constant information flow, "7" fewer items can put a dent in it all!

Another thing that is saving a lot of scrolling and deleting time is the "mail rules" that I set up. I get seven less emails a day now. That isn't a ton, but I just got started. All in all I think that I have regained a substantial chunk of time by just getting things organized in my in-box.

Well, I did it! After a wonderful pre-Thanksgiving dinner with parents in Long Beach, I woke up on Thursday morning and we drove over to Belmont Shores.

(One of these pictures shows me getting ready at the start of the race!)

Jodi drove (as we've found I generally get into "race mode" about 2 hours before each event!), and as I'd registered the day before we were able to walk around and peruse the event prior to me running.

Mastering Work and Life Balance & Having More Fun

Do you need some advice to balance your work and your life? Well, here are several tips for balancing life, work, kids, inspirational quotes, and more.

Top Five Signs Your Work/Life Balance Needs Adjustment
Mastering Work and Life Balance & Having More Fun Here

Wanted: Intimate Marketing Relationship.

Why is it, then, that so few organizations dedicate the time and resources to actually building those all-important relationships? A corporation will spend millions on broadcasting to a huge pool of prospects. It'll busy itself with building some amazing customer database or tracking software.

I had the great fortune to meet with Lisa Snider on Friday (11/17/2006) for an interview for her site Radio Ojai.

We had originally planned to talk about this site (Fit and Effective), and I'd say the interview did follow a common theme: As busy as we all are, how do we manage things to have time for the "little things."

I had no idea, when I started to write here about the little things we can do to stay healthy, focused and fit, that it would be such a popular piece of the site. But, looking over the statistics, it's the most oft-visited section of fitandeffective.com.

As a result of that interview as well as a lot of other ideas I've collected, I'm going to be adding to that area much more often!

Link: The White Space.

I think our life is just like a Chinese painting. In order to have balance and inner peace, you need sufficient "white space". Look at your own life now, how much "white space" do you have? Is your "life painting" overly cluttered and there's no breathing room left?

Earlier this month, I attended a great weekend course, all on fitness, health, nutrition and balance. I was very impressed by the course and the instructor, JK Taylor.

Many things stand out to me about the two days of information, I'm sure I'll write about them here over time. The one I'd like to look at here: Eating less...more often.

Well, for readers of my blog, you know that I've committed to racing in New York next summer. Actually, this will be my second race in The Big Apple. I have already competed in the Fitness Games 4-miler, so I'm really looking forward to racing a full triathlon there in '07.

I'd love to build a team of "accountability buddies," so who'd like to join this mini-club? You've got just about 9 months to train! If you've been thinking of getting ready for a triathlon, here is a great one to commit to! (Oh, if you do sign up, let me know!)