Red Bull/Adrenal Glands, Failure Alternative, Movie Reviews

For most of my life I have heard the word “adrenaline” used many times and have used it myself while not really knowing what it is or where it comes from. From all I know it could be a can of Red Bull inserted somewhere in between my brain cells or butt cells, but I do know it exists and has been credited with many physical feats. It appears that it is never applied to mental feats but only to the physical side. So, I consulted Mr. Webster and found that there are two small adrenal glands just above the kidney, and they are the dudes that enable us to do super things with our body and mind. I have heard stories of people doing super strength things that were attributed to the adrenal gland. You see long distance athletes who run for 26.2 miles and then pass out at the finish line or other athletes who are able to do their thing until the bell rings and then it is over and they have nothing left. This is the adrenal gland working on over time and then when it is over, poof, you’re done. I know of Ironman triathletes who train for 12 months to prepare for their next Ironman distance race and then when they have completed it, pooooffff, they are done for a while. So what happens here? The adrenaline junkies will tell you that there is just so much allocated for each feat and then it needs to be built up again, both mentally and physically. My thinking is the mental buildup is more the reason, since if you have the mentality to start training again then the two little cute glands just above your kidney is ready to rock and roll also. Finally to the point of my story (sorry the adrenal glands are really working this morning, since I haven’t posted in a week), and it concerns my goal to win my age group in the Southwest Challenge Series, for triathlon and duathon. It all started early in the year when I was able to chalk up some first place points and put myself in control of my destiny. With great advice from my friend Balls and my desire to do everything I could to win it, I became somewhat obsessed with getting it done. But I also conditioned myself to believe that if I didn’t get it done I had at least done everything possible to achieve it. So, I was leaving nothing out there for the imagination and focused my mind and body towards this goal, no matter what my competition did. While I knew Mr. John LeRoy was much faster than me I also knew I could position myself at races and get some good points. On the other hand I also knew that at some races I would be faster than usual because of the adrenaline gland factor and the, “just having a good day factor.” Fact is I had this happen at one of the races, knowing past history of the competition I would probably get a second and with the help of the almighty glands I took a first. So this taught me never to over look the opportunities that come up and always be prepared to exceed my expectations. The month of September was an extremely trying and tiring time, with 5 races in the month and two on one weekend I was ready to take a break. But going into the last race of the month I was slightly ahead in the points and needed only the finish the Elephant Man Triathlon (by far the most difficult Olympic course in the series) and I had the Championship. By this time I had driven over 6,000 miles, had completed 16 triathlons and still had a 760 round trip to drive for the Elephant Man. I planned out the week with light workouts, rest (even though I did bowl on Wednesday night, and had two beers). Since I was traveling by myself I would not be able to sleep while Marti was driving, so I planned on some naps along the way at road side parks. After arriving in Elephant Butte, NM I found that the lake was in good order (wetsuit temperature water), and the high ground temperature would be around 90. Bottom line here is that the race went well, I finished 2nd and beat my time of last year by over 4 minutes and took the overall SWCS hardware for the 70-74 age group. After it was over so was the adrenaline in this old body, if there was a measuring gauge on my left butt I would say it would register a bit EMPTY. This week I have done 1,000 yards in the pool, bowled, napped, worked some, gone to two movies, been irritable and really wondered where my next adrenaline rush will be coming from. I considered riding the Hog but the weather got a little rainy, so now I am juicing up on Red Bull and hitting the key boards so hard I have shattered my nails and knuckles. Oh well, now we know more about this “adrenaline” rush thing, so let’s get ready to rumble at Kona, and Clearwater. No racing but we are in charge of the motorcycles, so we have a job to do. Now I wonder, what am I going to do about the SWCS in 2010??? I wonder??? Thanks again Balls!!!

My of my favorite books that I keep handy is “Life’s Greatest Lessons”—20 things that matter, written by Hal Urban. It is a great book and I really recommend it; however, it has got one chapter that really rocks me on and one that I do not totally agree with. But I am trying to see his point of view and warm up to it, since he has sold over 250,000 of these books and must know what he is talking about. While I have never liked to use the word failure he likes to really expound on it. So much so that he makes failure seem like a stroll through the park and not a bad thing. As I read it more I am seeing his point. While my definition of failure has always been, “learning experiences”, I see how my thoughts and his thoughts do have strong similarities. After all Thomas Edison claims he didn’t fail 10,000 times in developing the electrical light bulb he just discovered 10,000 ways that it would not work. What brought this entire “failure” question up was when we decided not to put on the Giant Side Motorcycle Rally in 2010, after laboring over it for the past two non-profit, break even, years. So, to determine if this is a failure or another great lesson let’s apply the Mr. Urban smell test for failure—1. He says, failure teaches us humility, and shows us we are not invincible. MG- Well we learned that well and have taken our licks from the Hog riders of America and are now humble. 2. Failure teaches us to correct our course of action, and forces us to try a new direction. MG-glory be, we have seen our shortcoming and will try a new direction, no more motorcycle rallies in our lifetime. 3. Failure teaches us that we can’t always have what we want, even when we do what we thought was right and what the motorcycle riders wanted. MG-it took two years but we did get it after this year. 4. Failure teaches you to move on and search out those things that best fits your life style, attitude and what makes you feel good. MG-Urban really didn’t add that last one, so I did. We have consented to bring the Centurion Cycling racing to Texas and will be working with Graham Fraser. Now that is within our comfort zone!!!

Movie Reviews: “The Informant”, **, this is a true story, presented in comedy format, about the highest-ranking whistleblower in American history. Matt Damon stars as Mark Whitacre, who blows the whistle on his company’s price-fixing conspiracy to the FBI. However, when the feds require more evidence, Whitacre plays at being a secret agent, envisioning himself being hailed as a hero. Of course he gathered over $9 million of this stolen money, and used bi-polar disorder as his excuse. Rated R for language.

“Surrogates”, *, my feeling is that if you want a good nap go see some of this sci-fi stuff. So I did, and I got a good nap. Not even Bruce Willis can bring this boring piece of film out of the ditch. It is sometime in the future way over 2400 a.d. when there are surrogates who do the work for the actual humans, who lay on some kind of plugged in modified dentist chair while the robot does everything for them. Then for some reason there is a weapon designed to kill all of this robots. Kind of like I feel about cell phones, twitter, texting, you tube, my tube, your space, my space, and all of that garbage. Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, disturbing images, language, sexuality and a drug-related scene. (This rating was obviously written to get your interest, I don’t remember any of this, of course I was asleep through most of it, and fact is I was told that I even snored, good for me!)

greerman