There is an old term in programing: Crap In = Crap Out.  This means if you write bad code, you get a bad program.

It’s the same for your mind and body. If you put bad things in your body or in your mind this will harm the way your body and mind function. Here are 5 ways to feed your mind and body the right fuel.

Feed Your Mind:

This week find a book that will inspire you. Read a little bit of it every morning when you wake up or every evening before you go to sleep. (I’ve been reading Thich Nhat Hanh. That’s were I got the idea for this post)

Feed Your Body:

Find one healthy food that you love.  Eat it everyday.  (For me this has been organic kale. There are many different choices)

Feed Your Generosity:

Give something to someone this week, however small.

Feed Your Gratitude:

Think about all the amazing things you have for 5 minutes a day or when you are feeling a negative emotion.  Don’t wait for thanksgiving to think about things you’re thankful for.

Use Your Body:

Instead of taking a coffee break at work.  Spend the 5 to 10 minutes doing air squats or push ups.  Even if you work 10 hours a day in an office you can get in a great work out doing this.  You’ll get more done and feel better too!

If you stop running you will loose your cardio.  If you stop lifting weights you will loose your strength.  If you don’t use the knowledge you learn you will forget it.

Remember to use your gifts, daily.  Use your body, daily.  Use your mind, daily.

Make sure you don’t have to find your body or mind because “you lost it”.

If you use something every day, you will always know where it is.

Wheat Grass

Wheat Grass. I used to think wheat grass was for hippies, weirdos, and alleged cult members. Little did I know it’s one of the best kept secrets of the fitness fanatic!

(Want to know more about my run ins with Alleged Cult Members? Read the side bar, or skip ahead to get to the wheat grass.)

(Side Bar On Alleged Cult Members: Back in 2006 while working at Amazon.com, I was invited to a social marketing meeting by someone who’s identity I will keep secret. For our purposes I’ll call her Mildred.  Mildred assured me this would be a very useful meeting about social marketing and networking. Amazon is a huge company and I didn’t know Mildred very well. We were not in the same department or team and had no interaction besides basic conversation in the elevator.  I didn’t realize when I agreed to attend this meeting in an undisclosed conference room that this meeting had no affiliation with Amazon at all.

The meeting was a recruitment event for the Landmark Forum.  The Landmark Forum is an educational program I don’t fully understand. Some people call it a cult, others call it self help.  I don’t know for certain either way.  The only way to really know would be to attend one of the seminars.

I arrived at the meeting excited to meet new people. Maybe this could provide great connections within the company! Mildred introduced her friend, we will call him Stephen.  Stephen had a hard job,  to convince potential recruits to attend the Landmark Forum, and pay 500 dollars for the weekend. Of course, he didn’t get into this right away as you would never bring up the price initially in any type of sales pitch.

“Hi My Name is Stephen. Welcome to this meeting about the Landmark Education Forum.  I’m really pleased Mildred was able to get this group of 20 of you together.  I SUPER excited to tell you about the Landmark Forum and the huge difference it can make in your life!  The Landmark Forum literally changed my life!  It’s been used by the president of Reebok, among others.  I was able to change my life and take it to the next level by applying the tools I learned at the Landmark Forum.” He continued on his rant but my mind had started to wander.  I started to realize  I made a huge mistake in coming here, his rant sounded like recruitment for a cult…  something where they break you down and build you back up again,  then break you down.  Then build you back up again.  Then they get you to try to bring more people in.

“…. I used to be an overworked office manager, now I’m SUPER happy in my new job as a bar tender….”  Wait did he just say he became a bar tender?  I don’t think you need to go to a cult meeting to let you know you don’t like your job.

Most cults use the powerful psychological tool of Social Proof to recruit members and turn members into recruiters. Social Proof says essentially if people in your peer group are doing something then it makes sense for you to do it too.  Once your in a cult, you are going to try to get your peers in on it so that it proves that you are not crazy.  And there you have it a cult in the making.  So that saying if everyone else jumped off a bridge would you do it too? Is not so far from the truth except that if all your friends did jump off a bridge you probably would feel somewhat compelled to do it…. Maybe that’s why I went skydiving?

Dammit!! I thought.  I am going to have to sit through this whole thing?  Or do I?  Should I just leave?  Well, maybe this will be entertaining…

“….Look this is what we know, “  Said Stephen as he continued to draw a circle, ” This is was we Don’t Know,”  He drew another circle, ” And here in this part, this is what WE DON”T KNOW, WE DON’T KNOW”  Okay Donal Rumsfeld,  I thought. This was getting weirder.

He droned on for a long time telling of his life transformation and his rebirth.  He discussed how Landmark Forum changed his life…  (One of us, One of us, One of us) was all I could think at the time. Eventually he opened it up for questions.  I started getting nervous.  I could sense tension in the crowd.  Apparently everyone there had been tricked by Mildred to attend this meeting.  They were all angry about having to attend a pointless meeting, but not angry enough to leave hmmm.

“I heard it’s a cult,  what do you have to say about that?”  said someone from the crowd. Wow that guy is a straight shooter I thought.

Stephen battled through objection after objection.  No one there would attend for the $500 price.  When they tried to hard sell me, I used a delay tactic.

“Sure I’ll think about it.  Can’t really commit right now.  It looks like an amazing program.  Life changing I am sure! I have to run to a team meeting gotta go. ” Nervous laughter. Smile. Nod.  Wait for the opportunity to flee. The minute I left the conference room I hurried to another important meeting, that didn’t exist.

After the Landmark Forum Recruitment meeting I would duck and dodge Mildred in the halls.  If she was in the elevator I wouldn’t get in.  I actually dove behind a vending machine once when I saw her coming but it turned out to be a figment,  a ghost. She had disappeared from the Amazon halls to go, who knows where?

After she evaporated from Amazon I started thinking avoiding her was not very nice but neither is inviting someone to an ambush.

End Side Bar On Alleged Cult Members, I’ve added the words Alleged to this in hopes of not getting sued by the Landmark Form.  If you are a lawyer reading this remember I don’t know if Landmark Forum is a cult or not, OKAY!?)

Begin Wheat Grass Story

I first encountered wheat grass at Cafe Gratitude.  Cafe Gratitude screams Bay Area. There is no meat on the menu.  They only have vegan raw foods. I read about Cafe Gratitude in the East Bay Express before ever eating a meal there. The East Bay Express Article accuses Cafe Gratitude of forcing their employees to attend the Landmark Forum, that some say is a cult.  The Article put me off.  I had come into contact with the Landmark Forum in the past and was not impressed.

Most of what I put together about Cafe Gratitude was second hand or just hearsay. Very Mysterious.  You know that old saying how your reputation proceeds you? Well Cafe Gratitude has a reputation for being pretentious, vegan, new age, Bay Area, and according to the article affiliated with what some consider a cult and others claim is life changing.

I didn’t think much about Cafe Gratitude. Later in the year I went on a camping trip to Lake McClure.  Our fellow campers, a husband and wife, knew of Cafe Gratitude.  The husband who had prepared some of the best fried chicken ever tasted had this to say:

“The place is weird.  You can’t just order a meal.  You have to say how you feel.  All the meals items are feelings.  Things like, I am grateful.  I am joyful.  I am playful.  I am sassy.  I hate that place, they don’t have any MEAT!”  He said this with a carnivorous gleam in his eye and continued eating his chicken.

His wife had the complete opposite to say about Cafe Gratitude.  ” The food is amazing!  It’s all natural organic raw vegan food, it’s so good for you.  I absolutely love Cafe Gratitude.  We should totally go there some time! You’ve never been there before? Let’s set a date to go there, I would love to go!” She said getting more excited by the fact that my girlfriend seemed very opening to going there (she is a vegan after all).

Cafe Gratitude caused visceral gut reactions from people.  You either loved it or hated it with absolute certainty. This is the sign of a true brand.

I had to experience Cafe Gratitude for myself.

Weeks later we met up at Cafe Gratitude in Berkley, minus the carnivorous husband. The food seemed very expensive and it was a bit strange because the only things on the menu are vegan and raw.  It takes getting used to if that is not the world you live in on a daily basis.  On a whim I ordered a 5 dollar wheat grass juice shot. My initial reaction was ” why did I just pay 5 dollars for a 5 dollar shot of something that contains no alcohol?

The taste was.  Well.  Weird.  It tasted weird.  Wheat grass juice tasted weird. My next reaction was. Wow,disgusting and 5 dollars. Why would anyone drink this?

I left Cafe Gratitude and completely forgot about wheat grass juice shots and Landmark Forum.

3 Months went by without thinking about wheat grass juice.  I started learning more about acid alkaline balances in the body. The basic idea is that your body must maintain a certain ph balance otherwise you will experience negative side effects.  These negative side effects include low energy, aches and pains among other things. Some acid will not effect you.  But lots of acid in your body will be very harmful. Wheat grass juice happens to be one of the foods highest in alkalinity, most leafy greens are very high in alkalinity as well.

Different types of foods have different amounts of energy in them.  Wheat grass is a food that per pound has the most amount of raw energy.

Energy! I was intrigued.  I’d seen wheat grass in the store before, but how do you juice it?  How does anyone afford to drink wheat grass when it costs 2 to 4 dollars for just a small container of it, or 5 dollars a shot at Cafe Gratitude?

After hearing about the starling fact that wheat grass juice has such high nutritional content, as well as it being able to provide natural energy.  I headed to whole foods, where it was getting real in the parking lot.

But I had a stroke of luck in the produce aisle.

“Do you have any wheat grass here?” I asked

“No we don’t.” said John

“Do you know where I can get some? ” this was starting to feel illegal, I was asking some one where I could get some grass.

John was nice, it turns out he had grown his own wheat grass juice and he explained to me the whole process. You could buy organic winter wheat seed at whole foods for 1.19 a pound and plant it yourself.  In 10 days, presto you have your own wheat grass juice.  Guess how much 1 pound of wheat seed can grow. A lot.  I’m talking a mini field of wheat grass.  3 Pounds was enough to cover my patio and have more wheat grass than I could realistically even drink. The only real expensive part was finding a juicer that can actually juice wheat grass.

I put John’s formula into action.  I bought 3 pounds of seed for 3 dollars, bought organic soil, and got pots for free from a nursery in Alameda.  Then I went to work cultivating my wheat grass crops.

I drank wheat grass every day for a month.  It gives you a small initial burst of energy at first but it’s one of those things you really need to do every day to get a real benefit from.  There have been stories about wheat grass curing diseases and performing all kinds of health benifits.  The clorophil in the plant transfers it’s living energy to you.  Vegitables in the store,  how many days did they take to reach you?  Do you know how much nutrition you loose every day it’s on the shelf? Why do you think vegetables wilt over time? It’s because they are dieing.  The sooner you eat them the more nutritional benefit you get.  So it makes sense in a way.  Pick the wheat grass immediately turn it into a shot and, you’ve got yourself one amazingly natural cheap and efficent energy supplement.

I found out this week that Cafe Gratitude is closing down all of their 7 locations.  They say the $200,000 dollar law suit from former employees is too much and they can not stay afloat.  So what if they forced their employees to attended a cult like gathering at their own expense?  If they didn’t like it they could quit right?  The point is the food was weird, expensive, but truly excellent in it’s own strange way.

Without Cafe Gratitude I would never have gone down this wheat grass odyssey for ultimate energy.  Thanks Cafe Gratitude.  I am grateful and I am sad.

 Want to grow and juice your own Wheat Grass crop? Here is how:

Step 1 -  Purchase Wheat Grass Juicer ( I prefer this mechanical juicer but there are electric juicers out there that can juice wheat grass, the only downfall is they cost about $300), Organic Wheat Grass Seed, Organic Soil, and Potting material.

Step 2 – Plant your seeds,  you can either germinate these first or plant them directly in the soil.

Step 3 – Water and nurture for 8 to 10 days. You can stagger the amount you plant over a number of days so that you have fresh wheat grass available every day.

Step 4 – Juice and Enjoy.   Here is to your health!  surprisingly my first reaction about wheat grass was incorrect. The taste of the wheat grass will very in flavor depending on your ph level.  If you drink a shot while your body is highly acidic it will taste very bitter, however if your ph balance is in line already it will taste somewhat sweet.

What energy supplement will give you the most amount of energy?  What energy supplement will give you more stamina and endurance without making you crash or cause undesired side effects? These are questions that have been on my mind for many years.

Last year I was searching for the perfect energy supplement and I discussed some of my experiments on myself. The original post covered the natural Maca and Ginseng versus the man made Jack3d.

Here is the link to the original post: The Energy of The Inca – The Quest for The Ultimiate Energy.

I’ve experimented with a variety of different supplements and supper foods over the past year.  In future posts I will discuss the foods and supplements I found that gave me the biggest energy boost.  The energy quest will continue soon, thanks for reading!

When I tell people I am going to run a 50 K Ultra Marathon Trail Run.  I typically get a few responses.

“Why would you want to do that?”

and

“How far is 50 K?”

or

“You’re CRAZY!”

Let me address all of these questions and comments.

Here are the reasons why I signed up to run an Ultra Marathon

1)  Having a race on the horizon is a great way to keep up motivation to train like a crazy person.  You would have to be crazy not to train for an event like this.

2) I love the challenge.  When I don’t feel challenged there is something missing from life. There is nothing worse than feeling like you could do more than you could.

3) I’ve never attempted this distance before. I believe most limitations are self imposed.  If there is a limitation I believe you must push past it.

4) I get a free T Shirt and I get a coaster.  Nuff Said.

Race Details

50 K  is about 31.25 miles.  A full marathon is 26.2 miles.  50k technically qualifies as an Ultra Marathon but most Ultra Marathoners would laugh at this distance. (they are known to do 100k or even 100 mile races). I recently watched a documentary were distance runners ran across the whole Sahara Desert!  What I am doing is really miniscule in comparison to that. The race I’ve signed up for is the Chabot Trail Run on 2/25/2012. What seems more daunting to me is the elevation of 4,243 ft. , not the distance.   In addition to the fact that this is 5 miles further than I’ve ever run before this race is also entirely on trails. In the words of Emit Brown  “Where we are going we don’t need roads”. This completely changes the game,  running a trail is much different than running on flat roads.  Wait, what were the reasons I wanted to do this again?

You’re Crazy

Yes, probably. But in a good way.

Running is a valuable lesson for life. You have to start small.  Small things add up and compound over time.  You don’t start out running 26.2 miles, it’s not realistic to wake up and run that distance out of the blue with no training.  You start out running a 5k.  Gradually you move up to 10 k.  Gradually you move up a Half Marathon.  Then you gradually move up to a Marathon Distance. You could use this same principle for almost anything.  The more you do something the better you get at it.

Running Resources

Here are some resources I have used.  I hope you find them useful in your running pursuits!

Find A Race

Here are some places you can start to look for races.  Sign up for one!

Pacific Coast Trail Runs – (California Only) – For you California residents, this is a great resource for trail runs in California. The runs are reasonably price.  No $120 to run 13 miles.  My 50 k was only $65!

Evergreen Trail Runs – (Washington State Only) -  I haven’t used this site but thought I would include it for all my friends and family in the Seattle area.

Active.com – It seems like almost every races these days use active.com.  They have thousands of races nationally.

Documentaries

Nova Marathon Documentary -  This is a very interesting documentary about novice runners and their journey to running a full 26.2 miles. You can watch it online for free on the PBS website.

Running The Sahara Documentary -  This was free on Netflix until I canceled my subscription.  This is insane!  Check it out.  Plus it is narrated by Matt Damon (In the Team America World Police Voice).

Books

4 Hour Body -  This book is great!  It’s a resource guide to becoming super human. The only thing is you actually have to apply this knowledge you can’t just read it.

Born To Run -  This was an amazing an unbelievable book.  It provides a snap shot into the world of ultra marathon runners and a tribe that runs 70 miles at a time for fun.  This is probably the big reason why I decided to try out an ultra myself.  A note of cation, if you start reading this you will feel compelled to run!

News Articles

Interesting Article On The New York Times About Aging and Exercise -  Really interesting read about working out and old age.  Never stop running is the lesson here.  See you at your centennial party!

Magazines

Runners World Magazine -  I believe if you sign up for a race through active.com they have a promotion where you can get 12 months of this magazine for really cheap.

Trail Runner Magazine -  I am not subscribed to this trail running magazine but I hear good things.

Blogs:

A Trail Runners Blog  - I stumbled across this trail running blog when I was trying to figure out how hard a 50 k was.  It’s got a lot of great resources and interesting posts about trail running.

Zen Habits Post On Trail Running For Beginners – This is a good place to start if you want to pick up trail running but have never attempted it.

 4 Hour Blog - I can’t recommend this blog enough,  there is so much great information here.  Not a ton of material specific to trail running or ultra marathons but I highly recommend it!

Thanks for reading and Happy Trails!

Nothing is possible without a Vision.

“Where there is no Vision, the people perish” - Proverbs 29:18

“If you don’t know where you are going any road will take you there.” – Lewis Carrol

It’s important to have a compelling Vision. Without a destination you could end up anywhere.

There is nothing less compelling than a vague, ill defined Vision.

For a Vision to compel you to take action it must be specific and clear. If your Vision is compelling enough you will be pulled to it.  You won’t need someone to motivate you. Your Vision will be inspire you.

If you are going to have a Vision, why not dream big?  Why not reach for the stars?  Do you really think a mediocre Vision is going to compel you into action?

But, how do you create a compelling Vision?  How do you envision your future?  Well, for starters you have to start thinking about it, A LOT!

Here are 8 steps to create a Compelling Vision:

Start With The End In Mind -  It’s easy to get caught up in the details or actions it would take to accomplish your vision.  It’s even easier to discount ideas or dreams because they are “impossible’  without seriously considering them.  Don’t fall into those traps,  just think about what the ideal Vision is for you.  What is your ideal Vision in your business, your family, your body, your social life, and your relationships?  What kind of money would you like to make?  What kind of body would you like to have?  The sky is the limit with your vision.  Really start imagining what it would be like.  Imagine what life would be like if this had already happened.   Remember it has to be compelling and specific. Don’t use murky statements like “I want to make more money”,  that’s not specific enough. Be clear about exactly what it is you want.  Be extremely detailed.  Clarity of in your Vision is power.

Ask The Right Questions about Your Vision – Now that you have thought about your vision ask yourself questions about it.  Is this really what I truly want?  What are all the reasons I have for wanting this vision to become a reality?  Why does this vision make the most sense for me? What will it feel like to have this vision become a reality?  Will I love the process?  Will it make me happy?  Follow your intuition but make sure this is what you really want. For your Vision to come true you cannot be in conflict with yourself, you must be aligned.

Write Your Vision Down -  After you have taken the time to brain storm and really picture your absolute ideal Vision, write it down in the most vivid detail possible.  Once you write something down it become more permanent to your mind. After your write it down, keep the written copy somewhere  you will review it every day. 

Create a Vision Board For Your Vision -  Buy magazines and images that relate to your Vision. Create exactly what your vision looks like on a Poster Board and put it up somewhere that you will always see it.  This way you can always be reminded of your Vision and what it will look like.

Think About Your Vision Every Day -  Think about your Vision as much as possible.  Once you have a Vision, Don’t Forget About it! Make sure you don’t forget about your vision and go back to your normal routine.  Make it a habit to think about your vision for at least 15 solid minute every day.  A great way to do this is to think about it when you first wake up and right before you go to sleep.

Tell Everyone About Your Vision – Don’t keep your Vision a secret. Start talking about it as much as possible.  Don’t be afraid to share it no matter how crazy it might sound to other people.  Ignore them if they sound skeptical, but keep talking about it confidently as if you expect it to become a reality at any moment. Do you think we would have put a man on the moon if the idea was kept a secret? No!  JFK told his Vision to the whole country!

Drill Your Vision Into Your Subconscious – Use your subconscious to your advantage.  One way you can do this is to create an Audio recording of your Vision.  Use you microphone on your computer and read your Vision you wrote down in detail. Read this with enthusiasm and repeat it.  Burn yourself a cd or put it on your ipod. It doesn’t have to be very long,  only 5 minutes. Use this to drill your Vision into your subconscious. It might sounds a little crazy but this really works. 

Reverse Engineer Your Vision -  Now you should have a compelling and clear vision.  If you took all these steps you are probably even dreaming about your Vision at night. Now you must reverse engineer your vision and make a plan to achieve it. What are all the steps you are going to have to do to get you there?  Start thinking of steps you can start on right now to get you closer to your Vision.

Every morning when you wake up ask yourself: 

What do I need to do today to get closer to my Vision?

Before you go to sleep ask yourself: 

What did I do today to get closer to my Vision?

Remember everything created by human kind was at one point just a Vision or an idea.

What’s your Vision?