I have been fortunate to have had some really great mentors over the years. Some in life, some for my competitive powerlifting days, and some for post. For the purposes of this log, I'm going to discuss the post competitive aspect of my training.

Beyond any shadow of a doubt, Jim Wendler has been my greatest influence in this area. Jim had given up competitive powerlifting long before I had. He hit his goals and was out. Whereas I had hit my goals but was reluctant to let go. I felt like I'd be lost without powerlifting.

Little by little between Rhodes and Wendler I found I could still fulfill myself through training other than on the powerlifting platform. This is where I'll get to my point. Jim often has challenges for himself. He has pushup, pullup, and squat challenges, weight vest challenges, prowler challenges, etc. And early on, I found myself chasing down Jim's challenges.

The problem was, some of Jim's challenges were pretty detrimental to my body. I fell in love with the weight vest because Jim loves the weight vest. Meanwhile, wearing my 80 lb weight vest was ruing my upper and lower back. Jim has a love-hate relationship with the prowler, whereas I just hate it.

Finally I smartened up and came up with my own challenges. I started to think about what was important to me and what do I have a love-hate relationship with. Listen, you can't really love-love a challenge because then it's not a challenge. This is where I came up with my 8-minute mile goal. I don't like to run, but being able to get under that 8 minutes is a great predictor of overall heart health.

Let's take our NOV gathering coming up next month. Jim's plan is some version of a calisthenics, weight vest, and prowler event. In the past, I would have felt compelled to join in. Not anymore. My goal is going to be a 600 lb deadlift at 200 lbs. Rhodes has rep goals for himself on the trap, safety squat, and swiss bar. We all influence and support each other, but we also have our own challenges and goals.

With social media it's easir than ever to see what everyone is doing. It's great to learn from others. Just know their journey might be different than yours. Take their influence, but make sure to blaze your own path.

The 8-minute mile challenge. Zero form, pure survival mode.

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A 7:32 MILE! Happy Birthday to me! The greatest present I can give myself is the gift of health. I read a while back that a 50 year old who can run an 8 minute mile suggests a high level of fitness and a much lower chance of heart disease. Since retiring from competitive powerlifting I have been focusing on health. Being a 328.5 lb, lifelong asthmatic, with severe sleep apnea I had a long hill to climb, but I have been up for the challenge. As you can see by my form, I don't run. I condition in other ways. In 2019 I had the goal of an 8 minute mile. I ran it once and came up short going over the 8 minutes (I think it was around 8:15). So I wrote it down again on my goal board in the gym for 2020. I was supposed to run it the other morning, but everything that could go wrong did. My town track was closed and with my back injuries I will only run on cushioned track. We drove two other places before I got on the third track which wasn't cushioned, but at that point I no longer cared. The sun was blazing by that time and I was frustrated. I aborted the run after one lap. I can't ever remember feeling like such a quitter and was so defeated. It has bothered me for a few days, so I figured what better day than my 51st birthday to put that goal behind me. Man, the running sucked, but I did it. 7:32! This might not seem like a big deal to many, but a little over a decade ago, I had to stop after a quarter like walk because I was out of shape. I couldn't breathe and my back was in agony. It's been a journey. Thank you to my ride or die and yolo partner @jdiz140 She helps make all of this possible. Love you! #neverquit #operationbelessfat #fattofit #downover100lbs #weightloss #iifym #flexibledieting #elitefts #SFW #strongover50 #weightlossjourney #training #elitefts

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