I have been going back and forth recently about how serious I want to take training again in my life.  It all started a few years ago when a friend of mine Dan got into endurance sports.  He started off training for marathons and eventually has worked his way all the way up to competing in Ironman events.  He was running the Montreal marathon and I decided to go meet him along the route and at the finish to show him some support.  In talking with him afterward it awakened an old passion that I had back when I was training and competing in Cross country and track and field back in my high school and college days.

I used to be quite competitive in the mid 90’s when I was still a teenager.  By the time I was 17 I had won numerous events and medals.  At the age of 19 I even broke the 4 minute barrier in the mile.  I was good at more than just distance running however.  I was above average in short distance and could hold my own in some field events.  I never had the opportunity to compete in a decathlon back in those days but I have a feeling I would have done quite well.

Fast forward a few years…

My interests in life had taken a different turn.  I was involved with Drum & Bugle corps competing on the highest level and experiencing the same success that I did with running.  If you want to see just how physically demanding drum corps really is watch this video

Fast forward a few more years…

I had a desk job, very little running or drum corps.  I was getting fat and out of shape.  Thankfully I caught myself before it got too late and got back to the gym and at least got the weight under control.  I still wasn’t in peak physical condition, but I was at least back on track to a semi healthy lifestyle.

Fast forward to now…

I am fully back on track and eating a clean diet of mostly organic foods and it definitely shows in my physical makeup today.  After an intense summer dedicated toward rehabbing a knee injury and getting in shape I have scaled back my workouts to one per week, sometimes two versus the one or two per day I was doing.  So here I am thinking that I want to start training again for the past few months when I see another friend of mine D.M. getting into crossfit.  This is something that my workout regimen is more tailored to as opposed to running or competing in triathlons.  I like the overall idea of total body fitness and strength it is a basic philosophy that I can agree with and relate to.

…but me I always want to put my spin on it.  There are many programs out there that can show you the lifestyle and the training methods.  I know the lifestyle and training methods, it is a matter of staying disciplined and sticking to the program and the lifestyle.  I am looking to create my own program and see how far I can push myself in the process.  I have the physical tools and the mental fortitude to do this, but I have to push myself in the discipline department a bit.  There was a time when I never took a day off or “half assed” anything.  I need to get back to those days and back to that attitude.

So with that being said, it’s time to commence training and launch Shawn Carpenter 3.0!