Stay on Offense Climb Mountains

Attacking Adversity

Go Hiking and Never Finish

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It has been over a month now and I am still nursing myself after knee surgery. Friends tell me to go slow but I am typically in a hurry. After reading Goggins book I think I have it pretty good. However, during the surgery they reinsured an older surgery on the same knee and that has been giving me problems. All this to say that I am a little nervous about being ready to head up into the mountains the first week in March.

Maybe it will take me until April this year. That would be disappointing but would still be a decent season. I have already begun to prepare in other ways. I am getting new rear brakes for my car so I can actually get to the mountains and of course doing lots off step ups even with knee recovery.

On and On and On

Only two and a half more years and I will be 80 years old. That is shocking to think about so I typically don’t. Someone told me today that I was just going to break one of these days because I push so hard. I asked if they had read the poem, “The Wonderful One Horse Shay?” It was not made ion a day and I feel like the might be me. One of these days everything will break at once.

However, so far little things are going wrong here and there. Arthritis, hip pain, neuropathy all are trying to slow me down. They won’t stop me because, like Goggins I am never finished.

Adapt and Overcome

It might be that I won’t be able to run down the mountain as fast as last year. I ask myself once in a while if I will be able to run down the mountain at all. The answer is yes, of course, until I am not able. That is unlikely.

The worst case is that I will just adapt and overcome whatever the obstacle might be.

Bookish Weapon Number Seventy-One

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David Goggin’s new book Never Finished is a real bookish weapon! His mindset is outstanding and his ability to withstand pain is unmatched. If you read his first book, “Can’t Hurt Me,” you will have a good sense of what this new book is about, but it surprised me a bit.

Goggins tells how he took endurance and the never give up mindset to a new level. I can’t imagine anyone who would not be inspired by this man’s ability to keep going.

Your Past

Goggins had a horrible childhood, but he eventually overcame that to become a Navy SEAL and then later an endurance athlete. He asks others with difficult pasts to step up, He asks, “How long will you allow your past to hold you back before you finally take control of your future?”

Many of us have faced difficult times. Goggins says, “It is so easy to get lost in the fog of life. Tragedy hunts us all, and any event that causes suffering will linger longer than it should if you let it. Because our sad stories enable us to grade ourselves on a forgiving curve. They give us latitude and justification to stay lazy, weak-minded m******s, and the longer it takes for us to process thsa pan, the harder it is to reclaim our lives.” Now that’s a wake up cal some of us need!

Step Up – The Clock is Ticking

We only have so much time. As Goggin’s says, “…there is a drop-dead time on everything we do in life. All our dreams and visions come with expiration dates etched in invisible ink.”

Some of us are reminded of our death all the time after we get to a certain age. It is popular these days to tell young people to remind themselves to create urgency. Older people are reminded wether they want to be or not. Goggins has been reminded a lot. Once he had to have his heart shocked back to working order. There is a picture of him lying in a hospital bed waiting for the paddles.

Journaling

In my book “Attacking Adversity,” journaling is one of the key strategies I recommend. It helped get me through a very tough time. Goggins says there is another level to journaling. He recommends you make audio recordings and then listen back. He says they have a “more profound effect on the mind.” It is something I may try.

He is not saying to just record your daily thoughts, but rather your deepest trauma. Canyou imagine that? Goggins claims thst, “With each subsequent listen, you will claim more sindmoer power and gain enough transformational energy to change your life.”

Our Mental Lab

Goggins says we all have a Mental Lab where we can recreate ourselves. He says, “If you don’t feel like you are good enough, if your life lacks meaning and time feels like it’s slipping through your fingers, there is only one option. Recreate yourself in your own Mental Lab. Somewhere you can be alone with your thoughts and wrestle with the substance of what and who you wasn’t to be in your one short life earth.” David crested “Goggins.”

He describes a race called the Moab 240. Yes that is a 240 mile race. Then he also discusses the Leadville Trail 100 which has an elevation gain of 15,000 feet or more. That caught my attention since typically I hike 6-10K and it wipes me out.

Get the Book

There is so much on mindset in this book I could never do it justice here, but get it and read the whole thing. You will be glad you did.

You will also read about all the injuries David suffered and how he bounced back. Those stories by themselves are worth the read.

Go Hiking But Have A Plan B

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As I write this I am wearing a leg brace. This last Tuesday I had knee surgery. Hiking starts in March and I think I should be good to go by then, but if for some reason I am not then I will need a Plan B.

If you can afford it get Stem Cell therapy or at least investigate before you do what I did. It is my understanding you can get Stem Cell therapy for about $6,000 a knee. Insurance does not pay for it so that was not an option for me.

No Hike. Then What?

If the result of this knee surgery means hiking is in my rear window it’s ok. I know I will be able to walk because I can do that even with the leg brace. But there is no way to tell at this point. My first option would be to do what I did when they closed the trails during the Pandemic shut down. Walk. A lot.

However, this experience got me thinking what if I could really barely walk or something else happened to me physically. I mean what could possibly happen physically to an almost eighty year old man? What would I do? Well, I play guitar so I would play guitar. I write. So I would write more. I like to read so I would read more. That would be my Plan B.

Trust and Belief

The thing is I don’t want to have to use Plan B. I want to hike starting March 2023. Lots of people say they are going to go with me up some of these mountains and I don’t want to disappoint them.

Recently, I heard a motivational speaker say that one of the important things you need when facing any adversity is trust and belief. Trust that it will all work out for the best and belief that it will. That is what I am counting on. But you don’t have to wait for me to get better. Go hiking!

Bookish Weapon Number Seventy

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One of my earlier book summaries was of a Lee Child book. It was, of course, a Jack Reacher book. Reacher is the hero I like to experience every Fall when the new book arrives. I have read all of Mr. Child’s books. Now he is writing them with his son, Andrew. I can’t really tell the difference. Reacher books are all bookish weapons. He is lethal.

This latest book is called, “No Plan B.” Reacher is former military police and I thought the military always had a plan B and C. I know the axiom that one of something is none, but two of something is one. That kind of planning seems t require a plan B. However, if this case it is the evil bad guys that don’t have a plan B. When you are up against Reacher with no plan B you don’t have a chance.

Bus or Hitch a Ride

The beginning of this book is on the bad guys turf. It sort of describes a little of their set up and the book goes back and forth between what the bad guys are doing and what Reacher and friends are doing. This book has reacher thumbing a ride prior to arriving in the town where some bad stuff happens. In other books he will be riding a bus. The bus is not left out of the action. Another character has lots of interaction with a bus.

A Curiosity

The reasons for Reacher visiting a particular town are varied and interesting. This time he was curious about the towns Museum or what it contained. They were some artifacts from the Civil war. In any event it puts Reacher right where he needs to be to meet a woman and later get into action.

He stays in the Museum until it closes and then meets the woman because she is the one that has to force him to leave. And a way we go.

What Is The Limit?

When I read Reacher books and he gets into his first battle, I always wonder what his limit might be. How many bad guys can he handle at once. I think it is six if their skill levels are low, but fewer than that if they are professionals.

In this book he actually takes a bit of a beat down but only temporary. If you are a Reacher fan then you know (in spite of the Tom Cruise movie) that he is a huge man with Tony Robbins hands. I say Tony Robbin’s hands, because I shook one once and my hand disappeared like it was swallowed by a whale.

The Whole Story

No I am not going to spoil this thriller for you by telling you every little thing. Just enough to motivate you to try a Reacher book if you haven’t so far. It is well worth it.

Even though the title is “No Plan B,” make sure YOU always have plan B and maybe C as well.

Go Hiking And Endure Or Not

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I know what you’re thinking! He’s going to tell me I need to endure the hikes even if I am sick and tired or over trained. If I had written this a year ago, I would have said you were dead right.

However, climbing a grueling mountain trail when you are over trained doesn’t make a lot of sense. Like I said, a year ago I would have done it anyway, but I changed my mind.

Pay Attention

If you are fortunate or nerdy enough to use the NatureBeat (Sweetwaterhrv) App, Whoop, or even a Garmin watch, you are paying attention to your heart rate variability. With NatureBeat it will give you both your Sympathetic and Parasympathetic numbers. Those to numbers make represent you autonomic nervous system. The first one is your “flight or flight” readiness and the second your “rest and digest” score. With the Whoop you also get a recovery score.

So what do you do if you don’t have any of this technology? Listen to your body! If you are overly tired maybe a day off would be the wisest choice. Then you will have less chance of getting an injury or even sick. Now don’t think you can just be a slacker. You can get improvements in fitness by pushing yourself when the numbers are bad. Just don’t do it all the time.

Pay With Your Heath

If you do not listen to your body and push through there is a good chance you will not do well. I learned this myself the hard way. A pattern developed where I was not getting enough sleep and was exercising hard every day and then of course, climbing a mountain. All my numbers were bad. So I thought I would see if I could get the numbers to go back up after taking a week off from exercise. It worked. They went up a little. More on that other time.

After once again hitting the trail, a late night (anything after 5:00 PM) wedding resulted in making me even more tired than the exercise. Of course I had climbed a mountain the day before so I was primed for weariness.

My Permission

It is official. You have my permission to take a week off from s hike if everything is stacked against you. You do not have to endure! Of course you don’t need my permission for anything!

The most important think to remember as a general rule with some exceptions: Go Hiking!

Bookish Weapon Number 69

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Cameron Hanes runs up mountains to train himself to be the best bowhunter in the world. He likes to hunt far away from the typical hunting grounds in places that are hard to reach unless you’re in his kind of physical shape.

His book “Endure” captures his story which is a great one and one that continues. I was drawn to the title, because I though my word for this year was “endure.” There was one other box with the same name, but Cam’s subtitle included the words “keep hammering” and that spoke to me.

Focus

The thing that stood out for me right away was the intense focus this man has put on one thing, hunting. Maybe two. Hunting and training to hunt.

To some, running 100 mile races might seem over the top, but not for Hanes. He knows they give him the edge he needs to be a successful hunter year after year. It all provides meaning and purpose to his life.

Learn From Cameron

There are lots of excellent lessons in this book like how not to let your critics get to you. How to learn from others and how to “burst through the bonds of low expectations.”

He stresses the importance of believing in yourself and being obsessed with improvement. He thinks that obsession in successful people is not because they think they are great, but because they really think they are not that great at all and need to improve!

Get Used to Being Uncomfortable

This book is about what I have learned to be expansive discipline which is putting yourself in uncomfortable situations. They induce growth. Cam says that “My good friend Misery and I have become real close over the years.

Now remember this not about being yourself up for the sake of beating yourself up. Hanes has a purpose and a mission. Getting used to being uncomfortable helps him hit the mark time and time again.

Greatness

Cameron Hanes believes in you and me. He says, “The good news is I believe each and every one of us is capable of greatness in something. He continues, by saying, “Your bowhunting is out there. I promise. It will open doors for yours well. But be warned: when you become obsessed, it takes over your life. This obsessive approach works for me.”

What’s it going to take. You might have guessed it. Hard work or as Cam says, “…damn hard work.”

Your Body

Frankly I can’t say it better than Cameron Hanes, “Your body gives what you ask of it. Don’t ask much and it won’t give you much. Ask a lot and it will give you a lot. I haven’t found my limit yet, but I am trying.”
This book is very inspirational especially for those who want to strengthen themselves. He talks about putting his body through the wringer. However, he might disagree with me when I say you do need some rest from time to time. Even then your main focus must be to “keep hammering!”