It was a great year for Post-Normal Systems. Lots of growth. Tons of new friends. And many learning experiences across multiple domains. Some of the highlights included:
- Triathlon Training Camps – Record turnout for the Traditions camp with more than seventy athletes taking part. Several athletes went on to Olympic triathlons. And at the end of the season, I crossed the finish line with a dynamic TRIO who all raced their first Ironman event. (And one of which was 20 weeks pregnant at the time!)
- Corporate Wellness – A local hospitality company signed up over forty of their employees for a 30 Day health & wellness challenge. After a tremendous effort and enormous determination, they each achieved their own degree of success and moved further along their individual journey of weight loss and fitness.
- OCR Training – After 2017’s adventures, I started an Obstacle Course Race camp. Over 8 weeks we worked on grip strength and endurance work, then finished our first Warrior Dash together.
- Gut Busting – To work on developing speed and power while biking, we started a grueling series of high speed, short distance bike passes. Most newcomers were able to achieve more than 20% improvement in their average speed, and some had more than 30% improvement on their top speed.
- Senior Games & Senior Training – Three local athletes trained and competed in the regional qualifiers for the Senior Games and they successfully qualified to go to the official 2019 games.
- And I worked on a series of video posts that reached tens of thousands of viewers throughout the year. I covered topics such as: New Year’s Resolutions, Recovery Tools, and Gratitude.
On a personal level, it was a year of experimentation and optimization for me. I aggressively sought to eliminate unproductive and unhealthy influences on my life and make positive, meaningful changes that directly impacted my health and wellness. Some of the more dramatic changes include:
- I left my job at a small, local IT services company that I thought would be the last job I’d ever have. Unfortunately it was too stressful and demanding on my time. And while I enjoyed the challenges and opportunities, they came with a toll on my personal time as well as my ability to train and coach. Stress and a sedentary career are a deadly combination. I continue to miss the people I worked with, but leaving was the healthiest thing I did all year.
- At the house, we “cut the cord” and stopped spending $100+ per month on dull, mindless television. I bought a couple of “over the air” antennas to catch the local news and when we do watch something, it is on Netflix or Amazon or YouTube. Sure, there are a couple of shows we miss. But none of them were worth the $1200 annual price tag. Most cost effective thing I did all year!
- After years of “Bulletproof Coffee,” now I drink “Bulletproof Tea.” Green tea, to be specific. I didn’t want to have the constant stimulation or the impact on my cardiovascular system, not to mention the potential impact of long term exposure on my neurological and adrenal systems. So instead of 3-4 cups of coffee, I have one cup of tea, in the morning. And in December, I drank my last “energy drink.” I was only having one per day, but when I started craving more, I kicked that monkey off my back, too.
- Initially just to humor my doctor, I tried ANOTHER six month experiment. At my annual check-up the ONLY thing that wasn’t exceptional was my cholesterol. It wasn’t BAD. But it was not within the ideal range. So rather than take any medications or go crazy on increasing any supplements, I made one change to my diet: I stopped eating processed meats. This included sausage, hotdogs, some deli meats, and (most painfully) bacon. Sure, it was tough giving up the bacon. But in the end, my cholesterol dropped down nearly 20%! I’ve had bacon a couple of times since then, but I kept up with the other changes. Do I notice any improvements from that? Not really. But since there was a metabolic improvement somewhere, I’ll stick to it, in the hopes of having long term gains.
- And finally, I adopted a fairly regimented morning ritual which includes journaling, gratitude, breath worth, and mobility. Tough getting started. But the habits keep me organized and prime me for more deep, meaningful work as I get started each day. Wish I’d done this MUCH sooner. But I’ll definitely share more details in the coming months.
And that was a Post-Normal 2018. Be on the lookout for announcements about the coming year. You’ll definitely want to buckle up. You’re in for a wild ride!
