No strength to even put my darn shirt back on.

I thought to myself "How do I get this body, once it is shutting down, to still produce at optimum level? Where do I go in the mind and how deep will it take to trick the cerebellum into a typical fight or flight mode?" I did it on the bike with great success. I know I can do this with my run. I am now at a level of conditioning that my next body and mind experiment can take place without damage.

Stage #1

Tire out the body so that the level of aggression that is about to be thrown acutely at my legs will be at a bare minimum, thus protecting the integrity of the hips and pelvis that are carrying the load.

 

Stage #2

Swim 80 laps in the pool, which is approximately 1 mile; no time limit, at a pool being 23 meters or 25 yards. This took me an amazing 3 hours. I had to stop several times because the life guard told me to. Bike a quick 25 miles not worried about time. This took me 46 minutes. Beat That!!

Stage #3

Run the bottom loop of Central Park until I cannot possibly lift my legs. My mind needs to be in the "I just want to go home NOW" mode. The park is approximately 1.5 miles in distance. I run at a 10 minute mile pace. 10 minute mile pace is all I have, ever, that is my fastest as well as my slowest speed. It is what it is, until I implement my new experiment. I am so excited to show again all those so called "body mechanics experts" and their degrees and plaques hanging on the wall, what really works. Where are all the fitness magazines getting all their information from? Surely not from ME! Lol The mind is the strongest muscle that we have. To gain control of the mind you will inherently control the body in which it dwells.

I ran 6 miles; puked; then ran 1.5 more; fought with myself to do one more loop. All said and done, I ran 9 miles and did not have a thing left in me. I was ready!!! Where is my homeless man?

Stage #4

A: Hydrate but not as to look pregnant.

B: Nutrition - one peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich cut in the shape of a race bike. Yes, a race bike. I found an inspirational cutout in a cake shop.

C: Look for the homeless man I paid by the grace of the donors from this site that have, out of the goodness of their hearts, sent me money specifically to help with my training.

Stage #5

The rest of the story......

 

Twilight has taken a grip on the park. Humidity, as if being transformed into a tropical rain forest, dwells heavy, grasping at my lungs. My heart is now visible palpitating through the thick muscled skin of my sweat soaked chest. I cannot find my homeless man nor do I care if he shows up at all. The vibrations of the worms, I swear I can feel as they jockey for position toward the twilight of the immense glowing, magnetic moon. "Hey mofo, is that you?" I hear off in the distance. This all to familiar voice is my homeless fellow, Ivan Dragoff. Ivan seems to be a bit tipsy but will do just fine for what I have in store for him. I most likely should have had more security around my employee so that he, not I, would have been also in optimum condition for this critical experiment.

"Good evening Ivan. Please come with me while I unlock that bike over there and get that duffel bag out of the bushes. I am going to have you ride this bike around the bottom loop of this park, while pulling me along behind you. You will not get paid if you stop! You will not get paid if there is any slack in the rope. You will not get paid until I cannot get up off the pavement when I fall. Once I do fall and am not willing to go anymore, then this is where you make your money. Ivan, you then need to get me one complete lap from where I give up back to where I give up. Do you understand, Ivan, how important this is?"

"Yes." Ivan replied.

I did not place Ivan on the bike until I had all my padding on all parts of my body. I looked like a hockey player in Speedos. Quite the sight. I have the padding on because I am intelligent enough to know that my body will probably be tripping and possibly fall. I do not want an injury. Yes, this might seem to be extreme to some of you but for me, it just makes perfect sense. Ivan is now on the bike and I have a weight belt around my middle and a rope tied in a bowline knot so Ivan cannot untie me and steal my bike. I don't think Ivan could untie a bow if I only did that. We set off and I actually kept up for the next three miles. I attribute this to the rather long 30 minute rest I had. I was coming up on my 4th mile and all of a sudden, my legs did not want to move. I knew they could move but my mind said "ENOUGH"! And it was very loud and clear. Ivan, that bastardo, did not stop and at that point I had to move or get dragged back to square one on my face. I was now puking as I ran but all of a sudden, a euphoric and quite overwhelming sensation came drowning my body with all sorts of vibrations that I almost felt like I was floating. Probably was hallucinating because if this is not the stupidest thing I have ever done then it is pretty darn close to it. Lol I started to run past Ivan so much that if I ran any faster, I would have turned him around since I was tied to the back of the bike. This was the motor response I was looking for in my mind. The synapses that were firing off were now in the fight or flight mode. The "run or have your body ground into the asphalt" mode has been achieved. Oh and the milk crate was not there. If it was, Ivan would have had a keg in it with a siphon tube. Ivan kept yelling at me saying "Mofo. If you don't let me pull you, do I still get paid?" I was cracking up and so were the cops that had been riding along side of us pretending to be oblivious to the whole ordeal. I slowed down and started to enjoy the kiss of the full moon seemingly with its protection of Ivan and myself as we made history in Central Park of Manhattan on the 23rd night of a very suffocating evening, here in July.