Because

Guide me

Sage ...

child of the infinite,

that we also

may become

One with the infinite,

to give us

direction,

in this life,

on this rock

infinite space …

to become,

with every breath,

A frozen wildflower,

Its faded colors pressed in the ice,

A thing of limitless beauty

beyond

What can be

or is

by merely imagining it.

Defying of the rules of this place,

This entropy

This space,

This math,

life

wants …

to live

…

because

The Edge of Entropy ...

Camping in the Colorado Rockies we had a little disaster. One of our small personal inflatable mattresses sprung a leak. After one night of sleeping on the cold dank ground I had an idea. There were some large patches of moss spread along the river bank we were following and I moved the tent over to where part of the tent covered some moss. The others used the remaining air pads while I slept in the corner where the moss was. I was fine. It was warm and soft, which is odd because it was literally growing on a large flat crumbling plate of rock. I felt a little bad afterwards because I’d flattened the patch where I slept, but it looked like it would rebound. The decent night’s sleep helped me stave off the ever-creeping altitude sickness and the always present headache mitigated only by drinking ridiculous parcels of water.

That moss, growing on a sliding schist, drawing from a mineral detritus, siphoning elements, spinning them in a symbiotic concert designed ... to keep the moss alive …

Why?

Natural selection … this moss surviving where other less magnificently adapted mosses may have failed …

But the elements themselves, moving from scattered decay to an orchestra of chemical symmetry in the breath of life that occurs somewhere between the stone and the nimble rhizoid fingers leaching on its edges. It defies entropy, it defies physics, it uses the decay.

Why would life fly in the face of the physical confines of this universe?
Because, obviously, as is the case with the moss ... it is designed to. 

Quest ...

I think I have a calcium deficiency, my nails are brittle. Probably from my limited dairy intake. Helps if I have some nonfat yogurt and maybe a glass of skim milk. My vitamin D levels are probably also low. I'm all out of niacin and calcium. Niacin I have to take a break from, but if you take it for six weeks it's great. I think is has something to do with soluble fat metabolism, I know there are vascular effects, but it definitely does something good, thins the blood. All I take these days is vitmin d and fish oil. Sometimes calcium if I have it. I was out in the sun for a good portion of the day on Saturday but I don't think it did much with just my face exposed, hard not to be vitamin D deficient this time of year. 

I'm struggling with maintaining twice a week judo while running 3 times a week, and the mod1punchman (100 push ups 100 sit ups 100 squats 1 mile run same day at least twice a week). It's hard to get everything in. It helps if I set time aside that I normally take for granted, like when I first get to my office in the morning I can do my push ups. I usually have time for my sit ups before I shower. Sometimes I do my squats on my lunch break. My body is struggling to stay around 168 lbs, i have a hard time getting under that no matter what I do. I wonder if that means I'm at my optimal body weight? I feel like I can still lose 8 or 10 lbs. I will fluctuate on any given day from 167 to 172 depending on water weight. Nevertheless, I continue to make gains in other areas. I feel pretty strong. Finally feel like I've recovered from what I think was some sort of flu that lingered with aches and muscle stiffness for what felt like a couple of weeks.

My big leap forward was in running. I ran a 7:45 mile about a week ago. Doesn't sound like much but it's the best I've done since I was probably 30 something. I've been alternately trying to run outdoors when it isn't too cold and it's helped tremendously with balance and stability. Also I remember what a blast it is to run with chesty and feel like one of the pack. 

Judo has been going well. I think I'm ready to try for my green belt. I executed a pretty decent uchi mata (inner thigh throw) the other day. The Greeks seem to like like uchi mata ... funny because I'm Greek. Maybe there's a genetic predisposition ... It's a smooth and sneaky throw, always seems like an afterthought but guaranteed to work if you can hook the leg. I've been working on it for quite a while and to finally pull one off in rondori was pretty sweet. The minimal effort of it was magical, force like. I think uchi mata is my throw. 

The weather makes it tough this time of year. It's been on the brutal side more often than not. Wreaks havoc on the skin. I had a bout with the 30 below doldrums over the break but pulled out of it nicely. Still feeling some anxiety but that's nothing new. I think I've finally admitted to myself that I have a touch of social anxiety, always have. The Marines sort of cured it in a pragmatic sense but it's still there. 

Other than that the quest goes on.

I just hope I have the honor of watching one or more of my sons become a black-belt and, when and if that happens ... to still be able to beat them ... now that would be a hell of a 10 year fitness goal. 

Angry Mets Fans

http://metsmerizedonline.com/2017/12/when-mets-worlds-collide.html/

Success.

Sometimes I think I'm afraid of succeeding. I essentially gave up on this blog after I got my results last August. My cholesterol dropped from 362 to 251 ... over 100 points in just over three months. My doctor said I no longer qualify for statins because I have no other risk factors. My doctor had previously discouraged me from continuing to try but I wanted to give it one last shot and cut dairy and red meat and really restrict myself. I'm glad I did. My doctor warned that for some people, typically those who possess a hereditary component, diet may not have much of an impact. He was wrong ... he now says I am a model patient. I haven't been tested since but I am more or less on the same diet and feeling good. No diary, no red meat, limited amounts of lean chicken and turkey, lots of beans and legumes and greens, daily fish oil, some non fat yogurt almost daily, small piece of dark chocolate almost daily, 1000 mg of vit. D daily (sometimes 200) ... I also took some slow release niacin for around 6 weeks before my test and I gave blood 3 weeks prior. I try to give blood 3 or 4 times a year. I've also been exercising almost daily. I usually take Fridays and Sundays off with Judo on Saturdays and Mondays. I run and do 1 punch man (100 push ups and 100 sit ups -- I don't usually do the 100 squats because it interferes with my running) ... I run 1 to 3 miles on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and sometimes Sundays.

It's a lot I know, but I haven't felt like this since ... I can't really remember when I felt like this. Probably in my late 20's early 30's. I think I got started on statins in my mid 30's, there's that to consider. I ran a mile in 8:17 last week, I am 52 now, I'm steady at about 165 lbs.

latest BABIPY thing ...

http://metsmerizedonline.com/2017/12/the-book-on-mets-babip.html/

Core Issues ...

Rib injuries seem to come in pairs. You injure your ribs, take the mandatory 6 weeks to heal, return, then bam you re-injure. Only it heals quicker, maybe two weeks. In the current case the original injury occurred on left side #8 but this latest one feels more like #9 which leads me To conclude that the subsequent injury is an adjustment injury pushing off of scar tissue from the first, like a pile up on the highway. So just like that, back to repair mode.

I haven't been great about one punch man and that's bad. Maybe once a week I'll do it. The core work is integral to injury avoidance and I was thinking I could substitute gym workouts for one punch man. Weighted crunches and weighted reverse sit ups and oblique cable twists. This is the second time on the other hand that I've suffered a rib injury in Judo after doing the oblique twists. Reminds me of this rash of Mets pitching injuries and how a lot of sports pundits are speculating that it's all the off-season weight training. The thing about weight training is that most people who lift are on a very "results sensitive" track, flexing after every set, which is destabilizing as many of the most important muscle groups are barely visible long, flat, slow-twitch "wrapping" musculature, which isn't nearly as impressive as big biceps. 

Even for those who focus on strengthening the core, you have to consider all the different ways the human trunk can move. Unless you manage to strengthen every possible movement (and its reverse) you are creating an imbalance, swaths of muscle tissue that are stronger relative to their surrounding muscles. Happo no kuzushi -- the "eight directions" of breaking balance in Judo is a good roundabout of how the trunk can move (or be moved), Judo establishes balance by both attacking (push and pull) in all directions, and by defending where you resist those same movements. 

I think ultimately I may be better off leaving the weighted core work to the pros. Yoga has probably done more for my core than anything in the weight room. My inclination is to focus on learning the throws and drop the weights (other than some "bulk strength" arm and chest work), continue running, resume one-punch-man and yoga. That's the plan.