The Quest #15: It's All Connected

November 13th, 2024 to December 13th, 2024

Only ran three times this month and my first marathon is in February so that's pretty bad but in my soul I feel like this is going to be a great few months. Time to finally grow up and stick with the hard work. That'll lead me to the heights I've been searching for. Like they all say, true strength, true purpose, true happiness - it all comes from within. Time to get uncomfortable and stick with it.

Long story short: I became a stay-at-home deadbeat because life got too hard for an emotionally unstable yuppie. Now I'm trying to redeem myself by running a lot and talking about it. Hopefully you find this entertaining enough to subscribe, buy merch, tell your friends and follow your own Quest.

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Mostly did the Primary Series of Ashtanga Yoga on the Down Dog Yoga app.

A picture's worth a thousand words; here's nine.

Mobile Fighter G Gundam might be in my top five favorite shows of all time. It's basically a martial arts drama with giant robots and the drama is dialed up to an absolute ten. It absolutely drips with '90s anime energy, has great fights, characters, emotions, and is the classic hero's journey. There's a mentor, a mysterious masked figure, a love interest, a crew of weirdos from all walks of life, spirituality and a drive to become the best. Ten out of ten.

The Original Debut Album by The Stylistics has been another love of mine over the last few months really. It came out in 1973 and it's about as 70s as you can get. The vocalists are great, the music is strong but mellow, it's perfect for cruising down the highway or just background noise while you work away. Feels like I can literally see the 70s when I listen to this. Close second was GNX by Kendrick Lamar, which is an absolute banger coming from a totally different direction but I love it too. Pure West Coast rap with that spiritual side that Kendrick leans into with songs like "reincarnated". Is it a story or did he really have past life regressions? Someday I'll ask him.

Finally beat Elden Ring. It's still been my favorite game because it's so loaded with details and cool things to explore, and the replay options feel endless. I think I'll probably do a new game plus (called Journey 2 in-game). I did a sword and incantation build for my first go around, feeling like I might go with a magic focused build. But that's only after I whoop Melania in this playthrough and maybe sort out a few other things. She's brutal, since haven't lasted than a few seconds in Phase 2. But it's exciting - it makes me want to keep exploring the world and taking on more challenges, haven't felt that in a game since Death Stranding and Red Dead Redemption 2.

Let's take a break and learn something new.

Trivia

Here's five fun facts about our home base of Austin, Texas:

1. Home of the Largest Urban Bat Colony: The Congress Avenue Bridge is home to 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats, making it the largest urban bat colony in North America. Watching them take flight at dusk is a popular local tradition.
2. Austin Wasn't Always the Capital: Before becoming the capital of Texas, the city was called Waterloo. In 1839, it was renamed after Stephen F. Austin, known as the "Father of Texas."
3. The Unofficial Motto is “Keep Austin Weird”: This quirky phrase reflects the city's eclectic and creative spirit, encouraging support for local businesses and unique cultural practices.
4. It’s a Tech Hub: Known as "Silicon Hills," Austin has become a major tech center, attracting companies like Dell, Tesla, and Apple.
5. Lady Bird Lake is a Gem: The city has a stunning urban reservoir surrounded by trails perfect for running, biking, kayaking, and paddleboarding.

Ready for the adventure of a lifetime? Check out these resources and more on SenDex, our free collection of training resources (kind of like the Pokédex).

Every post is updated frequently, quick to read and full of impactful information. There's no ads and no fluff - just what I've learned on the road combined with professional insights and AI-backed research.

The Benefits of Running - Running 101 | Sendō

Running is one of the most accessible and effective forms of exercise, offering a multitude of benefits for both physical and mental health.

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Pace Calculator | Sendō

Pace Calculator: Enter the race distance and your desired finish time; it’ll tell you what pace you should maintain on average. Race Time Estimate: How long each race distance should take to complete based on your average pace.

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Yoga | Sendō

Yoga is far more than just physical postures; it’s a rich, multifaceted practice that nurtures the body, mind, and spirit.

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My unedited ramblings, typically after a run.

11/14/2024

Did my first 60 minute ashtanga yoga practice at home using the Down Dog app - and at the Advanced difficulty. Wow!! Point is, I'm learning to push myself more at home. And at the risk of sounding a bit crazy, I've been really trying to figure out what the hell to do in life and meditating on that idea. In the middle of the night I woke myself up saying 'martial arts'. Never happened before and I've been thinking a lot about that idea. I tried karate as a kid once and honestly lost a match in front of my family and it embarrassed me so much that I never went back. But I've always admired martial arts, but I've never been interested in fighting. That's why I liked yoga - it was a way to achieve mental/physical/spiritual discipline without throwing up hands. But if I think about what I've been attempting to do in yoga, I've been limiting myself by only doing short sessions every few days. It's like becoming a martial arts master, or a master of any kind - the amount of time spent during the day has to go way up. The limits I thought I had must be surpassed.

And it's connected to running and this crazy goal of completing at least two triathlons. The limits have to be surpassed starting at the fundamentals of yoga. Every single 'limb' has to be thoroughly and deeply considered.

I had really hoped that this website would be my pathway to getting rich, but really it's the concept of "Sendo" itself that's the pathway to greatness. It's through these practices, in my own interpretation, that will lead to success in all realms. I'm getting esoteric here but the point is that this is my own form of discipline and self-mastery that'll lead me to greatness. There is no other way. This is the way that the world has given me to succeed. So here I'll continue to train and grow.

11/19/2024

Took a couple eddies over the weekend. I think the thing I'm most grateful for is that I realized I didn't need it anymore, and that it was a crutch on my path to greatness. Yeah that's a little dramatic or arrogant, but it's the truth. The more I reflect on it all, I really don't regret the last few years of my life. I learned so much about myself and the kindness and capacity of others. It taught me about faith, about failure, about trying to live for more than my own selfish needs. It's the only way I could live the next chapters of my life with 100% oomph. Still no clue what the exact direction is, but I'm going to keep improving day by day. I'm grateful for the life I've had up until now and I'm curious but willing to grow for the next adventures.

Oh, and I don't know if I mentioned this but made the chia seed energy nut bite things from the Runner's Cookbook. They came out pretty good! Little too much chocolate chips so I think the sugar count per ball is crazy, but it was fun and proud of myself. Just need to figure out a better way to keep the balls held together. Maybe less chocolate chips and a tad more honey. To be continued.

11/22/2024

Been struggling lately with the motivation to run, but like I've mentioned in previous posts, yoga has been stronger than ever. 45 minute session today. Maybe a bike ride if I time it right - the sun's out and stronger than ever today. Maybe I can go by the Y to bang out a couple miles. Cooking-wise, I've made a bunch of different things too, so I'm proud of the experimentation.

11/25/2024

Holy fuck, we're sort of close to the end of this chapter and I've only run a few times. Same with cycling. But like I mentioned before, it's been a banner month for yoga and I've been cooking more than ever in the meantime. Kind of crazy but I'm still optimistic for the future. The 100 mile race seems so far away but the training will continue. I have no clue what I'm doing anymore - I know that this website probably won't be the thing that gets me out of the mud, but there's still this feeling that there's something here. In the middle of all the noise, this idea of "Sendō" still remains a light shining in darkness. But I believe in it.

If I'm writing through my emotions here, I can't become a full-time entrepreneur just yet. But I'm unsure of what the next job will be, and I'm deep in the hole. Where's the money going to come from? Where's the next job or the next magical idea that's going to help me light up my soul going to come from? I don't know...

11/27/2024

Yoga great, life OK, mind in a dance. I'm half talking to the void here, half talking to my family who are really the only ones reading this. I know I'm a distant person. I feel so conflicted in so many ways, and even when I decide what to do, there's still a giant mountain to climb. I guess I'm making progress every day, and that feels good, but it's still daunting and scary. Again, that's life. So all I can do is press forward a little more every day.

12/2/2024

A week with family meant that the only training I was able to do was yoga sessions in the garage, but the tradeoff is that I learned so much about myself and them. Too much time has passed in the fog - people have suffered greatly and their hearts are closed. Yeah, that's dramatic, but it's true. I didn't have to be a hero for my family but I should've done a better job of being there for them. Spending time with them in the last week showed me how much I had missed out on and how much I had left myself go. I don't have an overwhelming hate for myself like I would've before now, one that maybe would've driven me to use so I wouldn't have to confront my feelings, but at the end of the day I'm seeing that I do need to work harder. Not for myself, because yeah sure personal debts and yadda yadda, but just to become a person of real substance, real value. To make deep, long lasting connections with my family, old friends and new friends. As scared as I've been, to totally commit to the world out there. I learned new skills, learned how to communicate more often, learned how to be kinder and go deeper on hard conversations. A phone call every now and again isn't enough. A text every now and again isn't enough. So the lessons of this time in life are just restarting, being humble, and taking it moment by moment. There's no other way forward when it's all said and done anyway. Sorry for being a knob-head: life, universe, everything.

Anyway. How'd life come to this? Karma I guess. Well I'm going to turn things around. If I spend another year working on soulless corporate trainings that literally no one gives a shit about, the gun's going in my mouth.

12/6/2024

Solid few days of yoga. 60 minute session today. Gunning for an 80 minute before the 13th. Haven't updated the 10,000 hours stats on the website in several months so I'm excited to see how far I've come since training regularly. Beyond yoga, realizing that I have to cut out all of the fixation on cars I don't need, on Instagram, on the endless scrolling on news sites. That's another way that it's all connected - those actions are just filling my head with more junk. I quit the bad stuff that I was inhaling but I'm still mentally inhaling junk too. Here's a promise to myself - every time I want to go on CarGurus and window shop at cars I don't need, I'm going to do breathing exercises or literally go do some pushups. Might as well use my mind to sharpen my body. Something like that.

12/8/2024

70 minute yoga session yesterday - longest I've done on the app. Awesome. Spent a day in nature reflecting on life. Feels best to be out there but I can admit you can't spend your whole life in the trees. What's going to be next?

12/9/2024

Did an 80 minute ashtanga yoga session on the Down Dog Yoga app. That's pretty much every single posture in the Primary Series. There's even harder ones that aren't on here, and I sucked for several poses but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. In fact, this party's just getting started. I think if I can do 90 days of 80 minute sessions, I'll be good enough to do a solid job in the classroom. This also showed me that I should learn other styles too: Bikram and a general mastery of hatha asanas as well. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Just happy that I did this!!!!

12/10/2024

Little three miler today. Just trying to get in a few runs before this chapter's done on the 13th. Taking a break from the grind was good.

12/12/2024

40 minutes of Hot 26 yoga. I'm proud that I got through 80 minutes of ashtanga yoga and I'll keep on training, but it's good to learn other yoga asanas and ways of doing things. Been really on a martial arts kick lately; watching G Gundam has lit that fire back in me. So I look at this like Bruce Lee looked at other forms of martial arts; take it all in and learn what you can to become the best.

12/13/2024

Another hour of ashtanga yoga! Feeling good. Got to push to greater heights but proud of what I've accomplished so far. Everything gets harder from here but my motivation's never been stronger to keep getting better.

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