Dirty Inspirations

For over 25 years I’ve coached hundreds of athletes to help them reach life changing goals and there is one thing that has stood out the most. That enduring in our training to attain fitness not only gives us those rewarding finish line experiences, it is the most valuable action we can take to attain a healthy life in total. If all of our material “stuff” is ultimately stripped away and we still have our heath and mental well being – our families will remain rich indeed.

Now more than ever it is critical that we invest in a process that will offer us the resiliency and ability to adapt in these changing times. I encourage you to sign up for that fitness class, race, or gym membership in ’09. Don’t pull back funds toward your fitness and well being – they are your most valuable possessions.

But don’t stop there! Use this transition time to evaluate what is important in your life and your work. Take a class or seminar to increase your skill level, volunteer to support those less fortunate, offer your strength to friends and loved ones, or initiate a new program that can give value to your community. Our introspection and subsequent growth in these challenging times can be cathartic if we allow it. All the while invest in and sustain your fitness and health.

Embrace the current challenges by taking action and I’ll bet that you’ll engage in some quality, life changing introspection in ’09.

I’d love to hear how that plays out for you,

Terri

I so envied my friends braving storms, sea sickness and running in several feet of fresh snow that to ease my mind for not being able to partake in my Antarctic adventure I re-read the detailed radiologists’ report of my Achilles tendon MRI. This was a sure way to once and for all rid myself of ridiculous self pity and rejoin the road to reality. Having a fair amount of schooling in anatomy I deciphered enough info to feel some significant anatomical shock and awe.

In short, the whole foot/ankle lower calf area resembles a war zone in Bagdad with no intermittent electricity perks. Between signs of past damage, ongoing damage, and the current issues, it might be prudent to hack my leg off about mid calf and start over with a bionic one. An aside: I must disclose a bizarre fantasy I’ve had while running (pre-MRI). I look for other runners with a natural and healthy looking gait and wonder what it would be like to hijack their left Achilles. What if my left Achilles could feel as solid as my right one does? What running I could accomplish in far off lands!

But then I wake up, review the radiology speak and realize that I’m married to a leg which is an elaborate road map of pain and destruction. Tearing, partial tearing, fluid build up, bursitis, plantar fasciitis, old tears, new ones, atrophy due to prolonged tendonitis. They even unveil damage done “from a probable ankle sprain”.

I remember that sprain acquired several years ago while running fast down a narrow circuitous trail during an adventure race. Taking a turn a bit too fast I broke loose the outside of the path (and my ankle) and went down as if getting bucked off a bronco. After clawing my way back up the hillside to the worried looks of my teammates I sat down hard, feeling like I was going to puke.

I’ve only experienced this post-injury-turning-white-as-a-sheet-puke-feeling a few times in my life (its called shock…). One other time was doing a sideways triple flip off my road bike on a high speed decent after my front tire blew in a corner. Along with some impressive road rash and a few other issues, I tore cartilage in my wrist. I never wear a watch on my road bike (athletic pet peeve #74) but for some reason that day I put one on. When I got home I noticed that the entire face of the watch had been sliced away by road impact. Though the wrist was internally injured the watch no doubt saved me from a significant wrist defacing.

Just as I got back on my bike post crash and rode the 50 miles back to my house (because my brain is programmed that way), I got up and tried to continue in the adventure race post ankle blow out. My leg swelled considerably. I responded by tying my shoe tighter. What wasn’t to be ignored was the full year it took to get the ankle 100% solid. Not that any unsolidness stopped me from training and racing on it.

Years later with proof that I had in fact torn a bunch of stuff in that ankle with my fall I still can admit I don’t think I would have done anything differently. Is this ignorant? Hubris? Delusional? Perhaps, but as all hard core endurance athletes with a high pain tolerance can attest there is some remote virtue in pushing ‘past’. Past notions of pain, past nature’s obstacles and mostly past the voices in our mind that say “you can’t”. Endurance athletes ride the fence of being our own hero of ‘pushing past’ or, succumbing to the sometimes-wisdom of deciding to come up short. Creating a satisfying sporting life within this truth is part of the art of training and racing.

In adventure racing a bright navigator makes sound educated nav decisions while, at times intuitively rolling the dice. If this process is done holistically well (taking everything that he knows into consideration at any moment), he makes the right call about 85-90% of the time. With my team, the other 15% of the time generated the most memorable “wild rides” I’ve experienced in adventure as well as top notch learning experiences.

With my Achilles issue I’ve been pushing past for a very long time while learning to manage the issue well enough to hit that 15% failure rate. Does that make me a dumb athlete? No. Actually if we assess our options frequently and with logic we will develop an important respectful relationship with our body, ease our minds, and make decisions that are mostly correct. Mostly correct isn’t so bad in a lifetime of sport. If we choose to play hard we may be required to visit 15% failure now and then.

My ankle has seen better days and will see better ones ahead. But the tough days and places it did see are vast and valuable and I can’t say I’d change how it played out. My challenge now is to sort out living in the 15% failure zone – a definite opportunity to see how smart I REALLY am as an athlete.

That said, I still envy all runners I see galloping down trails, but I’m starting to refocus on moving forward. Juices are flowing again and ideas forming… I’m not that good at baby steps so expect some big ones in the coming weeks….Terri

Friday, November 28 is National Day of Listening initiated this year by the founder of StoryCorps which is aired each week on NPR (National Public Radio).

StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit that has helped more than 40,000 Americans record their stories. It is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind, and is their mission to help people honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening.

Here’s their goal for this first annual:

This holiday season, ask the people around you about their lives — it could be your grandmother, a teacher, or someone from the neighborhood. By listening to their stories, you will be telling them that they matter and they won’t ever be forgotten. It may be the most meaningful time you spend this year.

You can preserve the interview using tape recorders, computers, video cameras or a pen and paper. Or use StoryCorps free Do-It-Yourself Guide. It is easy to use and will prepare you and your interview partner to record a memorable conversation.

Two of the greatest gifts we can give to those we care about don’t cost a dime! They are our time and our ear. Take an hour out of your week and listen to someone you love. I’ll bet you may see bits of yourself in the interview – a mirror reflection of sorts…if you peek. I’m going to interview my 79 year old mom. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Terri

My new book, Triathlon Revolution: Training, Technique and Inspiration, has hit the stores and I kicked off a slew of upcoming book signings right here in Santa Cruz at Capitola Book Café. A fun night indeed. Check my website for a signing in your area. I’d love to meet you and get your feedback!

To entice you to check out the book, here’s a piece taken from the Intro:

Triathletes as Heroes

I have been asked many times who my heroes are in sport. In our society we often associate “hero” as being someone who has accomplished some monumental feat or has unusual talent or vigor beyond the norm for what they take on in life. Yet regular folks and middle-of-the-pack athletes have just as much emotionally riding on their accomplishments as do the inherently talented. Their road to success can often be even more vigorous than those for which it comes a bit easier.

The significance of getting a personal record in your 5K or completing your first triathlon is as much of a champion move in your world as it is for Tiger Woods to bring in another million. We all find value and satisfaction in our accomplishments. How and why we get there may just look a bit different.

As a young girl I was intrigued with professional athletes, just like any kid, but I realized that true heroic feats were happening all around me–daily, by people struggling to do life while going after their dreams. My father worked two jobs to support a family of seven while going to school to get his degree so he could advance in his career. He taught me that no matter what we choose in life, we go after with dignity and hard work and then we can respect ourselves. We can be our own hero.

The world is a tough place, and if you throw voluntary physical duress into your daily repertoire in order to offer your kids a stronger vision of humanity, I’d say that is a heroic decision. As I matured as an athlete, this picture of the everyman-hero became clearer.

In 1993, I coached a group of fifteen women who were interested in competing in the Danskin Women’s Triathlon in San Jose, California. These women became my first sports heroes. Some of them didn’t know how to swim. Others borrowed bikes for the occasion. A few had never run. All were moms with jobs and full lives.
In eight weeks, all fifteen crossed the finish line via life-altering experiences. For some, it was the first time they had given themselves a gift worth coveting– self-confidence. I admired them for stepping into the unknown in their lives to examine themselves. What they found was more woman than they imagined.

This concept that had eluded them prior seemed to come to me naturally–you want something, go after it. In many ways it felt easy, and I drew strength from making these choices regularly. But I saw the magnitude of their initial fear and struggle and their choice to follow through with their goal. That was heroic. If that vision of “hero” rings true in your world, then you’ll see that the sport of triathlon is full of them. If you don’t believe me, look in the mirror.

(from Triathlon Revolution, terri schneider)

Clarification on fundraiser:

The money I have collected will go to The Conservation Alliance. If folks wish to still contribute they are more than welcome. I am not doing my Movie Night fundraiser as I’d like to save the films for my next fundraiser. So, Movie Night is the fundraiser that has been cancelled….

Thanks for the inquiry,
Terri

This past week I’ve pined to join the ranks of those I have little tolerance for, and whine for just a minute… Whining, like worrying is generally a waste of breath. We play the victim blah…blah…blah… then we feel like we emotionally got hit by a truck. Yet here I am doing the injured athletes version of Russian Roulette—whining and fretting and hating myself for it all the while. Go ahead—pull the trigger.

This past May I had to pull out of a race for which I had trained well due to problems with my heart. Now I am facing a similar predicament—pulling out of my upcoming Antarctica event—due to a failed body part. More damaged goods. (whine, whine, whine)

After a thorough review with my sports medicine doctor of an Achilles tendon MRI, we’ve discovered I have a partial tear to my left anterior Achilles tendon near and above the attachment. About half of the area is still “healthy” while the rest looks like the page that Jon Stewart frantically scribbles on in The Daily Show intro, with a big messy ink blot at the base. The blot is fluid on the bone and bone inflammation.

I’ve deliberated over the upcoming event for many days and sleepless nights trying to find an opening that makes it feasible for me to race—and moreso to validate my really great fundraiser for The Conservation Alliance. But no matter how the MRI is sliced the fragmented scribble marks hang in my brain. As advised by my doc, I need to make the decision not to race and begin a very long rehab on my leg.

The end of the earth is a long way to travel to just check out the penguins and watch every one else run (can you feel the self pity building…). So the bitterness of deciding not to go hangs in my nostrils, kinda like after being hit in the head by a stray seagull turd. The repeated gull dive bomb is that I’m looking at several months or a lot more of modified training to get this thing healthy again.

Please don’t say, “it could be worse” – I’ll get there in due time. I fully realize that I have a really great life and that I have in fact dodged true tragedy such as—a suicide bomber showing up on my mothers doorstep, my dog getting hit by a car, or someone telling me after my next speaking presentation that I remind them of Sarah Palin. But right now this feels like it really sucks and I just need to be in that and be pissed off at myself for not being nicer to my aging body. Right now I just need to whine a little. Knowing myself I’ll get over it very soon and be back at you with some more refined perspective. Wink

Whew! So much exciting stuff happening.

I must first admit that fundraising has been hugely rewarding – I’m pleasantly surprised. Having passion for what the people at The Conservation Alliance are accomplishing keeps me motivated.

I am astonished at the generosity of so many friends and acquaintances. And it has been excellent touching base with some folks I haven’t corresponded with for quite a while. But this job is unceasing! Pass the word, send people my blog site, or better yet a direct link to my site where they can donate – http://www.terrischneider.net/

To add some fun to this process I’ve decided to host an “Endurance Madness” Movie Night as a fundraiser for Racing Antarctica and The Conservation Alliance. I’ll show film clips from Hawaii Ironman, Eco Challenge and an excellent documentary on Western States 100 and I’m certain that unless you have watched these with me you have never seen them – all “never been seen on TV footage”! This will be a get-motivated-or-your-money-back night of fun, film and raffle prizes. Plan to be massively inspired.
“Endurance Madness” Movie Night
Long Marine Lab, Santa Cruz, CA
Thursday, November 6th 7:00 PM

My new book has hit the market! I’ll be hosting a
Book Launching Party and Book Signing for:

Triathlon Revolution: Training, Technique and Inspiration
at
Capitola Book Café, Capitola CA
November 12, at 7:00 PM

If you’ve been thinking about writing a book I highly recommend it—loads of work but worth the rewards (kind of like an endurance event!).
Please come and celebrate this worthwhile project with me!!

Back at you with more Antarctica updates soon,
Terri

As some of you may know for most of my life I’ve sought adventure, physical duress and travel to far off wild places and the virtue that comes with these types of life choices. I’ve also witnessed the fragile relationship of human interaction with our planet. While the adventures I seek today seem to hold a much greater purpose, my time to give back is way, way, overdue. But the thought of running in 120 degree heat across the Sahara Desert is much more appealing to me than facing the terror of asking people to donate money for a cause…

Won’t you join me for my inaugural fundraising efforts and help dispel my fundraising fears! I’m raising money for The Conservation Alliance – an organization that directs their funding toward your community-based campaigns that protect threatened wild habitats. In this process we’ll embark on a big adventure – really big. I’ll be running 155 miles on one of the harshest continents on the planet – Antarctica. Join me! for Racing Antarctica, my fundraiser for The Conservation Alliance.

By supporting The Conservation Alliance, you will invest in an array of the most compelling conservation projects in North America—projects that support your favorite wild places and those of your children for years to come. The zeal of The Conservation Alliance and the outdoor industry companies who support this organization resonate highly with our lives and passions – like a cohesive family nurturing our planet. Help me in supporting your favorite wild places by joining me for Racing Antarctica. Contribute NOW! .

The idea of running 155 miles in one of the most inaccessible spots on the planet for the cause of protecting your favorite places back home is a perfect fit. Scroll down for a bit more info about the cause, the adventure and what YOU get for joining our Team.

The Cause
Have you given back to the rivers, mountains and open spaces that move you? To the places that humble you and will nurture your children for years to come? The Conservation Alliance does just that. They defend North America’s last wild places by supporting grassroots conservation organizations. Since 1989 they have helped protect more than 39 million acres of land, stop or remove 26 dams, and preserve access to thousands of miles of rivers and several climbing areas. But their job is unceasing! NOW’S YOUR CHANCE to give back!

The Adventure
I am one of 30 invited athletes who will participate in Racing the Planet: The Last Desert, November 24-December 4, 2008. As the windiest, driest and most frigid continent, Antarctica is the largest desert in the world. The Last Desert adventure will begin in Ushuaia, Argentina where we will travel two days by ship across the perilous Drake Passage. For 6 days and a total of 155 miles we will run at several locations on Antarctica and its outlying islands. I will be running to raise money for The Conservation Alliance – the folks who help preserve your favorite wild places.

Our goal is $5,000 (but I’d love to raise much much more)!

Your tax deductible contribution:

As a Racing Antarctica team member you’ll receive the following:
- You’ll come along to Antarctica! Your name (or company’s name) will be placed on a shirt that I’ll wear during my Last Desert adventure. (orca and polar bear levels get top billing)
- Invitation to a Team Racing Antarctica post event slide show and party!
- Regular updates on my training as well as live dispatches from the event.
- All contributors will get well deserved recognition on my website, on my donation site, as well as in all PR materials.

Suggested contributions:

Orca Level: $1000
Polar Bear Level: $500
Leopard Seal Level: $100
Weddell Seal Level: $50
Emperor Penguin Level: $25
Other: Whatever amount you wish!

1. Online donation site: To donate quickly and easily CLICK HERE. Go to http://www.terrischneider.net/ for more info.

2. Via email: To avoid an online fee, email terri@terrischneider.net – your contribution can be taken via visa/mastercard

3. Via mail: Send your check to Terri Schneider – Racing Antarctica, PO Box 1826, Aptos, CA 95001

I’m psyched at the prospect of running in inhospitable Antarctica to raise funds to support the wild places YOU love back home! Help me support this critical cause (and get a well deserved tax deduction…)!

Heartfelt thanks for your time in this,
Terri

“We must become the change we want to see in the world.” Gandhi

My name is Terri and I am a book junkie! When I’m not actually moving on a climbing or racing adventure I seek out quiet spots to devour a few good books. I prefer a real live book over anything digital and gravitate predominantly toward non-fiction.

In a spare moment back home you’ll find me at my local book shop in the travel or biography sections, though I have been known to shop prolifically online. Book stores make me happy! I dream of having my own library where I can sit among great thoughts and just…ingest more thoughts. In the meantime I’ll continue to work on expanding my own publications (next book comes out this November!) while I offer you a selection of my favorite reads.

A few of the below were read recently while some quite a while back. They are in no particular order. Stay tuned as I add reviews of each to my website and this blog. I’ll post the url to that web page once its up and running…

I’d love to get your recommendations or comments on the below list!

The Places in Between
Rory Stewart
Brilliant in its simplistic prose via a powerful, complex ‘adventure’.

Invisible Man
Ralph Ellison

Note: My apology that this is “late” but in any case, I think you’ll enjoy this amazing experience. I will have more photos up soon.

We had the privilege of spending one evening and one morning in one of the Achuar villages, a 30 minute boat ride up the river from our lodge. Since we would be engaging in a couple of Achuar ceremonies, we were briefed by our guide on the social nuances in which we’d engage. We couldn’t just cruise in and start chatting, there was a manner in which these people interacted that was relevant and respectful. We were also told that no photo taking was allowed…

Apparently many years ago one of the Achuar villages (“the people of the aguaje palm”) was visited by some outsiders who wanted to film their existence. After this visit something “bad” happened in that village and the people there equated the mishap to the photos that were taken (don’t ask me why). Since that time photo taking is prohibited. Initially I was disappointed with this prospect. But as our visit progressed I realized the immense value in just being there engaging without having to wonder whether I was missing a good photo op. I remained focused on the nuances and interactions of the people rather than working to capture an image.

Most villages in this region are built on what look like (and is) a dirt landing strip for a small plane or helicopter. Foot and boat travel are these peoples only means of getting from one place to another, but they realize that if an emergency arose they would be ‘stuck’. So at some point they started building landing strips down the middle of their villages for Cessna or helicopter access. I do not know how they contact someone with a plane but apparently they have a system.

Achuar life centers on the domestic household, which consists of a primary family unit but can include close relatives. There are usually about ten to fifteen households within the village. Marriages are typically polygamous though in the family we visited the husband chose to have only one wife because he felt that focusing his time on fewer children and wives helped create a more prosperous and less conflicted environment.

We arrived by river and climbed a short embankment to the village site. I noticed immediately how friendly and aggressive the children were – not to us but to each other. Watching them play, climb trees with their feet and hands like a black bear, and push each other around, reminded me of watching wolf puppies in the wild. If you live in a harsh and tough land you’d better learn how to match the land or you don’t survive. During our visit I witnessed children of all families in this village, caring for each other, wandering off into the jungle to gather food or heading to the river to swim – even if they were only 3 or 4 years old. In this environment their lifestyle requires the kids to be tough as animals and it showed in their movements and interactions.

An Achuar home has a strong roof made of palm leaves and trees and it may or may not have side “walls”. If an enclosure if present it resembles an American fence with a short gate as the front door. We entered our hosts home in the ‘male’ area of the house. This is the section where guests are greeted and engaged. A log may section off another area of the house – the ‘female’ area. Outsiders are not allowed into the female area, it is reserved for family and close friends. Our host sat in the middle of the dirt floor on a wooden stool and we sat in a circle on logs or benches, greeting him as we filed in (there were 6 people in our group). He wore a skirt, a necklace of bones and seeds, a woven head band and his face was painted.

Conversation was initiated by our Achuar guide. They chatted about their day interjecting affirmative guttural noises while they avoided direct eye contact (a form of aggression) and as their conversation progressed it became louder and louder. We were then asked to introduce ourselves and our introductions were translated into Spanish and then into the Achuar language. Our host then asked us a few questions. Questions that were telling as to what was important in his life; space (freedom) and family. “Do you have much land around your homes?” – “Are your parents alive?” (his had died when he was young). We then were allowed to ask him questions.

During this time small children would come and go through the back gate, food was being gathered and prepared, and we were served chicha (sp?) or manioc beer by the wife of our host (who never spoke). This drink is the only source of fluid they take in. They have adapted to not drinking the river water as it is not compatible with humans. Instead they all drink this liquid made from a jungle plant which is chewed by the females of the family then fermented. The length of fermentation decides the strength of the brew.

They have deciphered that if all members of a family or even community ingest the saliva of the women, they are gaining natural antibodies that help their clan in warding off disease. The manioc beer serves that purpose nicely.

As we set up our tents and explored the village, the sun set over the jungle canopy and the full moon shined on a starry night. Many question the primitive existence of such people but in moments such as this in nature, I question the sanity of our civilized existence.

That night our whole group dined like kings on chicken, fish and roots that had been wrapped in banana leaves and placed over an open fire to bake. I then lay down on a pad with just a light blanket and looked out at the stars. I thought of how lucky I was to be sharing this moment with such a rich culture. For people who, in our eyes, have nothing, they seem to possess a strong sense of what is often missing in our world—family bonds and peace.

The Achuar day begins at 4 AM with a Wayusa ceremony (we participated in this ceremony). Strong black tea is drunk until one vomits. This is a cleansing ritual to start their day. While they sip tea they spend time with family, discussing issues in the village, teaching children how to make crafts, and playing. It is family time and is executed every day for a few hours until the sun comes up.

It is said that an Achuar is a living encyclopedia. They can recognize each of the 500 species of birds found in their area. One person can distinguish every tree and explain their medical or practical uses. They live in harmony with their environment, where all animals and plants have human-like attributes with a soul and an independent life. According to the Achuar every plant or animal has its own language and they are believed to understand some elements of this language. They know where to fish, how to hunt and when to harvest their crops. The forest is their nourishing mother.
The Achuar also believe that when somebody dies, some parts of the body become autonomous and will reincarnate in species animals. Thus, the lungs and the butterflies, the shadow becomes a deer, the heart lives in a bird and the liver is an owl.
During our Wayusa ceremony our host played his flute for us. We learned more about the Achuar way of life including how to use a make and use dart gun for hunting. We then got an opportunity to purchase crafts made by the village women and children. Decorative ceramic bowls are made by clay gathered in the river beds, necklaces made with seeds and animal bones, and woven head bands.

These people chose to interact with westerners because they believe that if they can create awareness about the importance and beauty of their environment and culture, we may see its inherent value and stop clear cutting or trying to invade their lifestyle by trying to change it (missionaries). So they let us in to be brief fly’s on the wall of an ancient way of life. What I saw were people with clarity of purpose, family ties, strong relationships with nature and contentment. Not so bad for folks who have no shoes and cook over an open fire on dirt floors.

I once again return home to a changed up lens color. This time further convinced to downsize my life (if I possibly can any more), and live closer to mother earth. Sometimes in our convoluted world – the answers we seek are in the simple places and times. Dust off the travel bag, and a world of answers can await.