Back To My Roots

I saw a video on this year's number one NBA draft pick, Blake Griffin training on the sand hills at Fort Funston in San Francisco.
I remember running these hills (well, similar ones, since the ones I used to run are no longer there) way back (around 14 yrs ago, yikes!! I'm OLD! lol) when I was training to try out for my college basketball team. When I saw that video, I was like, wow, I know that place!!! So today I went with my buddy Les to say hi to an old friend who did help me make the team. When we made it to the hill, our hearts started to race already!!! The video doesn't do it justice, it's scary!! Like the Magic Mountain roller coasters kind of scary!!! We knew this was going to be a tough workout especially running or, even crawling up in the soft sand. We made it through seven sets of those hills (I've read Griffin does anywhere from 20-25 sets, sometimes even carrying weighted balls and sandbags, insane!!!) which left us drenched in sweat and feeling lightheaded!! Safe to say, we'll have to gradually build up to the 20-25 sets.

The point I'm trying to make is you don't need a fancy gym or state of the art equipment to get results. To go a step further, I'd say those places, used exclusively, makes people soft (i.e. - not mentally tough). Running hills in soft sand, dragging a sled, pushing the prowler, carrying sandbags are not easy!!! Not many people want to work that hard. But let me tell you, since mixing in my outdoor training with weight training in the gym (3x's outside, 2x's gym per week), I am so much stronger and in better shape than I was when I just went to the gym. There's something about knowing that no one else is putting in that kind of work that gives you a mental edge. The training clip in Rocky 4 vividly illustrates my way of thinking with Rocky training old school and Drago in this fancy high-tech gym. We all know what happens, Rocky kicks Drago's ass!!
Funny how in life, you always seem to come back full circle. What it all boils down to is how hard you work and how bad do you want to achieve your goals.