Setting The Pace

09 Jul 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , ,

The Tortoise & The HareAfter watching Chris Froome and Team Sky  showing the rest of the teams how to take the lead in the Tour de France, it started me thinking about just how they make it all look so controlled and simple. Ok, they are a really amazing set of riders, but they also have a brilliant tactician at the helm.

Sir Dave Brailsford became the team principal at Team Sky three years ago, after taking British cycling to heights never dreamt of a few years before. By all accounts, he is a driven, focussed and demanding man, but he is also highly principled and has spoken out vehemently against doping, which has been rife in the sport for years, as evidenced by the Lance Armstrong debacle.

His team of professional riders are perfectly prepared for each and every stage, with Brailsford’s backroom staff leaving nothing to chance in terms of everything from food to equipment, training to recognisance of the route for that day.

Having managed Bradley Wiggins’ amazing victory in the lasts years Tour, he is doing another brilliant job of setting up another win, this time with the hugely talented Chris Froome.

What wins on the road, also wins in life, knowing the route, the highs and the lows of the road to come, and setting a steady, constant and unwavering pace. Taking your time to plan ahead, being constant and steady in your quest for a goal, and working as a team will give you the best chance of success in anything you do.

Remember the story of the Tortoise and the Hare. The Hare raced off into the distance, at the start of the race. The Tortoise set off at a slower, but steady pace. In the event, the Hare went too fast and had to stop to rest. By the time he was ready to continue, the Tortoise had caught and passed him, and went on to win the race.

So let’s all take a leaf out of Dave Brailsford’s and the Tortoise’s training manual. Be prepared, do the right things, be steady and be a winner. Trying to rush things through, to force the pace, is a recipe for disaster, so slow things down, take your time and be there at the end.

Pacing Ourselves, Or Not

02 Sep 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

Privet HedgeAfter the full on day yesterday, the start this morning was a little more sedate, although we still had big plans for the privet hedge, so breakfast was soon over. Bumble is trying to pace herself, trying to cram less into the day and give herself more time to just be.

We had promised ourselves, that we would only do an hour of trimming the hedge, but we made such a good start, that I was determined to get right to the top of the garden before we called it a day.

The cutting went really well. I ended up in the lane next to the cottage, standing on the top of a set of step ladders, so I could reach the hedge. Bumble stayed in the garden, so we were able to attack the job on two fronts and still chat.

Apart from a few interruptions, stopping to let cars down the lane, and Bumble going to get some industrial strength loppers from the chaps next door, we went at it for a lot longer than planned. But the end of the trimming was not the end of the job.

We managed to talk a neighbour, Tim, into letting us dump the clippings in his field, which saved a lot of time, but there was still a huge pile of them to get moved. At first, Bumble tried moving them in the green wheelie bin, but that proved rather unwieldy, so then we stuffed as much as we could into a huge hessian sack and moved it on the wheelbarrow.

That too proved difficult. The sack was far too big and too high to balance on the barrow, so while I wheeled the barrow, Bumble tried to hold the sack in place. But the path through the field is rather narrow, surrounded on both sides by fruit trees and other stuff, and I had the misfortune to get whacked round the ear by a small, but rather firm apple at one point.

Bumble appeared to see the funny side more easily than I, but I did reap my revenge at her mirth, by putting the empty sack over her head once the clippings had reached their destination.

With most of the grunt work done, I retired to watch the Belgian Grand Prix while B pottered around the garden until her friend Carly, a fellow Occupational Terrorist, came to visit. Carly did at least provide an interruption to the proceedings, so a little pacing was achieved.

When Carly left, around dinner time, I planted some new seedlings, donated by the chaps next door, who are shortly off to live in Malta, while Bumble set about making dinner. Even so, by the time we were fed and watered and had showered, we were both pretty well pooped.

So another fruitful, in more ways than one, kind of day. Lots done, with a degree of moderation built in to boot. By ten we were both tucked up in bed and out for the count. Pacing yourself is sometimes easier said than done, but with both parties giving their all in the quest for a shorter hedge, I think we managed it pretty well.