The Champions Blueprint/ Begin with the end in mind

Yesterday on a seemingly routine trip down south to Farmington, NM (I do this every Tuesday afternoon) I popped in a an episode of the Rich Roll Podcast.  I listen to his podcasts about half the time (Dave Ramsey takes up the other half, usually).  I always enjoy his fresh perspective on "plant-powered" athletes, specifically endurance athletes.  Yesterday's episode was a special treat.  Yesterday, he interviewed Dr. Jeff Spencer a chiropractor for people like Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong, and has served on teams for 9 Tours de France.  He also went to the Olympics during the 60's as a cyclist on his own merit.  Here's a link to the podcast: http://www.richroll.com/podcast/rrp-57-dr-jeff-spencer-champions-blueprint-prolific-peak-performance-optimizing-your-best-self/ .  Admittedly, I was a little skeptical that I would hear a rehash of Stephen R. Covey's "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" since there are seven steps he gives on the way to the top.  Some are quite similar others are a little more unique.  I think what Dr. Spencer has carefully unearthed is the human traits that lead to our best performances... something this blog is uniquely dedicated to revealing.  The world seems to be overcrowded with people merely "getting by" and doing "good enough."  I truly wonder if they realize there are a large number of people who are determined to be the absolute best.  Maybe those people just don't live near me.  I've never lived in LA or NYC but I perceive those places to be overrun with the self-importants who are looking to excel. Maybe I'm wrong.  Please feel free to leave comments agreeing or disagreeing.  I don't think it's a coincidence that the Yankees and the New York Phil are in the same city, and it is not the Middle of Nowhere, South Dakota.

I thought it would be a helpful exercise for us to go through his steps one-by-one and really come to terms with what the implications of this blueprint are for musicians and endurance athletes.  Each day I'll explore a new principal, as I see it, and maybe together we can crack this code.  The really interesting part about this is that, he explains, these steps can be as large or small a scale as we desire.  So maybe for you, start a small project with these in mind and learn how it works, then ramp it up!

1. Legacy: Start with the End in Mind
This one, admittedly, sounded a little Covey-ish (since his Habit Number 2 is Begin with the End in Mind).  Putting the label legacy on it, though, implies a larger sense of what is meant by "the end."  As he explains it, what do you want to leave behind on this earth after you are gone?  That is your legacy.  For me, I intend to leave a legacy that proves people can do both music and sports with equal success simultaneously.  I am working to have a few big wins in each category (my personal definition of success at this endeavor).  As I see it, it is like having a job as a computer programmer and being very skilled at it while training for and winning marathons.  Google Rod Dehaven's bio and you'll see that feat has been done.  I don't know Rod personally but I do remember that he held a "normal" job as a computer programmer while training for and making the 2000 US Olympic team in the marathon.  What is your legacy?  What feats will your grandchildren look upon and say proudly, "My grandpa was a _____."  For me, personally, (this is probably the driving force behind all that I do), I look very proudly upon my maternal great grandfather and both my paternal grandparents.  They are in my thoughts daily.  My great grandfather, John Harlan "Speedy" Rush, was an an outdoorsman, college football coach, youth camp founder (Dunmore, Keewaydin and Songadeewin), and tied the world record for the 100 yard dash.  My paternal grandmother was a church organist and music teacher, her husband was a true Renaissance man; expert craftsman, built his own house without ever owing a cent, great with people, could quote Shakespeare and Carl Sagan in the same breath.  Yeah, I'm cut from that cloth, alright.  I've always felt like God and I sat around before I was born and came up with the idea:  what would happen if we put elements of these people into one person?  Here I am!  My legacy will be to my grandchildren: "Grandpa was a champion long distance runner, professional clarinetist, highly college teacher, outdoorsy guy, vegan..."

So as an experiment, write down what you want your legacy to be.  You may assign a timeline to it, or leave it open ended.  If you want some accountability, post it as a comment on here!  I think writing it down really helps clarify and possibly quantify our intentions.  Also, when you're rummaging through your drawer for a lost item and come across it, you'll remember your purpose.  Or, you could experiment with http://www.futureme.org.  Send yourself an e-mail in a year.  I promise you'll have forgotten it is coming and be surprised when it shows up.

Tomorrow, we'll cover Mindset: View the world through the lens of your legacy.  See you then!

Why extreme is bad, or is it?

For today's blog, I'd like to pose a question: why is extreme bad?  I've been thinking about this a lot recently as people typically use that term to define or quantify activities I'm doing.  I run more than most (but far less than some) and that to some is extreme... I practice clarinet more than most (again, far less than some)... My wife and I are pretty good at managing our money.... I can do a modest number of pull-ups... I'm "plant powered"... I manage my time well.... all these things, from a certain perspective are no big deal or world-class (unfortunately. Sponsors feel free to chime in, maybe we can take some of these up a notch) but routinely are described as "extreme." So this led me to thinking, maybe extreme is defined by perspective?  Perhaps "abnormal" would be a better term.  It is somewhat abnormal to meet a clarinetist who routinely does workouts consisting of 300 pull-ups.  It is somewhat abnormal to meet an ultra runner who performs classical music recitals and concerts as often as I do.  But is this extreme? Or are we abusing the word like we do with "awesome."

Initially, I thought maybe excessive might be a better term for it all but even that implies that there is too much or an excess of activity.  Clearly, this cannot be the case.  Unconventional, yes.  Extreme?  Probably not.  This perspective may indicate a larger societal problem indicating that our musicians are largely sedentary (I can't tell you the number of times I have walked down the hall either as a student or a professor or heard on breaks from rehearsal someone complaining about wanting to lose some weight due to their lifestyle).  The other societal problem is that a fair number of top athletes offer zero intellectual or humanitarian contributions to the greater good.  Not everyone needs to grow up and be Gandhi in both physique and contributions but just bumping along is not a way I am willing to spend my days.

I lived in Boulder, Colorado for a number of years both during and after my undergraduate study.  There are a large number of world-class athletes and Nobel Laureates and even some Grammy winners.   Are these people all extreme or are they just good at what they do?  If they are "extreme," why is that a negative thing?  I would argue they are good at what they do, have a plan for success, and work diligently and patiently at their pursuits.   The take away from this is, if you are working towards your goals, let them be extreme.  Roger Bannister was once called extreme.  He remains a shining example of someone with a great intellect and athletic prowess.  Go break your own 4 minute mile, extreme as that may be!

Short and sweet

Today's blog will be short and sweet but it comes, a little bit anyway, from a sermon I heard yesterday about success.  I am exited to be carving out some time to make these blogs more frequent.

Success to me means setting a certain minimum end-point you are comfortable with and judging your results in relation to that goal.  If, say, your goal was to earn $100 and you earned $95, you were 95% successful.  Most goals are a little more subjective than that but one can get the picture.  When you start a goal, define what success means to you.

The other take-away is that as a musician we not only can be actively engaged in some sort of physical pursuit like running, we should be engaged in some sort of physical pursuit.  I see many, many musicians and business people who "don't have the time"to squeeze in even a simple 30 minute walk with the dog.  I think this is detrimental to our long term success.  If our health goes, we won't be able to do much, including the work we don't have time to miss.  For me, the best time is first thing in the morning but sometimes the climate or keeping up on my sleep gets in the way.  I read an article shortly before writing this that going to work with less than optimal sleep is like going to work drunk and I agree.  Sleep, workout, eat right, work, spend time with your family and friends.  It's all about balance.

Short and sweet.  See you tomorrow!

Silverton, Hardrock, and Mission Statements

Hello Friends,
Sorry it has been a while since I last posted.  I have been pretty busy... let me bring you up to speed.

This summer, I am in the throes of training for my second running of the Hardrock 100.  My training runs are consistently longer than ever; averaging a little more than 13 miles per run.  I have only run outside of Silverton twice, but I am hitting a good deal of mileage and hills here in Durango.  The first run was from Grouse Gulch to the summit of Handies Peak and back.  The second was today from Silverton High School to the top of Putnam Ridge and back.  I am eager for the race as each of these runs was somewhat of an exercise in route-finding.  I don't mind doing that when I'm hiking but it is really easy to miss a trail when running.  I am not generally a person who needs, or even likes, a great deal of time on the actual trail.  I can get pretty creative in any surrounding.  I remember running up parking garages in Lincoln, NE for hill work.

One of my big struggles lately, is that the bulk of my runs are starting at 4 a.m.  The main reason for this is that I am working at the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and I usually report to work at 6:45 a.m. and work 11 hour shifts.  Once in a while I can squeeze in a run after work but Durango is also quite warm in the evenings so it is better to run in the mornings.

I realize that some of you may be in disbelief that a college professor needs to work on the railroad during the summer but rest assured, my wife and I are "gazelle intense" and trying to make as big a dent in our student loans as possible (she is working as a meter maid).  The train is enjoyable but, let's be honest, I'd rather be practicing or running.  It pays the bills.  I think I am pretty adept at my position as a concessionaire as I usually outsell my co-workers.  I have always had good sales skills.  We are making progress and trying to enjoy as much of the summer as possible.  We get a mini-vacation next week... we are going to Glacier National Park with my wife's family.  We are both very excited.

So Hardrock will be what it will be.  I think I have improved in my uphill technique and use lots of little steps to keep my heart rate at a reasonable level.  I am traveling light and not packing more than one water bottle since the water up high is very drinkable.  I'll let you know how that goes two weeks after if giardia sets in!  In the high country in Colorado, a jacket, and a hat and gloves are always a must, so I'll bring those as much as possible.

Ok, now for the mission statements part.  Some of you have asked what the focus of my blog is so I'll explain it.  I believe that people need both intellectual and physical activities in their life.  There are far too many people in the world with interest and activity in only one and I think they end up missing something in their lives.  I know a great many musicians (and people in general) who suffered from some possibly avoidable maladies including diabetes, cancers, and heart disease.  I also know some athletes who suffer from brain-rot by not engaging in any sort of mental activity.  They also usually have pretty low-level careers and don't contribute much beyond their sport.  The great ones, I believe, do both.  One of the great mentors in my life is a renowned bassoonist and professional body builder.  I've known professional runners who are great computer programmers.  I would bet that someone like Jerry Rice has an active interest in some sort of non-football pursuit.  Unfortunately, we only know these people for what they do as musicians or as athletes and few every "come-out" as both and I find it disappointing.  While I am not a world-beater at either (yet), I hope people reading this blog will see the value of committing a good amount of time to both their intellectual and physical activities.  I find that when I am playing clarinet a lot, I run better and when I am running a lot, I play clarinet better.  The only compromise, as I see it, is the issue of time management.  The average American spends an ungodly amount of time watching TV every week.  I don't mind missing The Bachelor to squeeze in another couple hours of Opperman Studies and, frankly, I love running at night during football season so I can see people watching as I'm working out (there is a familiar blue glow on the curtains in their homes).  Yep, I'm that creepy guy with the headlamp outside your house.  I like movies, I enjoy a few programs on a consistent basis (who can argue with Mythbusters or Stephen Hawking's Into the Universe!?) but only after I'm either too spent to be productive or I have accomplished my to-do list for each in the day.  I make time to spend with my family.  I think it is really about priorities.  I really get tired of the "oh you're a runner, I want to run to lose 10 lbs., how do I start?"  I run because I love it... not because it's good for my waistline.  I play clarinet because elements of it fulfill me intellectually.  It can really be an exercise in consistent thinking.  I haven't tried Luminosity but I'm sure I'd love it.  Additional activities supplement both major endeavors.  I do pull-ups regularly, read books about musicians and music not directly related to clarinet, I read great non-fiction business-type books, and when the weather is bad, I ride my bike in the garage on the trainer.  It is sooooo important that people are active in both major elements of their lives.

That wasn't a very concise mission statement... how about this: I run and play clarinet because it is good for me and I enjoy it.  It is my mission to help others pursue similar endeavors in their lives because it is good for them too! So, ask yourself, why do you do what you do and how can it positively impact others?

Any questions... let me know!

The San Juans in their late spring glory! (last week, from Handies Peak)

Me atop Handies Peak (last week)

Putnam Ridge (today)

Rule No. 1 and the Durango Hogback

There have been a number of  you who have asked me about Josh's Rules and Rule No. 1, in particular.  Josh's Rule No. 1 is "Don't be dumb." I thought I was flirting with breaking this rule today until I arrived home after my run and saw some videos I would truly dub as people being dumb.

My run today was scheduled to be a 15 minute tempo run.  So far, I am 0/3 this season as far as meeting objectives on tempo runs.  The first two I attempted were on the treadmill at SJC and, while the second was better than the first, both missed their objective.  Today, I was a little achy in the upper gracilis area and so I thought decided rather than pound out 15 minutes on the concrete, I would do a time trial of sorts on the Durango Hogsback Mountain.  The most treacherous parts of Hardrock are very similar to this climb so I figured it may be a good bench mark for this season (just add sleep deprivation and 40-50 miles covered before it, oh, and add about 5k feet).  Anyone who has climbed this foothill will tell you that there are three big concerns: lack of traction, narrowness of the ridge, and angle of the slope.  The hill is less than 1 mile from the meadow at the bottom to the peak so it should be no big deal, right?

My running of it was relatively unremarkable.  It took me almost 10:00 to scamper up the 35+ degree slope from the meadow.  Running an incline of that magnitude really feels more like doing lunges.  My usual modus operandi is to pitter patter my way up any steep incline but with the shale giving way under my feet, pitter pattering it seemed more slippery than larger steps.  The drawback to larger steps on this kind of ascent is that the ridge at points is maybe 8 feet at the widest and 3 at the narrowest points.  There is one part where having one foot four or five inches either way would likely earn you a ticket to slide down one slope or the other.  I spent about 5 minutes at the top admiring the view, the rock carvings, and Perin's Peak to the west.  Because of the loose footing and steep angle, the return trip took me about 15:00.  I am pretty sure I can get the ascent faster but I'm not sure I want to get the descent too much faster (though I'm sure some people can run this in half that time... we'll get to Rule No. 1 in a minute).

This is not my favorite mountain or climb but it is useful in that I think it steels a person in a few ways:  The narrow trail forces you to focus on foot placement.  The steep angle forces you to muscle up as much as possible and keeps your heart rate well elevated. The loose terrain, especially on the descent, makes you listen to the trail and your body.  A misstep on this trail and you will have a very bad day.  Which brings me to Rule No. 1: Don't Be Dumb.  I consider today's ascent and especially today's descent fairly conservative.  No doubt that as I do it more I will be more comfortable with the route and my speed will increase but a person simply cannot afford a lack of focus or mistake on this trail.  I've fallen and eaten enough dirt to know when something will likely trip me up if I'm not careful.  When I returned home, I did some Google research (highly academic work for spring break) and found some videos of some very amazing descents of this hill by mountain bikers and a couple on skis.  This alone could spark a discussion of Rule No. 1.  Nonetheless, I took my time.  I think the me-being-dumb factor increases with the speed in this case.  So take your time, don't be dumb, and go climb that mountain!

A Google Earth View of Hogback.  The Trail goes starts at the dirt road on the left, goes up the skinny ridge, meets the main ridge and summits at about 7500'.

Slow Cooker Baked Beans

Happy Saturday everyone! I am going to divert from my usual topics of clarinetting and running for a more universal topic: food! Many of know that I enjoy a vegan palate for many reasons which I don't care to expound upon in this post. Some of you have asked me to share my recently found recipe for baked beans. With the summer approaching, this could be the hit of many a vegan BBQ or tofurkey weenie roast (though the carnivores will also enjoy it!) As a scholar, I should inform you that it is not an original creation but was included in a book called "Fresh from the Vegan Slow Cooker" by Robin Robertson. This book has 200 great recipes. They are easy and fun to make! I did make some changes because I didn't have all the ingredients as they are printed. Here is my adaptation. I'll put the original ingredients in parenthesis when they differ. Let me know if you make it!

2 teaspoons grapeseed oil (olive oil)
1 medium onion minced (I used the food processor and it looked like pudding)
4 5oz cans navy beans
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup maple syrup (not a typo, I didn't have the 1/4 cup light molasses so I doubled the maple syrup)
1 small can tomato paste
1 Anaheim Chile (1 tablespoon minced chile in abodo)
2 teaspoons brown mustard
1 teaspoon apple vinegar (1 teaspoon rice vinegar)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup water
(1 teaspoon liquid smoke)

1. Heat the oil in a small skillet. I used cast iron but that is not mandatory. Sauté the onion.
2. Add the onion and beans to the croc-pot. Set it to low.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the maple syrup, (molasses), chile, mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper. Add the water and blend with a whisk until well blended.
4. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. (Just before serving, stir in the liquid smoke). My sauce was a little watery so I turned the heat up to high, removed the lid, and cooked for 30 more minutes uncovered. Stir occasionally. If the sauce is too thick, add water. Add more salt and pepper if desired for taste.

That's it! Pretty simple, pretty easy. Gluten free, soy free, lots of fiber and taste! Enjoy!

This picture is what it looked like at the start of cooking.

Do It Everyday...

I will let you in on a little secret to success: do it everyday. Now that I have piqued your curiosity and to help the half of you with your minds in the gutter, I am speaking in very general terms. It is my observation that the people who are most successful practice their skill or craft everyday.

I once saw a t-shirt that said "When I skip one day of practice, I know. When I skip two days, my stand partner knows. When I skip three days everyone knows." Personally, I find that I play clarinet as well as run at my best around the ten-day mark and, conversely, I feel my worst after three or more days away. There are plenty of studies, I'm sure, to back me up on this but I don't need to read them to know what works for me. After two or three days "out of the saddle," I feel clumsy and slightly out of step.

Fortunately, this need not be a permanent state of affairs. After a certain time being involved with either a sport or art, it quickly returns to its former state of ease. In my specific case, I start feeling 'normal' in about two to three days. I also find the opposite of this to be true. If I have a run of several big days, I feel particularly empowered. It is almost as though the muscles fall back into an effortless state of movement. The downside of this is that my endurance is a little more limited in this state. A few years ago, I ran a 50 mile race. I ran it hard, placed pretty well and felt pretty cooked afterwards. The next day, I ran for one hour. That hour started pretty rough but after five minutes of gutting it out, my body remembered the state of flow and my pace escalated with the effort remaining fairly constant. It was really a remarkable run. I have experienced the same thing after a days with clarinet practice totaling over 5 hours. The downside of this is that the day after the 50 miler, going much more than an hour would have required a rather large effort. The same is true for the 5+ hour practice day. I could be an animal for a brief period but lose intensity after an hour. Two days later, I usually am back to feeling like myself again and ready to build on the base I laid in the previous days.

The moral of this story is that you can feel tremendous just by keeping a consistent diet of work related to your goals. To be clear, I am not abdicating workaholism or over working. I am also not saying to never take a day off. Frankly, I think a day's step backwards and somewhere between six and thirteen days' steps forward are a successful formula with sound roots in both periodized training as well as scripture. It keeps you humble, too. I am, however, encouraging you to go after your goals with passion and, most of all, consistency. You probably will not achieve your dreams in a day (and if you could, would they really mean anything?) but with a consistent effort spread over a week to fourteen days you will make significant progress towards them. If you add those weeks into months and months into years, success becomes, as Kal Opperman told Richard Stoltzman, just a matter of time. If it matters to you, do it everyday.

Your New Imaginary Friends

Today's post comes from a personal realization a few years ago that was particularly profound.

As musicians, we find ourselves in much the same situation as many a cartoon character. Any fan of Bugs Bunny will remember two important characters: the angel and the devil who show up on people's shoulders. As a musician, we also should have two character's on our shoulders. Ours, however, are the conductor and the opera singer. The conductor lives on my right shoulder and the opera singer on my left. Here's why:

As a conductor, I make every effort to show the beat pattern when appropriate and a gesture reflecting the music when not. When on the podium, I make use of both hands but for this discussion only the right hand is important (where I hold the baton). I recommend my students practice conducting a simple 4 pattern to instill this feeling into their body. After a few measures I ask them to set their hand in their lap and remember the feeling they just experienced. I hope I never know first hand but from what I understand this is similar to the feeling of a phantom arm. To me, it is very important to have a kinesthetic feeling of the music and the meter. I then ask the students to play a simple melody and imagine the feeling of their arm moving while they play. After a little practice, it becomes very easy to imagine this feeling through all the music we play. Once this exercise is used on a regular basis it becomes possible to mentally (or "phantom-ally?") conduct through any music. When this is second nature, it frees up quite a bit of brain space formerly allocated to mundane counting of meter. By using this kinesthetic awareness, we rely on a distinct feeling rather than any sort of mental activity. With enough practice, it becomes similar to running or walking in that we can "feel" our way through even the trickiest music by only being aware of this feeling. When things get really sticky, we can always resort to other measures, but most of the time this exercise will free up some "bandwidth" we need to concentrate on other musical elements.

On the other hand (or shoulder), we have the inner opera singer. The opera singer is responsible for making the prettiest musical lines, guiding phrases, and bringing out our inner divas. To give this little lady some exercise, I suggest students sing through a musical idea and really focus on breathing where the music dictates and not where our eyes or the beaming make it appear to be. In my studio, we have a rule: no breathing at bar lines if at all possible. If we follow her guidance, the opera singer will not lead us astray, usually. Once in a while we come across something that is not supposed to sound lyrical and it is in those moments we make her work as hard as we can but realize she can only do so much when something is disjointed and meant to not sound remotely singable. These situations are by far the exception. More than 99% of the music I have played or studied makes good use of our singer friend. I, personally, feel that most people are too eager to dismiss their inner singer in favor of what their eyes see and the effect is an overly robotic and often disjointed performance.

Remarkable and inspired performance occurs when these two imaginary friends reconcile and eventually work together. If you can make these two seeming opposites work together, you will find your performances have rhythmic integrity, musicality, and an elasticity to it that makes us reliable and enjoyable collaborators to other musicians. The really fun part about this is that it works for every style and genre of music.

So on that note, let your inner Karajan and Callas out to play and you will find yourself enjoying your music making more and doing it with greater ease.

Play pretty! (I stole that from my major instructor during my DMA studies)

Stay organized, stay flexible

Today's post is about the art of staying flexible and maintaining organization. It is also the first blog I am writing from my iPhone so please forgive the occasional auto corrected word that I may miss in my editing.

Staying flexible is about more than your best yoga poses. Staying flexible means, to me, incorporating a personal policy much like the Marines policy... Improvise, adapt, overcome. I'll give you an example. We received a great deal of snow here this weekend. I am ramping up for Hardrock this summer and trying to fit in all the training I can. While snow at the cabin is pretty and fun to train on, snow around town is often treacherous and almost always leads to some sort of injury (read: time away from training, probably when the weather is nice). So, I improvised a solution. I first shoveled our complex's driveway then rode my bike on the trainer for the same time I would have spent on the road. This was followed by some weight exercises using 5 gallon buckets filled with snow (rocks would have been better, lesson learned). This workout, while not in my training plan, served as cross-training, recovery, and strength all in one. I suppose in an ideal situation, I could buy a gym pass and run on a treadmill but the idea of getting more than just a recovery run and not leaving the house sounded appealing. Stay flexible.

On the other side of that coin is to stay organized. I sat down about a month and a half ago and came up with a training plan from then to Hardrock, knowing that I would probably not get 100% of the workouts due to life, weather, or work but I will get the vast majority of them and all the important ones. Having a game plan for the whole season lets me be on auto pilot when it comes to the day-in/day-out planning of workouts. I never question if I am doing the right work because I have already done that thinking. This mindset requires a fair amount of trust in your ability to program workouts. You may find it more helpful to employ a coach or trusted friend to help with your plan. One of the things I like about running ultras is that there is a little bit of mad-scientist-type thinking involved. We, or our coaches/mentors, must realize that there is no single way to prepare for events of this magnitude. In a 5k, there are only so many things that can happen in the 13-20 minute range. Maybe double that number for a 10k and quadruple that for a marathon Now, quadruple that and add in elements like changing weather, running in the dark, for 15-48 hours. This is where having a good game plan both in training and in racing will pay off. If your training is where it should be, you can rely on your game plan come race day. The occasional oddity will not knock you off kilter if everything else is normal. This oddity need not always be negative; maybe you find yourself leading the race with 10 miles to go and decide to push it to go for the gold. Keep your game plan in mind, plan your drop bags and crew carefully. Race day need not have the drama of bad preparation. I would also suggest laying out all your gear and walking through the race in your mind to detect any miscalculations ("start to May Queen, 13.5 miles, 1:40, 2 hand held bottles, one at start, one at boat ramp, 3 Gu's, headlamp with fresh batteries, gloves and hat... Repeat this process for every section of the race). Try to divide the race into 6-8 mile or 1 hour chunks. The other element that helps me is to pack just slightly more than I think I'll need. This usually means an extra Gu and a few S-Caps, on training runs in the back country, I have a small survival/first aid kit, knife, and fire striker. Sometimes these are for me, other times you come across someone in need. Either way, being organized really helps here.

This also goes for music. Knowing your music well can make a little bump in the road very easy to overcome. This breaks down to understanding the rhythms, pitches, and other players' parts in a very deliberate and systematic nature. Sometimes things just come apart a little and if you are either unprepared, unorganized in your practice or inflexible because of this, it is really hard to get back in the swing of things. It is easy the other way.

Additionally, I carry a bag of emergency musical supplies. Yours may vary but I have a hemostat, lighter, screwdriver, cigarette paper, extra batteries for my tuner, reed knife and sandpaper to name a few items in my kit. This way, if anything minor goes wrong, I can make due until a proper solution can be found... and hopefully no one will be the wiser.

Additionally, organization must be maintained. Keep up with your supplies, gear, music, and any other needed items. Keep your training and practice plans up to date and trust that you, your teacher/coach, or whoever else is helping you. This takes out the second guessing.

Good luck, stay organized and flexible (and thirsty, my friends).

4 Tips to Self-Improvement

Good morning everyone!
I am happy to be back to blogging.  It has been a while since I last wrote anything for you guys (I've been involved in a really cool arrangement for clarinet choir, which was sent to a publisher yesterday) but I am back with some tips to help you sharpen your skills, musically OR athletically.

A little overview... while I've mentioned it before, I can't stress enough the value of books like Stephen R. Covey's "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" and it's sister book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens."  These books really lay it all out there and make it so you don't have to spend 20 years trying to reinvent the proverbial wheel.  I don't think any of these tips are new or are complicated but when applied properly, they can help you achieve your dreams.

1. Here we go.  The first item of importances is find yourself a teacher, coach, mentor, guru, etc.  These are people who have walked the road you are walking and can probably lend some advice.  I never improved as much in running as when I started training with a well-known South African coach in Boulder. He really knew how to get his athletes to perform.  Additionally, he had the heart of a teacher and would explain to me the practical aspects of things I'd only discussed in science class (like mitochondria... who knew those little guys were so important).  I will never forget him drawing me a picture of a muscle cell in the dirt behind the track after a workout one day.  My musical development was a little different but both my main teachers led me down a path of self-exploration which led to dramatic improvement.  These people know their stuff and, like the coach, helped me find my own path.  People literally slingshot into high performance when they start working with an expert.  Find someone you respect and can, sometimes blindly, trust to guide you where you have clearly communicated that you would like to be.  If you are fairly self-motivated, maybe a once a month meeting or phone call will suffice.  Other people prefer a once a week lesson and yet others would prefer to meet 5 times a week.  You must figure out exactly where you are on that spectrum and clearly communicate that to your new guru.  Additionally, make it worth their time.  If they are good, they are busy and if they are busy, they are probably good.  If you can afford daily coaching and are willing to put in the requisite practice or mileage (or whatever daily actions your pursuit requires), do it.  You will not regret it.  If you can't afford that (and most can't) then you will have to have a stronger degree of personal discipline to make this happen.

2. The second aspect is almost more important than the first:  listen to your guru and do what he recommends!  All the great teaching in the world is for naught if you ignore or don't practice what the experts you trust are recommending.  A story of two students:  Both came to me with a high degree of natural talent.  One had a mediocre work ethic (at best) and the other works like a dog.  As you may imagine, the dog-like worker has improved ten-fold in the short time we have known each other.  This student comes to lessons prepared, asks lots of great questions, and has won accolades of which no one in the history of his community has ever even dreamed.  I am 100% confident that if this student continues this upward trajectory, they will complete their goal of a DMA in clarinet one day.  As you may expect: The other student has stayed about the same.  There have been some improvements but they are few and far between.  Am I feeding magic beans to the first student?  That must be it!  Or (reality check) the diligent student is trusting the mentor (me).  I've seen this with athletes as well.  They show up for training and then go home and either a.) sit on the couch with a bag of chips and a six pack of beer or b.) go out for another long run their coach has no idea is happening and think they'll somehow improve on his plan.  The diligent athlete asks the coach: "what should I be doing in my downtime?"  (the answer is usually hydrating and recovering).  If you have a great training plan or think you know how to play your instrument perfectly, why do you employ a coach/teacher?  If you are just filling in credits for  a degree, is this fair to yourself, your school, your teacher or your future students?  In my humble opinion, there are way too many clarinet teachers out there who can barely play the instrument and squeaked (small pun intended) through college.  If you do not have a firm grip on it, what business does a private teacher have spreading bad habits on to students who, unknowingly, pay them to do that?  Additionally, if you are on scholarship either for athletics or music or anything else and can manage to half-butt your way through your degree while keeping your scholarship, have you really helped your school (who is paying you the scholarship)?  This is not uncommon at all but this self-centeredness is really bad behavior.  Out of respect for your teachers and coaches, please adhere to their plans as best you are able.  Don't feel bad about clarifying and re-clarifying your goals with your guru but if you trust them enough to pay them for their services and take up their time, you owe it to them to do the work!

3. Realistic reflection.  Realistic reflection on this blog comes in several forms.  The easiest and most measurable is the time trial.   If an athlete can run a solid time trial, alone (especially on a track), they are capable of at least a 5-10% improvement on race day.  This is an extremely hard discipline to master for me.  We all reach that moment where the brain says "ah, it's ok, you can let off the gas a little and pick it up later."  Someone needs to smack that guy in the face!  That is exactly the moment to do as our high school sweatshirts formerly advised "Shut up and run!"  Training for an ultra-marathon in this way can be tricky but not impossible.  The aforementioned South African coach told me: "Josh, you have to run like a musician."  There is really much in common:  cadence of foot strike, rubato for climbs and descents, timing of nutrition and hydration, heaviness of the set up and relative comfort of the activity.  I practice all of these at some point in my week.  A week of running for me equals about a day of clarinet practice in terms of items practiced.   But athletes aren't the only ones.  Musicians face the same obstacles.  Recordings are our time trials.  A major difference being that we usually play better in practice than in concerts.  I advise students to buy a cheap recorder that is easy to use and learn to make yourself sound good on it.  If you are having trouble with a rhythmic issue, put the metronome on, start the recorder and play the excerpt.  Notice where you and the metronome differ.  Most likely, it's one small spot tripping up the rest of your performance.  Go back and fix that spot by whatever means possible.  When you're reasonably sure you have it turn on the metronome and recorder again.  Is it right?  Keep repeating this until you get it.  This doesn't usually take long.  Now record a larger section with and without the metronome.  Remember that in an audition, you won't have that luxury.  You can also practice pitch issues but putting the metronome on a drone pitch.  Play the excerpt into the recording and you should be able to tell very quickly where your pitch is not quite right.  Practice, re-record, repeat.  Self-reflection is easy to understand but really hard to do when our ego gets in the way. The only way I've found to remedy this is to dissociate and talk to myself as though I were one of my students.  The guys in adjacent offices must think I have multiple personalities.  Either way, it works.  Look in the mirror... is that the product you want?  If not, what would you like to improve?

4. The final tip of the day is to remain a student.  Even if you have a bunch of degrees hanging on your wall, remain a student... or as T.S. Elliot said in The Wasteland:

“We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time.”

The North Face says "Never Stop Exploring."  This is good advice.  As a graduate student, my teachers spoke about voicing and tone color.  Like a good student, I did what they recommended but I didn't really understand the concept until a few years ago when I started experimenting (exploring) with multiphonics and extended techniques.  I read a few books, played around a little and one day it clicked.  Like a kid with a new box of crayons (the really big box!) I suddenly had all these new colors and slight variances of colors to use.  I kept messing and playing around.  Then I read the Tabuteau book and listened to him play and that color palate expanded again.  I may get my butt kicked technically by the giants in the field (I'm working on that one, see the previous point), but with a good reed I can match their tone color.  After a while it feels like musical impersonations.  SNL eat your heart out!

I hope these help.  Keep getting better at what you do!