La mirada contemplativa y su diferencia con la mirada calculante

If you’re hungry, run faster. You’ll be home quicker.

—SEAL

New York City 32°

0600

I get out of bed and head into the kitchen. It is pitch dark outside and cloudy. It looks brutally cold, but the thermometer says thirty-two degrees. I look out of my window onto Columbus Circle and there is nobody outside. It looks like an old barren movie set. SEAL is already in the kitchen sitting on a stool at our island. Just sitting.

“We are going to focus on the basics this morning. Push-ups and sit-ups. It all starts with the basics,” SEAL says.

It’s true.

My time with SEAL has convinced me the days of the fancy gym memberships are numbered.

Things like CrossFit and street workouts are going to prevail in the future. All you really need to do is get your push-up and sit-up routine consistent, and you can see amazing results.

I have another philosophy. You can be fit without being healthy, but you can’t be healthy without being fit. Meaning… you can be in great shape on the outside, but if you don’t eat great and don’t take care of your insides, you aren’t necessarily healthy. History shows us there were plenty of athletes who were in great shape but suddenly died of a heart attack. Balance is key.

I also believe being in really good shape takes a combination of many components. For starters, you have to be strong, but you also have to be explosive, flexible, capable of running stop-and-go sprints and running long distances. You need the full package.

So, back to basics.

I do ten push-ups followed by as many sit-ups as I can until the second hand on the clock hits 12 again. Then I start the push-ups and sit-ups again. We repeat that for thirty minutes nonstop. By the end of the workout, my core muscles, chest, and triceps are cooked. Plus my heart rate is up in the mid-150s.

The full package.

1300

My friend Bryan Fried comes over to hang out for a few hours. I’ve known Fried for a long time, and he is part of my “Wonderful Wednesday” group, six friends who run together every Wednesday (hence the name). He is also a professional cyclist and in great shape. I think SEAL is in his room, but exactly the Ritz-Carlton. We had to walk up 162 steps to get to our 150-square-foot apartment. The kitchen and bathroom were one room. There was no bedroom. I slept in a loft space with a six-foot that was my desk. It took up half the apartment. I’d write all of the phone numbers, dates, and appointments on the box. The only rule in the apartment was you couldn’t drink on my desk. That box

Just as Bryan and I are getting situated on the couch, laughing and talking, SEAL walks in the room to shake Bryan’s hand. I think SEAL wants to show off his work on me to date as he says, “Let’s and have already had multiple workouts today. She can tell I’m pissed. “Honey, this is really ridiculous. You’re overdoing it.”

We run through Central Park into Harlem up around 125th Street and start to head back.

There are three specific highlights from the run:

1. Three miles into the run I ask SEAL if he has $2 (the only words we have said to each other all run). He says, “For what?” I respond, “I haven’t eaten all day. I need an energy bar or a banana.” He says, “We have five miles left. If you are hungry, run faster. You’ll be home quicker.”

2. SEAL hears a dog nearby in the woods while we are running. I didn’t hear a thing, but

apparently SEAL has extrasensory hearing. SEAL says under his breath to himself and to the invisible dog, “Try me, motherfucker. I mean it, try me.” Let me be perfectly honest; he said it in a way where it sounded like he wanted the dog to attack him. The dog was smart; we never saw him.

3. There are millions of people in New York City. Literally millions. Yet tonight we only saw one other person running in all of Central Park. We’re home at 10:25 p.m. At the doorstep to our building, SEAL says to me: “It’s not what you do, it’s when and how you do it. It’s all about the conditions. Remember that.”

Ten minutes later…

We have to hustle because we need to get to the airport and go down to Atlanta for a lightning-quick trip. Sara has a meeting in the morning and has asked us to keep her company. I want to stay in NYC and work, but SEAL reminds me, “You’re not in control here, bro,” and he’s right. If my wife wants to roll to Atlanta… we roll to Atlanta. So we fly out at midnight. The plan is to go there and fly back in just twenty-four hours.

Workout totals: 8 miles, 400 push-ups, and 550 sit-ups