This is a serious book about a serious subject: the ability to keep training. It is about the ability to exercise with a purpose; to sweat, to share a workout with a friend and feel those special feelings when your body takes over and your mind gets out of the way. In FUEL THE FIRE, Perform with Passion, I presented the process for learning how to express all of the interest, excitement, intense desire and passion you have for what you love to do; a process I refer to as HiLevel Performance. The process that teaches you to show up at the events of your life, from the biggest to the smallest, hardest to the easiest, and be grateful, excited and committed: A state that allows you to focus all of your mental, physical and spiritual energy on performing at your best. The reward for performing at this level is both the journey and the destination. You enjoy the preparation and the practice, the rehearsal and the main event. You learn and grow; you are inspired by your success and motivated to refine the process. You take risks; you push yourself and your limits, you work hard and you keep coming back for more. Your fire burns steady with an abundance of fuel; you are able to perform at a level that is satisfying to you and you reap the rewards.

Fit Forever, Winning the Race of Your Life is a shift in focus from the narrow to the big picture, from your performance in the moment to your life in its entirety. This book is written for serious athletes who have experienced the shift. The shift can be voluntary or forced, occur as a planned event or an emergency response to a new reality. The shift signals a new purpose for training. It demands that you change from training for competition to training for fitness. The shift can occur at any age for a variety of reasons. The bottom line is that the shift forces you to look at the issue of longevity, the ability to maintain your fitness, health and quality of life. I use the metaphor of the "Race" to represent your life. The finish line is one of those universal truths, the one about "no one gets out alive." To win in the race of your life is up to you. There are no refs, no instant replay, no one to pass judgment, no records to be broken, no standards to be measured against, no competition and no awards to be won. To win the race of your life is simply to finish strong and feel good about it. You get to define "strong" and manifest the feelings that go with it. You set the standards and the pace, a fitting and just way to end the race that represents your life.

Deepak Chopra speaks to what it takes to finish strong, "the fuel that makes destiny move is intention." The "destiny" you are seeking to "move" is your ability to be physically active and finish strong. To finish strong is a reflection of your "intention." This book is an opportunity to be clear about your intention to finish strong and to develop a plan that gives added meaning to your life. To perform this task you will need some important skills: the ability to focus on the big picture, the ability to accept the need for change, the ability to resolve issues and the ability to deal with the aging process.

Big Picture
To focus is to concentrate all of your thoughts and feelings on a specific subject. In terms of fitness, your focus has "shifted" from winning to survival, from the pain of pushing your limits to the pleasure that exercise can provide. The pay off has changed as well; you are no longer working to be the best but rather to dramatically affect the quality and length of your life. To see the big picture, you expand your focus to include all of your options, even the ones that don't appeal to you and consider the impact they will have on your ability to train in the future. In this way, you maximize the role you play in determining your own longevity, fitness and health.

Change
With age comes the need to change; athletes are no exception to this rule. The need for change creates the "shift" and when this happens, the rules for the race change. The old rules about running through the pain, leaving it out on the track and giving it all you have to give have been changed. The new rules make way more sense. Run smart, run up to the pain and give just the right amount. Specifically, the right amount to give is measured by your ability to recover; you should feel fully recovered one hour after you leave the track, gym or water. The issue with change is to accept it gracefully and not take it personally. The competitive instinct, the one that pushes you to keep up with someone, or some standard or some unrealistic goal must be renamed and channeled into your efforts to add to the quality of your life.

Resolve Issues
Issues are conflicts between your thoughts and feelings for a specific outcome. Issues become serious when the conflict between a specific thought and feeling puts you at risk. The thought that you should be able to run faster and the feeling that tells you to stop at once could be evidence of a conflict. Caution: the presence of such a conflict could be a red flag, a warning that you are training for the wrong race. Hey, when the "shift" occurs you are not training for the race, you are in the race. Examine all thoughts that you should be able to do something. At this point, your feelings of what you can do are the only reality you need to listen to. The athletes who have not experienced the "shift" and are still competing at 50, 60, 70 and 80 must go through the same process. They are just operating within a different reality. For a variety of reasons they are stronger, faster, have more endurance and in some cases, are just better athletes.

Resist the temptation to compare yourself with them; run your own race. If the conflict persists the red flag has gotten bigger. Stop, you need to resolve the issue, listen to your feelings, write about them and discuss them with someone you can trust. This valuable feedback will allow you to change your focus, push very gently against your limits and feel good when you exercise. If the conflict still persists and results in an injury, the red flag is now banner-size. Raise your hand and turn yourself in for professional help. You are apparently attached to a thought that has you working to produce a result that is not realistic for you. The forced downtime is your opportunity to work on the issue that remains unresolved.

The Shift
The shift and the aging process go hand in hand. Typically, physical strength and endurance peak in the late 20's to early 30's. Improved training regimens along with attention to diet and over-all body awareness have allowed some athletes to maintain their physical strength and endurance into their forties and beyond. At some point, most athletes experience an increase in recovery time after strenuous exercise. When this happens for you, the shift has started. From here on the aging process and the effect it has on your body depends on a number of factors: heredity, medical history of injuries and over-use, general health habits, weight and your ability to maintain your present level of fitness. In short, the challenge for you is to define what it means to be an athlete and train accordingly. In essence, age has leveled the playing field; you are no longer matched up against anyone or anything. The game for you is to figure out how to exercise and feel good each day and finish strong. Eventually, your pace will slow down, the runs will become walks and the weights get lighter. As the shift continues, your metabolism will slow down, the walks will get shorter, and simple movement will become exercise. If you live long enough, living and preparing for your death will be your only task. The lessons learned from being able to see the big picture, accepting the need for change, resolving issues and handling the aging process will give you the wisdom, inner strength, peace of mind and sense of humor you need to finish strong and declare yourself the winner.

The Overview
For most, the "shift" and the aging process can produce a condition called "less physical." When this condition hits the fun can stop, recovery is an issue, at best injuries seem to take forever to heal and you don't play as hard or as long. At worst, you simply quit. For the committed, the aging process produces a challenge they choose to face each day. Fit Forever is a collection of coaching points for facing the challenge of maintaining your fitness and staying physical.

The Coaching Points
Coaching Point #1 Keep moving; make exercise the key to maintaining your fitness.
Coaching Point #2 Eat to win; establish and maintain your ideal weight.
Coaching Point #3 Drink a specific amount of cold water each day.
Coaching Point #4 Establish your base of aerobic training.
Coaching Point #5 Establish your base of anaerobic training.
Summary: Fit Forever is a total person program that works for both male and female athletes that includes 5 detailed coaching points for maintaining your fitness. The program provides a basic understanding of the rationale behind the need for fitness, tips for developing your own program and suggestions for managing any resistance to training on a regular basis. The material is informative, humorous and interesting. This material is ready to be published as a book or as a series of articles that are both summative and detailed on each coaching point, ranging from 500 to 2000 words. The material contained in Fit Forever is suitable for the Internet, radio, TV, a seminar or workshop that would include a workbook, a video and a CD-ROM.