Inspiration

I know this is suppose to be a continuation but I've been having a hard time finding any inspiration to write lately so I figured I'd take liberty and wait.

Today inspiration struck in a small coffee shop after reviewing our most recent advertisement that coach Kris put together. He is so talented and creative with graphics and ideas- really neat stuff and truly a blessing. Within the ad was a picture of my wife. It strikes me every time I see her or view a photo of her how beautiful she is. Sure she's a tall blond, athletic and has the best smile you'll ever see. However, I think her beauty is just a reflexion of what's inside. It just seems to shine out of her and you can really see when she's happy- the light shines even brighter. Don't get me wrong - she and I see eye to eye about 48% of the time and she can make me more upset than anyone I've ever known. That just doesn't seem to matter to either one of us-there's just something about her, a spark, a liveliness that just is.

While I was replying to the SCS crew to tell Kris what an awesome job he had done I started making a joke about "... hey who's that hotty in the add ... wonder if she has a husband and two daughters ha ha ...." It struck me again how blessed I am. Mom's shine and zest have passed on too my BEAUTIFUL daughters (mom's looks didn't pass by either). It's just amazing what God has done in my life through these three wonderful girls. Once again anyone could tell you that my daughters can also drive me crazy beyond belief. But, the most amazing sound I've ever heard is my two girls SCREAMING "DADDY-O" as I walk in the door each evening. The amazing thing about children is that they are not only a gift from God but truly a gift from the wonderful women who mother them as well.

Peace

Bent But Not Broken

You'd expect a blog entry to be quite lengthy after a long absence. Sorry.

The drive down to Arizona was a lot of fun but pretty draining. It was great to get to see both of my sisters on the way down and the biggest change in plans was stopping over 200 miles short of our Albuquerque stop because the girls just couldn't stand the car anymore and a nice meal, dip in the pool and sleep was a GOOD thing.

The Arizona "vacation" was also a lot of fun but Micki and I are finding out that with two young children and a workout schedule to keep there is no such thing as vacation. It was great to just be with my family and we did get a lot of sun time. My Mom and Dad were great as well, keeping us in clean clothes and fed with healthy food. We took the girls swimming (sometimes twice a day), went to Horton Hear a Who, out to eat (gotta love chuckie cheese's) and had a great time together.

Training actually went really well. Sure there were some early mornings and all those naps I planned to take never happened but my volume and the paces of intensity I was able to get in were the best I've ever had this time of year and I was really quite certain I'd have a great California 70.3 and come out fresh and super confident!

What I didn't account for was after Micki left with Clancy, Quincy and I struggled to rest enough, eat good foods and drink enough water.

The drive over to Oceanside was fine and Dad drove a lot but each time I tried to nap in the car Quincy would literally yell and hit me to keep me awake. Needless to say it was a little stressful. The two nights leading into the race were not good sleep at all and the actually night before I slept with Quincy next to me- kicking, snoring, squirming- not a good idea.

I still woke feeling confident. Warm-ups went just fine and I was pretty hopeful for a great day.

To be continued.......