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Look @ me I'm blogging on my phone!
Hoping this saves time that I can spend with my family and training!
Friday, May 2, 2008
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Luckiest Man on Earth
Just got done with a MONSTER workout designed by my boy and fellow athlete Danny Cohen. We did a series of 6 min. efforts on the bike followed by a sub 6 min. mile (10 total). It was really great to workout with my old friend again. We haven't gotten to do that much the past couple seasons and it was painful but fun! The workout actually went very well and has given me good confidence for the upcoming season.
When we finished we talked about life a bit and especially about the women in our lives. I was complaining a bit about a fight Micki and I had last night. Pretty much small talk and just letting off steam but as I drove home and continued the day it made me really reflect on what's going on this season and how hard it can be on my family. It seems lately I wake up and ask myself if this is all worth it. Time away from my family, energy and $ drained all to race some silly races that seem to be pretty much all about me. I guess when you think about it none of this crazy Triathlon stuff really matters and yet it matters immensely. It's that love hate relationship that we all have with many things in life.
With that said I do feel SO completely lucky to be able to train, rest and race with the support of my family. More so I'm so blessed with the women in my life MICKI, QUINCY and CLANCY are what matters in my life. It's sounds crazy but it's very comforting to know that Triathlon and sport are truly not my life and when this all fades away the most cherished things in my life will remain.
I hope you are all as blessed as I am!
ps- Shout out to Chell (fellow member of class of 1990 cancer club), my sponsors ROME, GW, SCS and all the home town players of the Midwest Multisport Community. Special prayers and blessings to JEREMY SARTAIN- get well !
When we finished we talked about life a bit and especially about the women in our lives. I was complaining a bit about a fight Micki and I had last night. Pretty much small talk and just letting off steam but as I drove home and continued the day it made me really reflect on what's going on this season and how hard it can be on my family. It seems lately I wake up and ask myself if this is all worth it. Time away from my family, energy and $ drained all to race some silly races that seem to be pretty much all about me. I guess when you think about it none of this crazy Triathlon stuff really matters and yet it matters immensely. It's that love hate relationship that we all have with many things in life.
With that said I do feel SO completely lucky to be able to train, rest and race with the support of my family. More so I'm so blessed with the women in my life MICKI, QUINCY and CLANCY are what matters in my life. It's sounds crazy but it's very comforting to know that Triathlon and sport are truly not my life and when this all fades away the most cherished things in my life will remain.
I hope you are all as blessed as I am!
ps- Shout out to Chell (fellow member of class of 1990 cancer club), my sponsors ROME, GW, SCS and all the home town players of the Midwest Multisport Community. Special prayers and blessings to JEREMY SARTAIN- get well !
Friday, April 11, 2008
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
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
Monday, April 7, 2008
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.......
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.......
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Gotta Make it Quick
- Crazy week with clients, teaching at school again, training and getting the family ready for a vacation in Arizona (can't wait)
- Had an amazing time at camp in Florida with the Gollnicks and our athletes.
- 7th overall in the Great Escape Triathlon with a pretty solid field of elites from Candadian National Team, Clearmont National Training Center and hand full of top Ironman athletes that train in Florida. I was shocked and very encouraged.
- I feel God lifting me up throughout this week and am more convince than ever that I'm doing the right thing by racing this year.
All glory to God and blessings to you all!!
- Had an amazing time at camp in Florida with the Gollnicks and our athletes.
- 7th overall in the Great Escape Triathlon with a pretty solid field of elites from Candadian National Team, Clearmont National Training Center and hand full of top Ironman athletes that train in Florida. I was shocked and very encouraged.
- I feel God lifting me up throughout this week and am more convince than ever that I'm doing the right thing by racing this year.
All glory to God and blessings to you all!!
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Remembering Where You Came From
My clients and friends, the Weaver and Jongerius families, were kind enough to let me stay over at Clearwater Beach with them while we awaited coming to Tri Camp in Sarasota Florida with Heather and Todd Gollnick. When I'm with this group I'm always reminded of where I came from. They are from my home town, Sheldon , IA, and hearing news from home and names of old friends in the conversations gives me a bit of peace. Remembering where and I came from and what has made me who I am - and that the person I am is OK is just plain nice.
Lately I've felt a bit in a funk. No goofing around, no dancing, just not being me. It's strange but as I flew in yesterday Katie made the observation that I was about 40% of myself. Today after some good sleep we went for a ride with Mike (Kate's Dad) around the neighborhood. It was AWESOME to get outside and just roll. I haven't enjoyed my bike as much lately and it was just fun again. We also walked down to the beach in full wetsuit and goggles all the way through the neighborhood and it was just fun to be funny and get the looks from all the local folks. We went for a short swim and joked (kinda) about swimming with sharks and laughed at our fear while out there. Coming back in we caught a couple nice waves - body surfing !! We laughed and just plain had FUN- weird that triathlon would be FUN - what's that? All of this was wonderful and just reminded me how we all need to do things with JOY and getting such a gift from God , the ability to do triathlons, is special and should be filled with laughter, fun and JOY!
This all sunk in when we were back in the house and Bonnie (Kate's mom) and I were talking about some old school friends like Tim Blankers which reminded me of other great friends and a whole group of guys and gals that loved me for exactly what I was and always reminded me to do the same. We also talked about an old family friend of ours who had recently passed but it also brought back memories of simpler times, less stress and pure joy! Northwest Iowa is a special place and I feel I need to bring myself back there (in my heart and head) more often to find a place of peace and enjoyment of old memories and memories yet to come.
Ok OK OK we also had an absolutely wonderful time so far at camp and I see the fun the groups having, the wonderful hosts we have in the Gollnicks and all the great potential for joy in our small group. Riding and running in shorts, doing run drills in GRASS , and enjoying sprinkles just to cool off - who can't enjoy that in MARCH?
I can't wait to go home and share some good energy with my family and see and feel the JOY with them as well.
Katie asked me if I was up to 110% yet and I have to say - YES!!
Lately I've felt a bit in a funk. No goofing around, no dancing, just not being me. It's strange but as I flew in yesterday Katie made the observation that I was about 40% of myself. Today after some good sleep we went for a ride with Mike (Kate's Dad) around the neighborhood. It was AWESOME to get outside and just roll. I haven't enjoyed my bike as much lately and it was just fun again. We also walked down to the beach in full wetsuit and goggles all the way through the neighborhood and it was just fun to be funny and get the looks from all the local folks. We went for a short swim and joked (kinda) about swimming with sharks and laughed at our fear while out there. Coming back in we caught a couple nice waves - body surfing !! We laughed and just plain had FUN- weird that triathlon would be FUN - what's that? All of this was wonderful and just reminded me how we all need to do things with JOY and getting such a gift from God , the ability to do triathlons, is special and should be filled with laughter, fun and JOY!
This all sunk in when we were back in the house and Bonnie (Kate's mom) and I were talking about some old school friends like Tim Blankers which reminded me of other great friends and a whole group of guys and gals that loved me for exactly what I was and always reminded me to do the same. We also talked about an old family friend of ours who had recently passed but it also brought back memories of simpler times, less stress and pure joy! Northwest Iowa is a special place and I feel I need to bring myself back there (in my heart and head) more often to find a place of peace and enjoyment of old memories and memories yet to come.
Ok OK OK we also had an absolutely wonderful time so far at camp and I see the fun the groups having, the wonderful hosts we have in the Gollnicks and all the great potential for joy in our small group. Riding and running in shorts, doing run drills in GRASS , and enjoying sprinkles just to cool off - who can't enjoy that in MARCH?
I can't wait to go home and share some good energy with my family and see and feel the JOY with them as well.
Katie asked me if I was up to 110% yet and I have to say - YES!!
Monday, March 3, 2008
Roller Coaster
Wow! Being a former theatre geek and baby boy of my family I can be a bit dramatic at times. However it won't stop me from going on about the roller coaster of the past week or so.
It started last Friday with a trip to the dermatologist to recheck a really nasty "rash" I've had since the new year began. It's a series of nasty red spots I've gotten nearly everywhere on my body. At first it was a bit of a nuisance but lately it's really had me down and feeling something was really wrong. After lots of going round and round, light therapy, creams, antibiotic prescriptions and more it had basically gotten worse. The doctor informed me that I had PLEVA. It was acute for now but could be a chronic case of lymphocytes acting funny and if it continued to be chronic (remember I have the acute case) could lead to problems with the skin and seems to be more prevalent in people with lymphoma. NOT READY TO HEAR THAT! I spent a lot of the morning crying- no real danger just a reminder that sometimes I'm not the healthiest of folks.
After working though the slight depression I began the next week with a HUGE bike wattage test- best numbers I've ever put out. VERY exciting. The next day I ROCKED the water at my first group swim in awhile- I was pulling away from some really good athletes - it was very exciting. Later that day I went to get my bike refit at Gear West. We got it pretty much nailed down but things just felt a little off with my new bike- it's like new shoes - they may fit really well but you still need to get used to them. Thursday of that week my red spots were bright and shiny for a day of 4 workouts with one being a new strength session I promised to go to. It was really great but EXCRUCIATING - in my heart I knew it would effect me for days but I hoped for the best. Micki and I had a fun date that night and everything seemed great.
The next day I had a nice day off- felt ummmmm ok but the girls stayed home with me and I had to try to get some work done (my fault for leaving it). The whole day tore at my heart trying to do everything and just running on empty. Micki was gone until almost 10 at night and I was just drained. Micki had class again on Sat. so I got up at 5:00 and went to the studio alone to swim. Once again the whole day I tried to get some things done but was torn by needed girls and really wanting to give them ALL of my heart and attention the while waiting for Micki to get home so I could train another 3 hours. She got home around 5:00 and I began but just had NOTHING! My goal this year is to be a bit smarter about bad days so I pushed off my biggest training day of the year so far for Sunday.
I really wanted the family to be at church and couldn't get up early enough to get anything in so I thought I'd get my work in between church and Grandma's birthday party. Got to try and ride outside but was so uncomfortable and weak on my bike I gave up on the workout. With a push from my wife I did go out for a little test run to see if it was as bad as thought. The run went quite well- I felt a bit better. Later that night I got back on my bike to try and finish. Just didn't have it and there was no way I was going back outside to run with freezing rain.
Today I woke up with that all too familiar pit in my stomach. It seems since I've stopped teaching I just feel a bit lost- the schedule is just so variable and it leaves me a bit unproductive.
I did spend some good time reading my yearlong bible and praying. I downloaded the sermon that turned my year around last Jan. and listened to it while I rode. WOW - the legs were back and I felt confident again! The Lord does test us but I once again feel that sense of purpose for this season.
God's peace to you.
It started last Friday with a trip to the dermatologist to recheck a really nasty "rash" I've had since the new year began. It's a series of nasty red spots I've gotten nearly everywhere on my body. At first it was a bit of a nuisance but lately it's really had me down and feeling something was really wrong. After lots of going round and round, light therapy, creams, antibiotic prescriptions and more it had basically gotten worse. The doctor informed me that I had PLEVA. It was acute for now but could be a chronic case of lymphocytes acting funny and if it continued to be chronic (remember I have the acute case) could lead to problems with the skin and seems to be more prevalent in people with lymphoma. NOT READY TO HEAR THAT! I spent a lot of the morning crying- no real danger just a reminder that sometimes I'm not the healthiest of folks.
After working though the slight depression I began the next week with a HUGE bike wattage test- best numbers I've ever put out. VERY exciting. The next day I ROCKED the water at my first group swim in awhile- I was pulling away from some really good athletes - it was very exciting. Later that day I went to get my bike refit at Gear West. We got it pretty much nailed down but things just felt a little off with my new bike- it's like new shoes - they may fit really well but you still need to get used to them. Thursday of that week my red spots were bright and shiny for a day of 4 workouts with one being a new strength session I promised to go to. It was really great but EXCRUCIATING - in my heart I knew it would effect me for days but I hoped for the best. Micki and I had a fun date that night and everything seemed great.
The next day I had a nice day off- felt ummmmm ok but the girls stayed home with me and I had to try to get some work done (my fault for leaving it). The whole day tore at my heart trying to do everything and just running on empty. Micki was gone until almost 10 at night and I was just drained. Micki had class again on Sat. so I got up at 5:00 and went to the studio alone to swim. Once again the whole day I tried to get some things done but was torn by needed girls and really wanting to give them ALL of my heart and attention the while waiting for Micki to get home so I could train another 3 hours. She got home around 5:00 and I began but just had NOTHING! My goal this year is to be a bit smarter about bad days so I pushed off my biggest training day of the year so far for Sunday.
I really wanted the family to be at church and couldn't get up early enough to get anything in so I thought I'd get my work in between church and Grandma's birthday party. Got to try and ride outside but was so uncomfortable and weak on my bike I gave up on the workout. With a push from my wife I did go out for a little test run to see if it was as bad as thought. The run went quite well- I felt a bit better. Later that night I got back on my bike to try and finish. Just didn't have it and there was no way I was going back outside to run with freezing rain.
Today I woke up with that all too familiar pit in my stomach. It seems since I've stopped teaching I just feel a bit lost- the schedule is just so variable and it leaves me a bit unproductive.
I did spend some good time reading my yearlong bible and praying. I downloaded the sermon that turned my year around last Jan. and listened to it while I rode. WOW - the legs were back and I felt confident again! The Lord does test us but I once again feel that sense of purpose for this season.
God's peace to you.
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