We are off on another adventure. This time it's Switzerland (That's the town to the right) for the Ironman 70.3 Switzerland race. For those unfamiliar 70.3 is exatchly 1/2 and Ironman.
I like to learn. I can't say I've always been that way in fact I probably wasn't really motivated to do so in school but I like to learn now. I go on kicks reading and learning on a regular basis. Every so often I read a book that just blows me away. A good freind reminded me of The Season of Life. I think you have to be at the right place in life to read this book. You can't be full of Ego when you read it, you have to just be willing to let your senses go for a bit. This story is about a football star who got so low in life he almost killed himself. He then found a better purpose in life, began coaching and ended up teaching a bunch of tough life kids the meaning of being a man. It will pull at your heart and it will leave you breathless. At the end you will walk away with one of the best feelings any book can give you. If you are open to learning a thing or two about being a Man (it's not just a guys book, if you know a man, read it) you will want to read this again. It's that good! I was lucky enough to see this great coach speak inperson and I was absolutely wasted tired of emotional drain. It was such a moving talk. The energy he brought to the talk is in this book. Enjoy it! 
The Skater Boy
With the warmer weather Marco has become a skater again. He started in the streets outside our house but grew tired and asked to go the local skate park. The picture above is him practicing his craft on a 8 foot vert ramp. He really enjoys learning new tricks and has accepted the fact that falling is part of skating. He had a couple good falls of f the coping at the top of the ramp. He got right back up there and tried his tricks again.
The Week
It has been a sad week around the house. Losing a 14 year friend is not an easy thing. The entire family is in a bit of a daze this week. For the most part everything is going well but then all of a sudden we are reminded by our loss and it hurts. Just watching Scout try to figure out life without her leader is sad. At times she looks lost. She seems to keep looking for him behind every door. Along with that loneliness, poor Scout cut one of the pads on her paw and has been sidelined from long walks or runs.
The outpooring of well wishes from around the world have been great. Everyone that knows us knows how much we love our dogs and it shows. At Friday sharing, Marco shared some pictures of Neptune when he was a puppy along with his collar and the clip of hair Marco saved. All the kids came up to Mary at pick up and told her how sorry they were about the dog.
Pain
Along with everything, Mary reminded me of a golden rule. Keep your eye on the end goal. Milestones are great but if they hamper success of the end goal they are misstakes. Last weekend Mary had a milestone to run 2 hours. Her short term goal is the Brussels 20K next weekend and her long term goal is the Berlin Marathon in the Fall. Her back was hurting before the run but she pushed on thinking "I've got to do this run". She finished the run but in a great deal of pain. She has been dealing with that pain all week and has not run. Her back is getting better and will be fine for the 20K but she won't be as strong as she could be for that event. The mind plays tricks on you and makes you think you will not have success of you don't hit that Milestone. In fact Mary would be so much better off if she would have bagged the 2 hour run and waited the day or so for her back to get better. Yes, she would have missed a base building long run, but it's not the goal, the 20K and Berlin are. There is no need to compromize those goals just to hit the milestone.
To make matters worse, she's my wife. She should know better and I should have stood at the door blocking her run. Neither happened and now she's worried about the 20K goal.
It's a good life.....
Dave
You might remember one of my hero stories from earlier in the year. Brian pictured above in the back is training for the Chicago Marathon. His goal is a sub 3:11 marathon which would qualify him for the Boston Marathon. Reaching his goal would also knock off another goal of shedding some pounds (75 to be exact).
Based on the results from a recent 8K in San Diego, he's well on his way!
34 min 31 sec for the 8k today
6:57 pace
I think Brian would tell you, that you don't do this alone. In fact no athlete especially one training for a Marathon or a 5 hour triathlon does it alone. They do it with the love and support of others. I think the two other people in the picture will be of great help to Brian as he continues towards his goal. The beautiful young woman inbetween the two guys is Brian's girlfriend Sheri. I've never met Sheri but I feel I can make at least one comment. She's a special person. Brian is a special guy and I can't imagine him with anyone that wasn't as special as he is, so that's how I come to the conclusion.
The other guy in the picture deserves a blog posting all to himself. Talk about a hero. Charlie G. is the man. He grew up in the Boston area and is a true Red Sox fan. If you see him with the hat on it's because he bought it when they couldn't get to the playoffs. I don't know a great deal about Charlie besides these facts:
1. He can sell. The guy makes you feel so comfortable with your decisions that you want to take him home to dinner with you.
2. I learned about his selling ability at Road Runner Sports where he always ranked at the top no matter what the criteria.
3. The other thing that comes from Boston is Running. Running and the Boston Marathon are a big part of that community and Charlie grew up there. So he has a love for running.
4. A few years ago as I remember it, Charlie went to the doctor because he hurt his leg in a game. He went in thinking he had a bad injury and came out knowing he had cancer in his leg. He's a young guy and young guys aren't suppost to get cancer. During all of his treatment in the Boston area, Charlie sent us emails. They were some of the most uplifting heart felt emails I've ever read. Charlie turned his time into a positive experience for all of us.
I tell you this about Charlie because I know he's a big reason why Brian is running today. Like I said, nobody does this stuff alone and I know Charlie is there every day to remind Brian what a gift he has.
It's a good life.....
Dave
