Garbage

 There are days when you just feel like garbage. Yesterday was one of those days. I woke up too early and from the first feeling something was off. I went for a run. Typically I may feel out of sorts before a run and feel great once I return. That did not happen yesterday. The results are comical:

I have a trip planned to Austin for The Running Event. In my mind the trip was next week Wednesday-Thursday-Friday. I got home from my run, started my day and realized The Running Event was Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday. I’ve got the big 55,000 person race I’m working on and 3 races this weekend in Athens, Greece. I planned all that work out with the trip in mind. Then I got to planning my days in Austin. I contacted my Uncle who lives there to make plans. I contacted one of my good friends in the running industry to plan a run and I called my friend for a ride to the airport. Then I got working overtime on that 55,000 person race. The pressure was on to get it done before the flight on Monday. All day I had that little pit in my stomach. Get the work done!!! 

Late in the afternoon Mary comes home. I tell her about my mistake and that I leave on Monday. She says “On Veterans Day? I am fairly sure you have it on the calendar for next Monday the 18th.” You see we have a paper calendar hanging in the kitchen. That’s crazy, right? I go to the The Running Event website and sure enough the event starts on Monday the 18th. Then I check my flight and yes, I fly out on the 18th. I reverse all my messages to friends and family. 

All of that stress about getting the work done is gone this morning. I have 4 races to finish by Friday. No problem. 

Run 50 min 5 miles

I put one foot in front of the other and that’s about it. The saving grace is the location. I ran along the beautiful coast and took in the deep blue water of the Pacific. 

Strength: 30 minutes. 

I worked on something I learned on Instagram. The proper way to do a pull up. I followed the instructions. It worked. I really enjoyed doing pull ups yesterday. 

I'm Back for More

Here's the set up.
1. Personal and Mind dumping - Endorphin Fanatics
2. Running Shoes - shoeranger.com next posting on shoe ranger is the costing of a running shoe. Shoe prices are going up and the brands have been reacting by cutting some costs.
3. The Running Industry - runningshoeinsight.com - Last post was a shout out to Hoka. They are the new kid on the block and really have a thing but they are not trying to change the block they are falling in line.

This picture was just that, a picture I took while out on a bike ride. This is my typical 1 hour easy ride. This is the beach in Del Mar. It's a beautiful place to be any time of the year. It's one of the few beaches that has a park full of grass just before the sand. You can literally go the to beach and not get sandy. 

The summer between my Sophomore and Junior year in college this beach was a daily visit. I worked as a life guard. A dream job in California. I was not a beach guard, I was a pool guard and swim teacher. I worked at a pool in central Escondido. Most cyclists in this area know Escondido as the town you have to go through to get into the mountains of San Diego. On days where we weren't teaching swim lessons, three of us would drive down Del Dios Highway to this beach. We would body surf for an hour or so, have breakfast then get to the pool in time to open it for the day. That was a great summer. 

Now that beach is simply on one of the rides. It's 6 miles from the house and unless I'm riding, I rarely go there. Body surfing is done at Moonlight Beach these days. 

It's a good life.....

Five Things to Keep Calm

My exterior is always calm. In fact a woman I work with called me quirky. I asked her why and she said " you are always calm". It's my exterior. Inside not so much. Inside my mind is always racing. Working three different "Jobs", raising a child and staying married for 22 years will do that to you. Finding calm to quiet the mind and quiet the nerves is always a challenge. This is what I've found that works:

One 

Dogs can add stress for sure but this one lowers the stress all the time. All I have to do is sit down on the floor. Her warmth and loving nature take over.

Two
Playing the Guitar - If you play an instrument you are lucky. It's magical the way music can change the mood and physically making the music happen is extra special.

Three
Singing along to music. I still love being in the car when one of those special songs comes on. Volume goes up!

Four

Stretching and mobility - If you are doing it correctly, finding the tight spots and working them out you can't do anything but concentrate on that instant. The daily 15 minutes is magical.

Five

We are lucky to live by the beach. Sitting on the cliff at sunset and allowing the warm of the Sun to warm you is good. You don't need a beach for this. Sunsets happen everywhere and just soaking in those last rays is special. The one thing we have is the motion of the ocean. Just getting out on or in the water is spectacular. You can't help but feel alive and calm. I love casually going out to the kelp beds with my fins and mask spending 30 minutes diving down to see all the fish. Everything else leaves your head 20 feet below the surface of the ocean.

It's a good life.....

I Will

I've told you about my gratitude practice. Each morning on the left page of my Journal I write down everyone and everything I'm grateful for. On the right page I write the same thing every day. Call it my values, I write down how I want to act each day. This is what I write:

I will be Humble

I will Listen Hard

I will Lead with Love

I will Live the Prime Directive

I will be nice

I will stay focused

I will laugh out loud

I will love food

I will sleep well

I will Celebrate Success

I will not judge


It's a good life…..