I Wouldn't Want to Be Anyone Else

 Things are all gung-ho and push on until you have an injury.  It's easy to be inspired when you are in good health and nothing hurts.  But when back spasms come and go at frequent intervals, all the rah-rah  fades into the background.  

Now it is teeth gritting and plod on time.  The only reason you keep going is because you said you would to yourself.  It was fun before, not so much now. 

Over the years of doing this crazy stuff, I have come to realize that this is where endurance sports begin and end;  in the solitary, with no fanfare plodding forward through pain and discomfort and no one really knows.  You don't really know why either except this was important to begin with. But you move on and embrace the pain.

The reason may be on the other side or the end of the course and on the other side of the pain.  Even then you may not know completely. It's not amenable to analysis. It is just who we are; no answers, no excuses,  the way God made us.  Yeah, it hurts.   But thanks God.  I wouldn't want to be anyone else. 

Gratitude for the Spirit Within

 Today, I found myself looking at the race websites and thinking of events I would like to go to.  I found some events that looked really good, but more noteworthy, I found that few things in life stir me like the prospect of challenging myself in an event. 

Lots of things have changed but this hasn't.  It feels so natural like good conversations can be.  Today is about being inspired.  It is like the apparently dead fireplace ashes stirred to find coals under all the ashes.  With a little help, they turn to flame, like my own childlike passion coming to life with prospects of competing and being challenged again.   

This passion is like God.  He never leaves.  He never changes.  I am not sure I want to either.  Thank you God for the stirring of the heart that looks beyond to see the crest of the hill the soul is craving to climb.  Thank you, God, for putting this spirit within me.  

Putting Your Face in the Cold Wind - Can We Take It Too Easy on Ourselves

 Yesterday, I rode and ran in the cold.   Lately, it seems, I have unconsciously avoided harsher conditions to train in. Back when I was more of an animal, I did that all the time.  The weather was just something I had to put up with, like a sore knee or drivers who seemed incensed with acting like they were going to run me down. 

Yesterday, there was something added that had been  missing and I felt more like an athlete because I had put up with the cold.   The miles of the journey have taken me away from myself at times, and that could be a good way to get lost.  

And the question is:  can we take it too easy on ourselves sometimes?  As we seriously age up temptations can go from booze and women to a nice cushy recliner in front of the fireplace on cold days. It's easy to get really old in a hurry.  Just let yourself go and avoid the hard spots on the road.  The word I have heard is resistance exercise slows down aging.  Maybe we should exercising our resistance to taking the easy way.

Yeah, it's all part of life. And there is nothing wrong with a nice cushy recliner in front of the fireplace either, that is, after a good hard workout putting your face into the cold wind for a while.  

Yeah, take the hard road.  It is too easy to get old.