Would I Do It All Over Again?

 Miles of the Journey......sometimes I wonder did I take this journey or did this journey take me?  Think of the "other things" I could have been doing if I  had not been training for the last 40-plus years.  Think of all the time I could have put into other possibly more worthy pursuits.  I could have been a success rather than an endurance bum looking for the next hill to climb.  Am I going to say like the song says, "Lord help me, Jesus, I've wasted it so?"  

Yes, the journey took me.  It took me and molded me into who I am ., good or bad, success or trivial pursuit,  what you see is the end game. And the journey seems to have been a series of small decisions to take certain roads over others.  Am I satisfied with where my choices and my journey have taken me to or who my journey led me to be? 

In asking myself this question, I have to look at others who took other paths and made different decisions at various crossroads.  Is there a journey destination I would want to emulate if I could do it all over again?  I can't see it from here.  I can't see a life I would rather have had than this one in endurance sports.  

After 32 marathons, 53 triathlons, and countless other running and biking events, my story makes me smile.  Yeah, I'd do it all over again.  Praise God for the life He gave me and the closeness with Him that was part of the bargain along the Miles of the Journey.

Thank God for the Moments

 The last bike I bought was 11 years ago.   I was  70.  Now at 81, why in the world would I need a new bike?  Beats me.  The child in me is still kicking, like in a mother's womb ready to be born.  There will be the pain of childbirth, fitting the bike to myself, and the biggest labor pain:  paying for that puppy.

It's a gravel bike, and with the limited road options around here,  this will give me training on dirt roads with drop handlebars; more options for training.  So I would want to be training?  Didn't I just say I am 81?  I thought so.

No matter how much longer I live to enjoy this new bike and its possibilities, it is worth it for the moments, however few they may be. The other night it had just gotten dark and I was coming in on my mountain bike.   Everything was perfect with the weather, the time of day and with my body on the bike.  How great this is, I thought.  I wish I could ride more.  It had been a long and physically arduous day but in the moment I didn't feel fatigued at all.  I had no lights so continuing the ride was not an option out here in the woods. 

However, I had the moment, if only the moment. A moment to remember and relish in lesser times.  So I am buying the bike for the moments.  Thank you God for moments.