2018 - April 03 - Check-in

The ways I am treated by my wife!!!

Checkin' IN!!!

So, on Feb 22, 2018 - we made a major move. We sold our previous property and bought a new home. So, what and why and how. This is one of the most difficult decisions we have made as a family. Through our history, we have been compelled to move a few times. This one however, was a very interesting choice and opportunity. We have seen a few things after moving in that have helped us come to understand a bit of the why. From the visit of our kind neighbors on Easter leaving plastic eggs in our tree, tot he neighbors from our faith based community to help me move our chicken coop to an insane part of our new back yard, to the laminate floors that have been killing me.

Dennis and Astrid seem to be enjoying the new space, and are beginning to make connections and friends. Most of the new community has enjoyed the kids and our dogs. We had one instance with Aulie getting out and adventuring about .5 a mile down the neighborhood.

The stress of the new home purchase and the preparation for the transaction have elevated Liz and my stress levels immeasurably. That being said, I have made some very difficult decisions lately concerning my typical goals. I derailed and scuttled my plans to do a 50 mile run in March and a subsequent adventure of a 100 mile ultra run. That being said, this last week I also recently decided not to do the 70.3 IM St George event for the 4th year in a row. That one hurts. I am not in the correct space in training to do it. Sure I can complete it, and probably well within time, but at the risk of blowing up and wrecking me. Nope had to pull the plug, not that I want to, but its the right thing for me and my family - period. No negotiation. However, in the midst of some of the difficulties of being an adult - our son Dennis went and participated in his first real triathlon. He did good. Now for him o determine if it is a discipline he wants to pursue.

Dennis is great and wants to be himself. He is adolescing very HARD. He can be such a handful, and completely the most excellent blessing Liz and I have had. His world was completely changed when IVF worked and Juniper arrived. And then we were surprised and able to have Astrid join us. in my break from doing endurance activities, I have been reminded of a few of my why's! Yes, I am a lucky dude. I get to spend my married life with my best friend and wife - Liz. She is often told of how much I love her and I try as best I can to support and provide her the security she desires. When we saw the home we purchased, it wasn't perfect necessarily for she and I but it was for both of us and for our family. So many elements go back tot he promises we made each other when we first got engaged.

So, it's time for me to re-calibrate and re-connect to endurance activities. The difficulty is knowing how far I have come. As an example, I saw a picture reminder or me being at just less than 190 lbs. Today as I sit typing this I have crept back to 203-4 lbs. The problem for me, is I have been a bit burnt out after being so focused on things. In a lot of ways, I have recalled that this is not only for me but also so I can be there for my kids and wife. I must be in good health to get there. And, that means being smart, avoiding injury and being present for Dennis, Juniper, Astrid and Liz.

So, I am sitting in Florida, and my run tonight was very interesting. I went out for a simple 5 miler. I am very conscious of my body now. I set out to keep this run fairly easy because I want to get back to 5-6 days of activity. With a lot of multiple discipline work. So, I kept things dialed back and comfortable. I let myself max pace a bit, but as I got there, totally took it back, way back. I want to be able to break through and dig deeper into my burnt in fitness. I can sense that it is in hibernation a bit, but I want to be smart about things.

Goals, a lot of folks have been talking about goals and the why's and hows. Now, after the disruptions that I have gone through this year, I am keeping my goals limited, minimal and keeping them to those who truly need to know - that's me and Liz at this point. So, it's quite personal, and hopefully that doesn't bother folks that follow me in my activities. Also, I am trying to be supportive and help those around me without any expectations of anything in return. Also, trying to provide Liz a platform to get to where she wants to be too. I hope that she stays happy and ultimately somewhere along the journey of life, I can help her find and discover true joy and fulfillment. Not sure it is possible, but I will give it my best as only she deserves from me.