Prayer Time

I've just gotta share a quick thing we went over at church yesterday. I find myself every Sunday hoping to come home from church with some new inspiration (the work week can really take it out of you).

Our pastor, at the beginning of the service, had us close our eyes. Then said, "Imagine yourself alone in the woods, just out there spending time alone with yourself and with God. You're sitting in front of a nice warm campfire and all you hear is the crackling of the fire. The stars and the moon are shining brightly. It is such a beautiful, peaceful evening. You close your eyes and just enjoy the moment. Suddenly you hear some rustling noise coming through the trees. You show no fear but your heart is racing. As the noise gets closer you see a figure come into your campsite. It's Christ!! You say nothing, but drop to your knees. A million things run through your mind. As he reaches out and touches you on the shoulder, all your cares and worries disappear."

This consumed my thoughts for the rest of the service (and obviously after). This is exactly how it should be. Christ is right here with us! We need to give it all to Christ!! Live through Him. Can you imagine how much easier LIFE would be if we would only have the faith to do this? What happens here on earth is so minute! What we think are big problems are usually so small compared the problems of others. Live your life as though a little Christ was standing on your shoulder. Do this for a week and see how much better the week goes. I'm going to give it a shot. I hope you will to.

Just wanted to share this. Hope everyone has a great week.

Thanks for Reading.

Update

I had hoped to start writing a little more this past week but with work, riding, and little league, I don't have much energy left by the time I get home. I'm having to ride early in the morning right now since I've got Little League practice every afternoon/evening. I left Monday morning at 6am and got in 50 miles before work. I must say, this is the best way to start a day. Starting the day with a good ride just seems to put the whole day into perspective. Tuesday and Wednesday were both 20 mile rides in the morning as well as practice in the evening. I took Thursday and Friday off from riding but still had practice. Today (Saturday) was super windy (45mph gusts) but I still managed a 60 mile (3.5 hours) ride. I wish I had brought a camera because it was a gorgeous ride. We rode down towards Whiteriver then took a newly paved road to the fish hatchery. New pavement, no cars, pinetrees, and a running stream......it doesn't get much better.

I'm still holding at 165# and have been sticking to my diet pretty well. I'll have a Chai Tea in the morning which has been my biggest weakness but other then that I've been doing pretty well. I've yet to race this year and would really like to get some time in riding in a pack before the Ironhorse. It's not looking to likely though. My first big ride is this Friday which is the Answer to the Challenge. This is more of a tour than a race but I like it as a tune up ride before Colorado. The first day is from Phoenix to Strawberry which is about 95 miles and totals I think about 9000ft of total climbing. The Tour of the Tucson Mountains could be my first test with a pack but after the Answer that leaves me with only one days rest. Tucson is still up in the air. This is my first year racing as a Cat 4 so I'd really like to see how I'd do.....I don't know, I'll wait to see how I feel on Saturday. We're doing a 2.5 hour spinning ride tomorrow then I'll start tapering down for next weekend.

We have been unbelievably busy at work. I'm hoping that the word is getting out that our customer service really is better then the big corporate companies. We bust our butts to make sure each client/patient is treated as an individual and not just another patient to fill a quota. It's a constant battle to keep up with the bigger companies but I'm proud of what we are able do for people. God has really blessed us. I often wonder why he has me doing this and I can only guess that it's our job to give back. As long as the Big Guy keeps providing for the business, we'll continue to give to those in need. I don't think there is any better feeling.

The weight loss contest is going well. I thought I would win fairly easily, but now I'm barely hanging on to third place. Pissy and Small & Beautiful are kicking some major butt. Their progress has been a good inspiration for me.

My wife heads out for a 4 day mountain bike trip to Moab on Wednesday so the boys and I will be on our own for a few days. Her parents are going to come over to help out with the kids so I won't be totally exhausted.

I guess that's about it for now. Sorry to bore you. Hopefully the posts will be more interesting as the riding season picks up here in the mtns of Arizona.

Thanks for reading

WTF

Current Weight 165

It's been a good week so far as riding is concerned. I already mentioned the 70 miles I got in on Sunday. Monday was only an hour but it was an hour of intervals. Not much for quantity but the quality of the ride was great. Then on Tuesday, I had to drive over to Eagar to set up a hospital bed. They have the best climb around so I took my bike and did the Big Lake climb. The original plan was to do the climb twice. We've been swamped at work so before I headed up a second time, this crazy sense of responsibility came over me. It's only a 30 minute climb (the road is closed at the 4 mile mark) but I decided I really needed to work so the bike was loaded back in the van after only one climb.

We started little league practice on Monday and have practiced everyday so far. I've actually been pleasantly surprised at how good the boys look. Don't get me wrong, were far from great, but were off to a good start. We've got one more practice today before I give them 3 days off (maybe). I've been told before that I practice a lot and being the first week I really don't want to burn out the kids or the parents. So far I've had a good response. Most parents have been very appreciative at the time I put in with their kids. I can only hope that support continues through the season.

And so comes my rant. We were watching American Idol last night. This was the special "Idol Gives Back". They use celebrities to speak for various different causes around the world. AIDs in Africa, Malaria, The Poor in the U.S., etc... It's definitely a heart wrenching show. My wife had tears in her eyes for most of the show. I think it's awesome that these celebrities give their time to such issues. The U.K. donated 200 million dollars for Nets in Africa which helps with the fight against malaria. That alone will purchase 20 million nets. Now that's impressive.

Then this morning when watching the news, I saw that Elton John did a concert in support of Hillary Clinton. Tickets were $5000.00 each and the show was sold out. They raised 2 million dollars in one night. Hillary is averaging 1 million dollars a day in donations! That's 1 DAY!!!!!

W.T.F?????

How can we have money like this floating around and still have suffering throughout the world? Do these wealthy politicians really give a crap? I wonder how many lower/middle class blue collar workers were at the Elton John concert. It's so frustrating that we as Americans allow this stuff to go on. I don't have an answer to the problem but if I ever have any extra money, it will definitely not go to a presidential campaign.

One more rant before I go. After watching the show last night and seeing those poor people in Africa, how dare anyone complain about America. We are so blessed to live where we do. To have the opportunities that we do. It's not perfect, we could make a lot of improvement, but we really are the best country in the world.

Ok I'm done complaining for now.

Thanks for reading.

A Better 3 Days

Current weight: 166

The last three days have been much better. I've gotten in the rides I wanted to and have been eating much better. Today was the best ride I've had in a while. It was just a spinning ride but after 70 miles I felt really good. While the family went to church, I headed out on the bike. Normally I would feel a little guilty for some reason, today I didn't. It was a fun, no stress, no hurry long spinning ride. A little breezy but not too bad. I was amazed at how good I felt when I got home. I'm on call next weekend so even a short ride will likely be out of the question.

We had the Little League draft last night so I now have my team. It could be an interesting season. I'm not sure how many of these boys have even played baseball. It will be a true test of my patience along with my commitment to putting the kids first. I really want to make a good effort at focusing solely on teaching baseball and very little focus on winning ball games. I'm hoping that with the focus on one, the other will come.

That's about it for now. I'll weigh in the morning and see how I did for the weekend.

Thanks for reading.

Frustrated

Current Weight: 166lbs
I've got 49 days until the IronHorse and I'm falling off the wagon. Last week was Spring Break which left me alone at the office all week. That leaves me playing the role of 4 people so needless to say, I didn't get much riding in. This week has been engulfed with little league meetings and tryouts. We've been slammed at work (this is a good thing) so I haven't been able to get the riding in that I was hoping for. My diet has gone to crap for about the last week. My 8 year old and I finished with tryouts last night about 8:00 and we were both starving so we hit the closest of restaurant.......McDonalds. Did I order the semi healthy salad??? I'd love to say so, but I not only fell off the wagon, I was ran over by it. I ordered a quarter pounder with cheese and topped it off with fries. I haven't had a hamburger in 3 months!! It tasted so good!! But the guilt of eating it sort of takes away from the pleasure. For some reason, I've just really been wanting to eat. I want to snack on everything. It's driving me crazy!!

We have the little league draft on Saturday. I'm coaching a minor league team this year so its really not a draft. What they do is have the kids tryout and at this tryout each kid is ranked from a 1 to a 5 as far as ability. At the "draft" the little league board" does it's best to build teams as equal as possible by using these rankings. So in the perfect world, each team will receive the same amount of 1's, 2's, 3's and so on. This will go on until about midnight on Saturday. By Sunday morning I will know my team whereas I will call each child and let them know we start practice on Monday. Honestly, I don't think any coach practices as much as I do. For 8 weeks these kids live baseball. So for 8 weeks, my free time is almost non-existent. This is something I've got to get in check.

I've got to lose 6 lbs in 49 days. I've got to get more riding in. More long rides as well as more intervals and power workouts. I need to keep up on the paperwork at the office as well as making sure all patients/clients are taken care of. I need to enjoy little league more, meaning I need to focus on teaching baseball versus winning ball games.

So for about the next 6 weeks, I'm going to bore you to death will my daily activities. This way all two you (I'm hoping that many people read this) can hold me accountable.

On Friday mornings, my son and I go to breakfast before school, so my day so far has started off with a Blueberry Muffin and a Chai Latte. So I've had the equivalent of a whole day's sugar so far. The time starts now for me to get things in order. I'm going to get a ride in after lunch today, another before the last Tryout in the morning, and a long ride on Sunday (I'm hoping God is ok with that).

Oh by the way, Pissy and Big & Beautiful have lost a combined weight of 32 lbs. That is truly outstanding.

Thanks for Reading.

Little League Time

Little League tryouts started today and as usual it was cold and windy. I guess that's better than rain or snow which is what we had last year. It's at this time, as a coach, that I have a personal debate within myself. Normally I want to at least have a competitive team. This year I'm trying (and I mean trying) to focus much more on the kids themselves. I want each kid to have a memorable season. The dilemma is this..... When coaching minors which is ages 9-11 year olds. Each team has a wide array of ages as well as talent. I believe as a coach, you owe it to those kids who love the game of baseball and work their tails off to be good at, to at least attempt winning. I think Vince Lombardi said it best, "if winning or losing doesn't matter, why do they keep score?" But this is Little League. Will these kids remember winning or losing or will they remember having a good time and hopefully learn a little baseball at the same time.

Now this is all easy to say and write on a blog but when the time comes I question my ability to stay focused on what's important.

The frustrating part about being a coach is coaching the kids who really don't give a crap about even being there. These kids are there because their parents think it is a good idea. These are the typical parents who think it is the coaches job to teach EVERYTHING (including discipline). These are the parents who never play catch with their sons yet expect them to have the same playing time as all the other kids who do practice on their own time.

I'm hoping and praying that I can find a happy medium. Living in a small town, its easy to upset some parents when your coaching their kids. This will be my 8th year coaching and hopefully I'm getting better at it, but it's the same every year, trying to coach 12 kids while also trying to make 12 pairs of parents happy. Wish me luck.

Thanks for Reading.

More Ridin'

Spring Break is almost over and everyone has taken some time off except for me. I've been the only one at the office for most of the week. Even my wife and boys are out of town. It started out slow as far as getting any rides in. Since I was the only one here to cover the office, riding time was slim pickins during the first part of the week. All is not lost though. The week is ending on a good note. I got in 40 miles yesterday with a good climb the last 7 miles.

Today I had to see two patients over in Eagar so as luck would have it, my bike was already loaded in the van. Eagar is small town about 50 miles east of Pinetop and for the most part it is most flat and usually windy. They do have the best climb around though. We call it the Big Lake Climb and when the road is open it's a 7 mile climb to the top. It's the closest thing we have to anything comparable to the percent grade of the Ironhorse Bicycle Classic. Since I was going over anyway, my goal was to ride the climb just to see how I felt. The last patient took a little longer so I didn't get started until about 3:45.

As I started the climb the wind was already miserable. This is a town which was actually mentioned on the game show Jeopardy as the windiest town in the U.S. The cool thing about climbing into a headwind is of course you have a tailwind coming down. I'll talk about that in a second. Minus the wind, the climb was beautiful. I hadn't ridden this road in almost two years and it just amazes me how gorgeous it is as you climb up. My intention was to ride the entire 7 miles up but at mile 4 I found out the road was closed. Apparently there are still snow drifts at the top. I wanted to go farther but it would be my luck I'd get busted for going past the road closure signs. So I turned back.

The ride down is a blast. I did realize one thing though.......I suck at descending. I'm such a wuss. I've hit 60mph before on this descent but today I didn't have the guts to go faster than 41mph. I realized this is something I've really got to work on before the Ironhorse. It's not going to do me anygood if I can climb fairly descent if I just get passed by everyone on the descent. Now don't get me wrong, I have no intent on being first on the climb, but I don't want to climb my butt off only to be smoked on the downhill.

I did the climb twice and did a little better on the second go. Both up and down was faster on the second run. My regret is that I get so caught up in the training that I missed most of "The Ride". The variety of trees on the way up is beautiful, the sound of the wind through the trees, the snow near the top of the climb, the view down below as you twist up the switchbacks.....these are the things I need to start paying attention to. These are the real reasons to ride. And my favorite sound......the sound of the rubber on the road when you have a tailwind. It is so awesome. With the wind at your back you can hear every little sound the bike makes as it flys down the mountain. It's not often you get to hear it, but when you do it is such a rush. This is the moment on the bike that I love the most.