What's been going on?

Been awhile since my last post so time to play catch up here?

1. Family - Thanksgiving was great, got together with my wife's family and my brother even joined us. It was a really good time, I ate way to much and enjoyed every second of it. I'm really thankful for the family that I have especially my in laws, as mentioned before I really hit the jackpot with them. I did get to run my first ever Turkey Trot this year and didn't do to bad I might say, ran the 5 miles in 38:19 which was much faster than I had expected. Looking forward to Christmas and all the get togethers throughout the month, going to be crazy but what else is new. Boys have made out their Christmas lists and most of the shopping is done, I even bought a couple of gifts, crazy right? We are going tonight to size a bike for Caden so we can let Santa know just which one to get ;-) on a completely unrelated note, today is December 3rd and it was supposed to reach as high as 70* possibly, does not feel like Christmas when I could be wearing shorts.
  2. Paleo - Well let's just say Thanksgiving and the subsequent leftovers put a dent in my progress and left me really wondering if this lifestyle is really do able whilst everyone else around me is eating pasta, bread and all the things I can't have. I still really believe in the basic concept of the diet but I'm scaling back just a bit, before I was at about 85/15 paleo meals to non paleo meals now I'm shooting for more like 75/25. Breakfast, lunch and snacks are really not the issue as long as I've planned ahead accordingly, dinner is where it really gets tough. Frankly my wife and kids just don't want to eat what I'm eating and I really want to eat what they are having sometimes. And it is just difficult to prepare two dinners every night for myself and them. So I'm relenting a little and going to give in now and then when my wife makes pizza or pasta, besides there is only so much sweet potato's I can eat. I'm still dedicated to eating "clean" food and trust me I ate at McDonald's a couple times in the last 2 weeks and felt like crap for it. I'm trying to live a life in moderation but that just not something I'm used to, it's usually an all or nothing mindset for me.

3. Training - On the other hand my training has gone really good as of late. I've nailed over 100 miles on the bike in the last 2 weeks and topped 30 miles running last week for the first time since before the marathon. I also went over 1000 miles running for the year with my long run on Saturday which was my goal for the year. I have had higher yearly totals but that was pre triathlon days. I have made a declaration to get more serious about my strength training for the month of December, I will be lifting at least 3 times a week, doing a combination of explosive power lifting, body weight exercises, plyo's and other exercises creating my own crossfit style workouts. Found out the other day that the minimum weight for the Clydesdale division has been changed to 220 lbs so I may be contemplating gaining 5 lbs so I can keep competing. Gaining 5 lbs of muscle to compete as a clydesdale will be easier than losing another 25 lbs so I can reasonably compete in my age division. Not sure yet what I'm going to do though, it has been a really big and important goal for me to get to and stay under 200 for awhile now so not sure if I'm ready to give that up just yet, but this would qualify as one of those "good" problems to have, how many people really have a problem where they need to gain 5 lbs? I know right?

4. Kind of on the ground floor with helping to get a Tri Club going in the area. There used to be a pretty strong club but it has fallen by the way side over the years without a dedicated leader. A group of us got together the other day and started putting the pieces in place to organize another club. We are starting off real casual with just a Facebook page and seeing how much interest we can generate. I think what most people are really looking for is just a way to interact with other people training for tri's and get some organized training sessions together. There are so many resources available in our community just need one centralized location to direct everyone to them. I'm kind of excited to see where this could go, I'm really passionate about the sport of triathlon and really enjoy the training and people I've met through it in just the past year + so hoping it takes off.

Well that just about catches up, December is really a crazy month so I'll try and keep more up to date on posts but we'll see...

Until next time...Do today what others won't, so tomorrow you can do what others can't.

What I'm thankful for

Thanksgiving is just a week away (Holy Cow where has November gone, in fact where did September and October go?) and it's that time of year when we start reflecting on what we are truly thankful for so here's my Top 5 list (there is so much more but these are the really important ones)

1. My Family especially my wife and boys without them I would be lost, Deanna, Casey and Caden motivate me to be a better husband, father and person everyday.

2. My Faith and my Savior, a lot has changed and happened in my life over the last few years and I can only imagine the choices I would have made and the roads I would have traveled without having roots in my faith. I don't always walk the straight and narrow path but I know that Jesus is never far enough away to snatch me up by the ear and get me back on course.

3. My Friends, I have amazing friends that inspire me to be something more. When you have friends who are published authors, musicians, Half Ironman and Ironman finishers, 100 mile Ultra marathoners, amazing examples of husbands and fathers, and friends I've known for decades that are more like brothers than friends it's hard not to try and be something better than what you are.

4. My in laws, yeah I know most people barely tolerate their in laws, but I got lucky. My mother and father in law are truly wonderful people that have always been there for us, and my brother and sister in laws are more like my close friends than my in laws (and if you know me you know that means a lot).

5. My career, in this economic climate I'm thankful that I have a job at all especially one with relative job security.

What are you thankful for?
Until next time...Do today what others won't, so tomorrow you can do what others can't.