Can I count that high?

I have reached an age in my life that people around me are having babies, again. Several years ago I was having children so was everyone around me. Now, my kids are having kids and many of our younger friends are starting families.

While nothing about this is unusual, its natural actually, most of the births or the early stages of the baby's life were. Either the mother had great difficulty giving birth, or the baby was premature, or there were other complications. Even worse, some of the complications remain unresolved and may have some long-term ramifications. 

These reoccurring situations, and this time of year, force me step back and examine my life. My life is good, not without some ups and downs, but good. My kids are healthy. My wife loves me. Even though Braxton's birth was difficult, he is a happy healthy baby and his mommy is doing fine. 

 

What I find is that my blessings are many; so many that I couldn't count them all if I tried. 

Merry Christmas everyone, I hope everyone who reads this can look at your life and lose count as well. 

 

Party time!

Its a busy weekend for us. After work today we had my office party, a dance performance to watch, and a birthday bash for a mutual friend.

Tomorrow is a 12 hour shift followed by another performance and roller derby.

Roller derby? Yes, a friend's wife plays (rolls?) for a local team. Should be a hoot.

Testing, testing

I am done with phase two of a three phase testing block and all I can say is "Damn, that hurts."

Yesterday was some short 3 mile TT efforts.After the heavy lifting earlier this week (Thanks to an informal competition with Devin) my legs were heavy and sore. Needless to say, the numbers I generated were not stellar.

Tonight there were several sprint efforts. A five minute sprint and three two-minute sprints. There turned out much better. While still not anything very special, these tests turned out pretty good. Good enough that I was cross-eyed at the end of the intervals. That'll do. 

I have to work tomorrow so the next test will be Sunday. Its the biggie, the 20minute TT test. It is guaranteed to a load of laughs. 

Speaking of lifting weights, it feels good to be back in the gym. The friendly competition with Devin has kicked things in gear, so my goals should come a bit quicker. Now the only question is whether it will pay off when the rubber hits the trail in the spring. 

Its a learning curve

I did some consultations with someone with some coaching experience last week and have been hopefully pointed a little more accurately toward success in 2011. Over the weekend I did a couple workouts based on those consultations and I must say I am intrigued and encouraged. Maybe sometime I can actually shell out the bucks for an actual coach. 

One of the things I really like about training, whether in the gym on the mat or on a bike, is that there is always something you can learn. Whether its some subtle change in efficiency through improved position or form or discovering how your body responds to a new stimulus, its always a learning experience.

I don't have a lot of natural physical ability so most of my gains come slowly from hard work over long periods of time - with lots of thinking and planning. With that in mind, I am really looking forward to getting a little new information and finding out what I can make happen with it.