Cycling – Page 6 – Serenity Through Sweat

Doors

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. This past week my wife and I raced in a triathlon for the first time in the years and two years respectively. It felt good to get back on the road, and open a door I hadn’t before.

Listening to ultra runner Zach Bitter talk to Lex Friedman, they floated the idea of race outcomes as doors you walk through. Specifically they were talking about quitting.

Race week warm up runs on layovers in Columbia and Destin, with a barefoot beach 5k and sprint thrown in for good measure.

Once you have quit, it is like unlocking and walking through a door. Now that door is always unlocked and open. Once you have gone through it, it is always an option. If you have quit, you are a quitter, and can be again.

I understand the thought process and I agree with it, although there is some nuance to that designation, quitter. Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor, and quitting is the best option.

But, that’s not really what I want to talk about today. The idea of race outcomes as doors is really interesting. And the idea that if you haven’t unlocked the quit door that you are somehow more insulated from it is also interesting. Does that same idea work for other doors?

Feeling like Ralphie’s brother in his new coat

If it is your first time racing a certain distance, you’ve never unlocked and opened that finisher door. There is naturally a level of uncertainty with taking on a new distance, and likewise a level of confidence having unlocked and walked through the door of the finish line.

So every race has a door labeled DNF (did not finish or quit), and a door labeled finish line, but I think there is another door. A harder one to unlock and walk through. A door that most of us never get a chance to traverse.

That’s the door of winning. Lots of people race, lots of people finish, some may not, bit very very few win. For most folks, it’s not even a consideration. They race is against the clocks, the course, themselves, maybe a training partner or friend, but the idea of winning is never considered. The door remains locked, in an unlit and dusty corner of the room.

But every race has a winner, someone walks through that door. I would imagine that door is very much the same as the other doors. Once it is unlocked, once you have walked through, the idea that it is in fact an option becomes more realistic in your mind.

I like most racers, have never walked through that door. But this past weekend, I found the key and got my toe in it.

My badass wife finishing second in age group and me first place male* and third overall

I finished as the male winner of the international distance triathlon. However, as my wife likes to remind me, fast girls have good times, and I was beaten by two very fast ladies so I finished third place overall.

It never occurred to me before this weekend that I might ever win a race. That’s the reality of this sport for 99% of the participants. And while I still haven’t walked through the winner door, I think I’ve found the key, and more importantly I believe it is a viable option.

The door has always been in the room, and it turns out I’ve had the key all along, it was my belief that was lacking. (And maybe some of the faster dudes staying at home that weekend, who knows.)

*there was a chip error which led to an incorrect assignment of second place which has since been corrected.

I’m excited to get back on the race course again, knowing that there is another usable door in the room. And I hope I can find a way to pass on to my boys, that many doors are open to those with the desire to walk through them.

Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.

Uh-Oh

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. Over the last couple of weeks, I have been doing some research on a new project that is a somewhat related labor of love to the blog. While I’m not ready to reveal the details of the project just yet, it is based around language and communication.

I remember having a conversation with one of my ultimate frisbee and triathlon friends Josh, where he used the analogy of an iceberg to describe hobbies. Like the behemoth that sank the Titanic, only 10 percent was visible from the surface, the rest was hidden underwater. Almost any activity worth pursuing, tends to have the same characteristic, especially when being observed by a beginner.

The only way you will ever know how big the iceberg is, and how deep it goes, is to get wet and dive in to the topic headfirst.

So for the past few weeks I have been swimming in the waters of language and communication, getting just the beginnings of sense, of how big the iceberg really is.

This blog in many ways, has been a learning tool for me. A means by which I can grow as a writer, communicator, father , and so many more things.

This quote from Jerrold J. Katz in The Philosophy of Language, describes this idea eloquently, if not for the over academic rhetoric;

Don Quixote and sancho out to slay the dinosaur

“the process of linguistic communication is conceived as one in which the speaker, in his production of speech, encodes his inner, private thoughts and ideas in the form of some external, publicly observable, acoustic phenomena, and the hearer, in his comprehension of speech, decodes the structure of such objective phenomena in the form of an inner, private experience of the same thoughts and ideas. Language is thus viewed as an instrument of communication of thoughts and ideas which enables those who know the same language to associate the same meanings with each of the significant sound sequences in the language.”

Katz is obviously talking in this example about spoken language, but the same concept applies to written language. It is an instrument by which we convey inner, private experience of thoughts and ideas to one another.

Yet as anyone who is married, or has kids, or both, can attest, there is great frustration when the inner private thoughts of the speaker (or writer) and the hearer (or reader) don’t sync up.

Meal prepping for my solo stay with the boys, brisket, burnt ends, sausage lava balls, and smoked cream cheese.

This is one of the greatest causes of frustration for all humans, and the instrument in question (language/communication) is one whopper of an iceberg.

It was with this research fresh in my mind, that I noticed a particularly behavior in Speedy that is as relevant as it is adorable (except for the cleaning up)

Speedy is babbling a lot, (as most 16 month old do), but it’s also becoming more effective at communicating his wants and needs. One thing he has picked up on is “Uh-Oh”

Speedy before he starts experimenting with gravity

It normally takes him a few tries, you may hear an “uh-uh”, an “oh-uh”, or even an “oh-oh” before he gets it right, but eventually the “Uh-Oh” comes out, normally followed by a parentally reciprocated smile.

Speedy has figured out that contextually, this particular instrument of language is often uttered when something falls. Of course for those of us using it in a classical sense this means whatever was dropped was on accident.

Speedy often takes a more deliberate approach in order to practice his new favorite language instrument, throwing whatever he can get a hold of off his highchair tray and then practicing his vocalizations.

Speedy mastering the Uh-Oh after the food throw

Without totally ruling out that my 16 month old has a strong grasp of irony (not unreasonable considering his genetic makeup), he is using his language instrument in the way he has observed his brother, mother, and me use it. When something hits the floor we often say “Uh-Oh”. Still, I can assure you regardless of my reciprocated smile, our private inner thoughts are not the same after the fourteenth broccoli floret finds the floor.

His I can only presume is an inner thought of triumph at both the correct usage of “Uh-Oh”as well as the mastery of the modern marvel that is gravity. My inner thoughts vary from amused to annoyed based on what iteration we are currently on.

It is relatively easy with a 16 month old to see when the communication process breaks down. Especially with modern means of mass communication, how many “Uh-Oh” moments do you come across in a given day? Is it possible you have some without even realizing it?

Lots of sprint watts and lots of miles on the trainer

Words are hard, finding the right ones is even harder, and trying to understand someone elses private inner thoughts based on sometimes inadequate word choices is next to impossible. Language is the instrument that sets us apart, and serenity awaits those who can matter their instrument.

Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.

This week also saw a short run, a kettlebell workout, and a (hopefully) minor injury on my return to Jui jitsu.

Enough

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. I just finished Primal Endurance by Mark Sisson and Brad Kearns, and wanted to talk about one of my biggest takeaways from the book; when enough is enough.

As a niche follow on to their previous work The Primal Blueprint, Primal Endurance eschews the same values of the earlier work onto the hard charging, type A endurance athlete.

In a space where more milage is always thought to be better, and training consistency is key, the author’s urge a more simplistic and intuitive approach as seen in the quote below.

I remember an almost identical quote from Altered Carbon which I wrote about back in March of 2020 (Dystopian Shopping). The rebellion leader Quellcrist Falconer tells her disciples to “Take what is offered, and that must sometimes be enough”

The thought that too many of us are pushing beyond what is safe, sensible, or strategically sound, is a common thread that most endurance athletes can agree on, if we are able to step back for an honest assessment.

The same holds true for aviators who are required to make that same assessment before each and every flight. When is enough, enough?

I can look back at my career as an aviator and as an athlete, and pinpoint the times when I failed to address this question properly. Each time I asked myself to deliver more than I had to give, mistakes were made, and consequences ensued.

Some mistakes were small, imperceptible even. Some where larger and embarrassing or painful. Some of the consequences were minor, while others were dire. Thankfully these are experiences I have been able to learn from and share.

As athletes we are encouraged, whether by a team, a coach, a culture, or even ourselves, to push the limits and test the boundaries of our own achievement. And while I believe this to be one of the noblest pursuits to engage in, it is easy to get carried away.

El Duderino’s new rug really ties the room together and testing the capacity on the new youth sleeping bag

As aviators we tend to be mission driven, and that makes it even easier to take more than is offered in the name of mission completion. While our track record as an industry is impressive, most of us can attest, (I certainly can) to going to the well too often.

I think this trend extends into parenthood sometimes as well. There is a cultural feeling amongst American parents that you are only as good of a parent as that which you sacrifice for your children.

I love my boys deeply, in a way that is impossible for me to simplify into a few paragraphs on a blog. I know that this love has, and will continue to, drive me to take more than I would be otherwise willing or able to give from myself in service to them.

It isn’t even a choice on a conscious level, but one that I think is already a predetermined guiding principle in most parents. That makes it even more important, to respect when your body has given enough in the other aspects of your life.

Building aerobic base, trying to trust the process chewing on the bridle of restricted heart rate

With training volume increasing ahead of Ironman FL 70.3 in December, flying schedule ramping back up, and the demands of fathering two young boys, I have a lot on my plate. I have a creeping feeling of anxiety, that I’ve bit off more than I can chew, and what I have to offer won’t be enough.

I have tried to cultivate habits and a lifestyle that maximize my potential, and facilitate challenging pursuits. I am still learning to respect my own limits, and take only what my body has to offer each day, letting that be enough. While it is difficult for me to relinquish attachment to the outcome, I’m finding serenity in the struggle, and hoping and trusting that it will be enough.

Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.

Proper

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. I’ve been on a bit of a diet and nutrition reading kick lately, and I wanted to share some insights I’ve gleaned, as well as how those ideas cross over into other areas of my life.

I remember one particular group training ride when I was preparing for Ironman FL in 2013. With an on call work schedule most of my rides were solo, as my availability was different than people with “normal” 9-5 type schedules. Still I tried to get out with friends or the local velo group that met up outside the wing joint/surfer bar whenever I could.

I was joining the B group for 20ish miles at an 18-21 mph pace, and the group leader had pulled out last minute leaving another regular member to take over as the pace setter up front. This rider was already planning on joining the ride, just not leading it, but I remember her saying “I didn’t have the proper nutrition today for this”

Before we go any further I can’t introduce “proper” without the applicable wedding crashers reference.

Clearly John, Jeremy, and the hatted young lady all seem to have differing definitions of proper, so what exactly is proper, and how does it apply to our nutrition?

Back to the original story, the ride was uneventful, in fact I don’t think I could tell you anything else about it, but that comment is something I remember all these years later.

Now conventional wisdom in the triathlon community supported her assertion, that there was a right and wrong nutrition prior to efforts of different lengths and intensities. I can personally attest to the effects of having the wrong nutrition both through bonking (running out of energy on a workout specifically glucose in the brain) and a host of gastro-intestinal issues that are better left to the imagination.

Still, the idea that otherwise well fed athletes could have the “wrong” or “improper” nutrition for a relatively minor change in training than their original plan seemed farcical to me, even though I understood it and had experienced it.

I wrote a few weeks ago about metabolic flexibility, and you can read that post for more details and links to check out when it comes to alternating between fuel substrates. The cliff notes version is; not taking in the “proper nutrition” for a mundane training ride is not a concern for metabolically flexible athletes.

Sunny FL days at the splash pad, and daddy improvising after forgetting a dry change of clothes.

Humans are designed to function in the face of widely varying caloric inputs and outputs. Think hunter/gatherers persistence hunting for a few days before successfully bringing home the bacon (literally). I think you’ll be okay if you skip that Clif bar in-between second breakfast and elevenses (or all of those calorie consumption opportunities for that matter)

Missing a snack or even a meal shouldn’t leave you phoning it in for the rest of day. As Vick’s reminds us, Mom’s and Dads don’t take sick days, nor do they get to omit parental responsibilities in the face of hunger, (or sometimes hAnger)

The question remains, what then is proper nutrition? As in most cases, taxonomy is important and proper is defined as follows; “adapted or appropriate to the purpose or circumstance”. I think adapted is of particular importance. In the case of our bike group leader, her body was adapted to a specific level, type, and timing of caloric consumption, and thus her nutrition could have been improper for the circumstance. (We’ll give her the benefit of the doubt anyway)

Whereas we are all genetically capable of high functioning without caloric input, if/when our bodies are adapted. In our bike ride example the adapted part of the definition of proper is mostly focused externally (on the nutrition/fuel), when it should really be focused internally (on the body/engine).

If you could only fill up your car’s gas tank from one particular pump at one particular station and it only held a few gallons, your everyday errands would be logistically challenging. Yet, that is the paradigm of “proper nutrition” promoted by conventional wisdom like “grazing” eating multiple small meals, and incessant snacking.

Whether it is in the context of an athletic endeavor, a day parenting, or working around the house, proper nutrition, is that which allows you to complete the mission without compromised performance, and without thinking about it. There are many ways to get there, but some are much more cumbersome than others.

My proper nutrition is continually evolving and changing. But there are some guidelines that help me hone in on what works. I want to enjoy and appreciate my food, rather than obsess over what, when, and how much I’m eating. I want to feel unlimited by my fuel, no bloating, no bonking, and no detrimental health effects. I’m working on being more open-minded as to what types of food and eating patterns help me meet these goals. What does your proper nutrition look like?

Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.

Teammate training ride, MAF treadmill test, and layover morning miles in Tulsa

Shut Up Legs

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. Albeit a little later with all of the craziness that is 2020, this is one of my favorite stretches of the year, Le Tour. Hundreds of riders hammering the pedals across miles of the world’s most spectacular countryside is awe inspiring and motivating in a way that is hard to compare.

One of the color commentators on the broadcast, a former pro cyclist Jen’s Voigt, is famous in the cycling community for his remark Shut Up Legs! It is his brand, the title of his book and the name of his company and website. It is also something that all cyclists at some point or another can relate to.

Music man on our visit to Grammy’s house

SerenityThroughSweat for me has always been about finding peace, in large part through exercise. I think the ability to feel discomfort and then push through it. To realize the discomfort is only temporary and it is superceded by whatever the goal is, is a gift given to us by exercise. It is also what Jens so eloquently states in much fewer words when he says, shut up legs.

Anyone who has found themselves in the saddle, legs burning, and contemplating quitting knows the internal struggle that goes on. There are always an endless number of good reasons why calling it a day is a justifiable decision. Miles already ridden, lack of proper sleep/nutrition/hydration, inclement weather, other obligations at home. Honest self assessment, especially in times of discomfort, is a true virtue.

Getting ready for our upcoming mountain adventure

I try to think about it like Tyler durden would. “These are your burning legs, don’t go to your cave and find your power animal, what you are feeling is premature enlightenment.” Recognize the source of your discomfort, stay with it, not blaming it or hiding from it, and then say shut up legs.

The uncertainty I (and much of my aviation family) face is no different. Our metaphorical legs are burning with the threat of furlough and a long arduous climb of industry recovery looms on the horizon. We can unclip our pedals and call it a day, or we can say shut up legs, and take on the long hard climb ahead.

It doesn’t make the climb ahead any less daunting, or the burning feelings of uncertainty any less scary, but facing it head on saying Shut up legs! and progressing forward is the only sure path I can see for my family.

I hope that all of my brothers and sisters in the industry, as well as anyone else who is facing Covid related job loss, will join me in saying Shut Up Legs, and hammering forward in a way that would put the peloton to shame.

Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends. (And Vive Le Tour)

Dystopian Shopping

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. There is a lot of craziness going on in the world today and obviously there are lots of different ways to approach it. Trying to find the silver lining, I have had a lot more time for acts of self betterment, parenting, reading, drawing, exercise, mobility work… The list goes on.

I recently finished Altered Carbon a 2002 book by Richard Morgan that was recently turned into a Netflix special. In a dystopian future where human consciousness is recorded and transferrable between bodies, death has less to do with your physical entity and more to do with your downloadable content. In the book I found a wonderfully telling passage that made me think about some of our current struggle with COVID-19.

The man character Takeshi Kovacs, is on his way to go shopping for some new clothes and weaponry for his job as a private investigator. He has a flashback to a life he lived over a hundred years ago in a different body (I know that sounds weird, but the point of the book is downloading human consciousness into different bodies) and a discussion about shopping. To paraphrase, he used to think shopping was a mundane activity of necessity. You need something, you go to a place to procure it and the transaction is complete. His memory of the conversation that changes his mind is then brought forth.

His friend from a former life explains that we have the technology to doorstep deliver everything we need, but shopping as a physical activity, has never been phased out of human culture. Despite having the technology to remove it altogether, society has subconsciously decided that shopping is a physical activity that satiates a human desire for accumulation and interaction. It is a part of our culture and wired into us like DNA.

A captain I flew with once proudly told me he refused to pay for a cup of coffee at a hotel when they told him it cost $5 for just a black coffee. I told him I agree that $5 for a cup of black coffee is expensive but I don’t mind paying for a story. Tell me about the farmer who grew the beans and where they were grown. Tell me about the buyer who traveled there and bought them and roasted them. Tell me about the barista who stocked them and the method used to brew them. If the answer is Folgers from the grocery store, then probably not a good value for $5. (Sorry to pick on Folgers, no hard feelings) But, if there is a story and multiple human interactions involved, now we are filling in some human needs, and I can appreciate where my money is going.

I think this is an insidious part of the challenge that we are currently facing. Even if you have some financial stability, and you have a few days worth of supplies in your home, there is still a longing for human interaction outside of the dwelling that no amount of Netflix or virtual museum tour will satiate. The act of shopping, strolling through a farmers market, perusing the produce aisle, or simply trying to decide on dinner, are all cultural behaviors that have been ripped away suddenly like an old band-aid.

As we struggle to embrace the changes to our everyday routines, technology like home delivery and curbside pickup are powerful tools. But it is also important to remember what we want to get back to, which is that most basic of human interactions. I hope that we can all maintain some modicum of serenity, until that time.

Thanks for joining me and stay sweaty my friends.

This week in social distancing has changed my normal workout pattern, but I was able to spend some more time on two wheels than I otherwise would have. One ride with El Duderino where we saw an alligator which he now needs to hear the story of every night before bed. And the other was some much needed time with Layla, my Tri bike.

Working Out or Training

When I was preparing for Ironman Florida in 2013, I remember enjoying telling people I couldn’t stay out late, or have another beer, or whatever the activity was, because I had to train in the morning.

People that knew about the traithalon community or where familiar with the race understood, but inevitably, someone would ask what are you training for. For me this was a little bit of a way to brag on myself, but it was also a carefully chosen word.

I had a training plan, that was well designed and crafted. I had specific short and long term goals, I was measuring, logging, and assessing key metrics. These were not just a series of physical activity done for their own sake, these were goal oriented, focused, purpose driven workouts.

And there in lies the conundrum. If I was doing an interval ride, or a tempo run, those were both workouts. So when do we cross the line from workout to training? Can an activity be both, or one without the other?

This is a question I think a lot of BJJ practitioners struggle with/can benefit from, and something wrestlers (in my humble opinion) do a lot better with.

In generic terms, here is how I view the two. Workout: an activity done to improve physical fitness. Training: an activity or course of action undertaken in preparation for an event. So the key difference is the specificity of the goal, and I think both are important and both have their place.

Let’s say you are getting ready for the local BJJ tournament. You might set up a training plan that has four days a week in the gym rolling and two days a week with some sort of cross training, lifting weights or running. These could all be considered training because they are planned out, specified, and helping you towards your goal of preparing to compete in a tournament. They are also all individually workouts.

Now let’s look at an individual BJJ class where you don’t have a tournament you are planning for. Based on our earlier definition, it is clearly a workout, but can it also be training? The answer depends on how you approach it. Are you putting yourself in specific positions or situations repeatedly? Then it is probably training. Are you just letting the roll take its own form? Then it is probably a workout. Both are great, just understand what the value of each is.

The same ideas apply to running, riding, lifting weights, etc… Sometimes it just feels good to sweat. (I do a lot of that incase that wasn’t clear, and I’m a huge fan). Other times a more measured and calculated approach is appropriate, and will probably help you reach your goals better.

As January starts to close out, and those new year’s resolutions start to look a little hazier, ask yourself. Are you working out, or are you training? And is that the right choice for today?

Thanks for joining me, stay sweaty my friends.

Today’s Serenity through Sweat: throwing arrows down range at Orlando Archery Academy and then rolling with my homies at Orlando BJJ

Mastery of the Aircraft

Whenever training on a new aircraft, pilots are put through a rigorous training program consisting of aircraft systems knowledge, training procedures and flows, and ultimately both normal and emergency operations in a simulator. There is a whole slew of things that evaluators look for including ; knowledge, skill, good judgement, proficiency, and mastery of the aircraft. That last item, mastery of the aircraft, is obviously a subjective term, but I think we all know it when we see it, someone who is calm and in control regardless of the scenario, and who can think a few steps ahead.

I was listening to JRE episode #1392 the other day with ultra runner Zach Bitter and it got me thinking about this concept as it applies to athletes. How much training and experience does it take for a pilot to be the master of an aircraft, and how much time do we devote as athletes to being masters of our own bodies?

On the podcast zach talked about his recent 12 hour and 100 mile record breaking performance, as well as his diet and training plan leading up to it. The thing that surprised me the most about Zach was his training based on perceived effort which is an arguably more subjective criteria as opposed to something more objective (like heart rate zone training)

The difference of course is that Zach has put in the time, energy, and effort, and has the discipline to be a master of his body and can honestly and accurately assess his training based on perceived effort. How many of us age group traithloners, or casual BJJ practitioners, can say we have the discipline and understanding to do that?

Yoga practices often remind us to be aware of our breathing and tune in to what our body needs. I’m relatively new to yoga and after about twenty minutes in the hot room the only thing I feel tuned in to, is how much longer I can hold chair pose before my yoga mat has transformed into a slip’n’slide. (Incase the blog title didn’t give it away I’m a pretty sweaty dude) I can’t tell you how many interval runs or rides I’ve done where I’m unable to maintain my interval pace through the final interval. Even with a wrestling background and a lot of competition experience, I still remember going out way too hard in my first BJJ tournament match and almost running out of steam.

Part of the journey towards Serenity through Sweat is being aware of our lack of knowledge of our own body and working to better understand this vehicle we have through life. Working to develop the discipline and putting in the effort to become masters of our “craft”. For me anyway, that journey makes me a better husband, father and friend, and it’s a journey I’m happy to share with all of you. Stay sweaty my friends.

Today’s Serenity through Sweat was my first time through Pavel tatsoulini’s Simple and Sinister kettlebell workout followed by 15 min on the spin bike.

Sweat through the small $h!t

I remember as a kid one of the first times I flew looking down and thinking how small everything was. And then my next thought was once you’re up in the air, things on the ground don’t really matter anymore even if only for that short period of time.

Looking back on that memory helps me understand what keeps me coming back to aviation and why I look forward to going to work. Being both something I’m passionate about and enjoy as well as a space for me to compartmentalize all the other drama away is almost like a mental vacation, how many people can say that about their job. As aviators we tend to be very good at compartmentalizing our problems to complete the mission, but those problems or worries are always waiting for us on the ground like a checked bag you wish you didn’t have to lug through the parking lot.

The very heart of Serenity Through Sweat, is that most of the time once I’m done exercising, that drama is gone, or at least toned down. The blood starts flowing, the heartbeat elevates, the sweat drips and then whatever background bull$h!t that seemed important before is lifted like a morning fog to reveal a beautiful day.

Last night I got sucked in to a super negative conversation. Every time I tried to exit I got pulled back in and kept slipping further into the weeds. I didn’t sleep great (the hotel bed didn’t help), and I was thinking about it almost immediately when I woke up.

Getting on the bike first thing was the best mental therapy I could think of. After a few tabata intervals everything else is background noise and even if it does come back it comes back muted. I was able to find Serenity even if only for a few moments through sweat. I hope you can all find your own moments of Serenity, stay sweaty my friends.

My morning Serenity Through Sweat: a peleton tabata ride where instructor Robinnyc helps me get reaquainted with my hustle

What I’m thankful for

Sometimes the things we are thankful for are hiding in the background, to be discovered and appreciated years later

With thanksgiving here I’m thinking about what I’m thankful for. I’m extremely blessed with a happy healthy family, friends that enrich my life, a job I enjoy, and hobbies I’m passionate about. There are other things in my life that I am grateful for that are less obvious that I maybe took for granted because they are in the background.

My son was playing with toolbox in my garage and I remembered where that toolbox came from. It was Christmas gift from my father when I was about eleven or twelve. As an eleven or twelve year old I wasn’t particularly enthused with a toolbox as a Christmas gift. In fact I wasn’t very enthused with it for a number of years. But when I moved off to college and had a decent tool set I was very grateful and realized the true value of that gift.

Likewise my parents gave me the tools as a young child to lead an active lifestyle, and for that I am eternally thankful. There were lots of outdoor activities, sports, hobbies, etc and none was ever pushed more than another, just the idea of being active. This mindset as a child and as I continued to grow has led me to a number of adventures that wouldn’t have been possible without a basic level of fitness. That mindset of an active lifestyle has always been in the background, and like the toolbox, it has taken me years to appreciate what a special gift it was.

Throwback Thursday to 1992 wrestling practice

Camping and trekking in Philmont New Mexico with my father and brother. Biking along the Alsace wine route after getting engaged to my wife. Exploring temples and hiking in Thailand and Cambodia on my honeymoon, training for and completing an Ironman with a good friend. These experiences have all helped shape me as a person, a father, and a husband, and are all rooted in interpersonal relationships and athletic adventure.

A hilly day on the bike with my wife between Riquewihr and Ribeauvillé enroute to Obernai

Lots of steps on the way to this gorgeous view with my wife in Angthong National Marine Park Thialand

There are so many life changing experiences out there, but a lot of them require you to walk, climb, swim or sweat to reap the rewards. This is a gift I’m grateful for, and a gift I hope to pass on to my children, even if it takes them many years to appreciate it. What are you thankful for that’s hiding in the background?

Thanks for joining me on the journey towards Serenity. Stay sweaty my friends.