"Go To" Much Better

Oh yes, these days are still flying by which is a great change of pace. I am doing my best to stay “present” in the day but the day isn’t staying present very long!!! This is positive in every aspect and I haven’t been this busy in quite some time. The attaining of balance appears to be an elusive pursuit; however; I am enjoying myself no matter what the day throws at me. Today I was up early once again and headed off to the gym.

My training for the Long Beach Marathon calls for running four days a week which does work very well and today was day two of running. It was an up tempo running day which means the intensity in which I run was much greater than normal and since I want to achieve a new personal best time the training intensity has gone up a few notches. I have such a respect for the elite runners because they train so much harder than I am capable of doing.

I would categorize myself as a little better than average but fall below an elite athlete. I read that Lance Armstrong (who by the way I admire probably more than any other athlete in the world) who could be considered the world’s best athlete stated; that running a marathon was one of the hardest things he has ever done and oh by the way his finishing time was a good 30 plus minutes better than yours truly. In fact Lance’s training sessions “easy” pace is a one full minute per mile faster than my “easy” pace. I certainly have no right comparing myself to the world’s greatest athlete but I do have the utmost respect for these highly conditioned athletes.

I got in a very good workout and once again I had to better the requisite training program by a mile. I do have a competitive nature and my roommate at “camp” would always point this out which I would downplay. I am more competitive with myself than with others which are why I can’t seem to stick with the training script. Today the required session called for a 4 mile up tempo run and I did a 5 mile up tempo run. I could feel this as I reached the 4th mile but just had to do one more mile. Somewhere down the road I may learn to moderate myself but this is a long road!!!

As I finished my workout it was once again off to the office. I guess having my boss on vacation has been a positive and could be the cause of why these two weeks have flown by. I have never thought of myself as a Type A personality nor have I thought of myself as a Type B personality. I think I fit somewhere (if possible) in between. However; this week I have become the “go to” person in the office and this does remind me of “days gone by” with a huge exception I am finally all here!!!

In “days gone by” I was certainly somewhere else with my mind going in a million different directions. The storm has subsided and my mind is as clear and present for the first time in a very long time. This is a wonderful way to live and as I mentioned I am enjoying each passing day!!

This evening thanks to some money savings coupons we were able to go to the Souplantation as a family for the first time in over two years. I met my wife and children at the restaurant and we had a very nice family meal. Things have changed because the last time we went as a family I had to get my son’s food and tonight my son was very self reliant. I can remember the first time we came here as a family and my son was still in high chair. That was 7 years ago and my how that time has flown by.

I surmise time will continue flying by which is why I am doing my very best to embrace each and every day. This is not a race and I finally understand that. Everything happens for a reason and these reasons are wonderful. Tonight it was great sitting with my family in a place where I sat alone not too long ago. I know I am not alone and as long as I stay focused in recovery the world is extraordinary.