Recovery Continues to Improve my Life

One window has closed yet another has been opened as this morning arose. My brief tenure has concluded and this afternoon I have a meeting with my new endeavor. In the meanwhile I am enjoying every moment of every day which during the week starts with getting the children off to school. This year the children are riding their bikes to and from school with mostly my wife following them. We live only two blocks from the school and it is a very brief bike ride along with a very brief walk. The children have yearned for their bicycles ever since they got back from New Jersey. There wasn’t much bike riding in the past two years and now they are more than making up for it with being on their bicycles just about every day. This morning with breakfast completed and the morning rituals complete they were off to school.

I was a bit concerned with everyone this morning because our children went to sleep much later than usual as we arrived home from the baseball game later than the intended bedtime. This did not deter either my daughter or son. My son does emulate me with getting out of bed where he just pops up and starts the day. My daughter also emulates me with her intermittent sleep patterns where the slightest sound wakes her up. I do believe my son has gotten the best of this; however; in spite of my daughter less than “human” attitude in the early morning she does well with her sleep patterns. Anyhow they were both up well within the allotted time to get to school.

They were off to school while I stayed behind tending to some chores. This morning was a relaxing morning for me as I planned to take my bicycle out for a ride while my wife got her haircut. My wife has found a person who comes to the house to cut her hair but I’m not sure how this is going since this person just came last week and is coming back for a return visit. I’m not sure if that is a good sign but all I knew is I had to be out of the house by mid day. This is when I had planned to take my bicycle out for a spin.

I did take my bicycle out for a spin and what was supposed to be a leisurely ride turned into a mountain/dirt bicycling experience. When I was looking for a bicycle I really wanted a road bicycle so I can turn my attention to triathlons sometime next year. However; these bicycles were well out of my current price range so I decided to purchase a light weight mountain bike. It is certainly a light weight frame but I was warned that the fat tires cause more “drag” making the road cycling more challenging. This is not the bicycle for triathlons because this bicycle makes the cyclists work that much harder. However; in the meanwhile it is a great training cycle as at some point in the coming year I will uprgrade to the road bicycle.

Since it is a trail/mountain bike I took it on some trails around our development. I went places I had never seen before and I can see why people get hurt on these bicycles. I attempted to ride up a very steep incline and that really wasn’t the problem. The problem occurred coming down the steep incline as I am not used to the speed nor the balance needed to navigate the ruts in the trail. This was a nice change of pace from running up and down hills but I have to admit I was a bit apprehensive at first. I rode the brakes all the way which wasn’t the proper technique needed. I’m not sure what is the proper technique as this is a certainly a work in progress for me. Thankfully, there weren’t any crashes nor any broken bones along the ride.

I had a great hour ride and because the day was warming up I got in a great sweat. I do equate my activities with sweat level and today the sweat level was high. I can see some differences between cycling and running. I can see why Lance Armstrong the 7 time Tour de France Champion stated that running a marathon is the hardest thing he has ever done. However; cycling especially with this mountain bike is very challenging. I could feel my lungs burning along with my legs. It is a great workout without all the jarring on the joints. There are pluses and minuses to both forms of exercise but for me it was a great change of pace and a wonderful way to spend an hour in the outdoors.

It is no secret I prefer running on a treadmill to running outside mostly due to the fact that I can “control” the running session more on the treadmill. I can gauge my pace and distance much easy from the treadmill but it is wonderful to get outside in the sunshine. I did enjoy the sunshine and my timing was perfect since my wife’s haircut had ended thus it was safe to return home, (I am being factious!) I did return home to a great shower and it was almost time for my meeting with my new employer.

The meeting went very well and I am enjoying this new endeavor more and more. My office will be at home and I only have to come in the office for certain meetings. I had a great brainstorm session with my new boss and another colleague. There appears to be a great deal of opportunity in this new position and I intend to take full advantage. I am responsible for my own schedule and it behooves me to work as efficiently as possible to reap the benefits. These are very intelligent people I am working with and I look forward to learning so very much. I was energized with this meeting and will “hit the ground” running come Tuesday my first official day of work.

I returned home in time to go with the family to my daughter’s softball practice. This worked out very well and the location of this practice is adjacent to the skate park which keeps my son occupied for the almost 2 hour practice. My daughter does enjoy softball and once again she is quite the player. She has great range in the field and a good “batting eye”. My son had a wonderful time with his scooter at the skate park going up and down the concrete structure. He has made enormous progress from last week where he was afraid to go into the structure now he is moving around without any issues. This was a wonderful way to end another wonderful week. Life in recovery is amazing and amazes me each and every day.