Progression (And That Someone)

Having recently talked about my work location changes, it got me thinking about progression in facets of my life.  Progression of getting things at work set up and approved for the assignment in Colorado Springs is just one of the items that I have been tracking and thinking about lately.

Another that has been on my mind for a long time is my running progression and getting back to a semblance of shape that I used to be in prior to my hamstring injuries.  While I know that I likely will never be able to spin my wheels on the streets as fast as I used to, I do know that I have some racing left in me and am training to get to the point where I can do that.  My training has been going quite well.  I am pleased to say the least.  My coach has me up to around 50 miles a week and we just bumped up the number of days per week I am training from 5 to 6.  This progression has been metered out slowly over the past 4-5 months so that I do not have a reoccurrence of my hamstring issues and to force me to make sure I am working not only on my running, but also on keeping my muscles and core strengthened.  While we are slowly bumping up the mileage, we are also bumping up the types of workouts I am completing, track intervals, progression runs, tempos, fartlek runs, wave tempos.  Getting back into these types of runs is infusing my spirit.  I didn't realize how much I had been missing getting some laps in on the track.  The big thing I figured out I was missing was the feeling you get after completing one of those hard workouts that at first seems daunting when read.  Success breeds success when it comes to running and training.

If I take a look at my life from a somewhat wider focus, there is something that I see that has been present in my work progression as well as running progression, supporting me in these focused areas and contributing to these areas, but also has been present in everything else in my life and I dare say defines my life.  That something is my wife.  Elizabeth truly is my life.  She is the first thing I think of when I wake up in the morning.  She is the last thing I think of when I go to sleep.  I do not know that I could keep track of the number of times I think about her during the day when I am at work.

But, you say, how does this fit into the theme of progression?  Getting to the point where I have this immense love for E- has been a steady progression from when I first met her years ago at Clemson.  Have I loved her all of this time?  Of course I have.  But this love is multi-faceted and builds upon itself.  Just as success breeds success in running, love breeds love in life.  We have been married for over 25 years now and I am still finding things about E- that make me grin like a kid and build my love for her.  If someone is your life, you can't help but build your love for them and you can't help but get excited about how your life with them will progress, no matter how long you have had them in your life.  I have been thinking about this a lot lately because as I potentially transition in the work place, I will be away from her for long periods of time and I am not going to like that.  I always want to be around her, mainly just to be around her.  She calms me.  She is my focal point when I need to orient myself.  I am hoping that I will be able to find that focal point over the phone when I need it while in Colorado without her.

Progression. Everything we successfully do in life has a progression.  Everything we unsuccessfully do in life has a progression.  Everything we attempt has a progression.  You get my point.  How you live your life depends on how you meter out that progression.  Be wise in how you progress and items in your life will work themselves out.

What items are you working on right now in your lives?  Do you have a progression plan for them or are you sitting back and just observing how they progress?  No matter which, I hope you have someone in your life that is there with you as you go.  I definitely know I have such a someone and I love her to death.

Blessings From Being Injured. Wait... What?!?!

 Many of my posts over the last year or two have either been focused on or have mentioned my struggle with my injured hamstring.  It has kept me out of serious training for a while now and having a long term injury like this can be more mentally draining than anything it does to you physically.  I have found it very easy to become borderline depressed.  Not only am I somewhat mentally depressed because I cannot seem to get back to some level of regular training, but running is my stress release and is what I turn to when I need a break or when I need to sort out life in general.

 Sitting here this morning sipping my second cappuccino, I decided to focus not on the lowlights of being injured and those effects that struggling through an injury brings into one's head, but on blessings that have appeared in my life during the time I have been injured.  So here goes.  Some of these blessings I can put into words right now, some I cannot.

• The biggest blessing that has been reinforced during this time has been my wife.  Time and time again, I realize and am shown that Elizabeth is probably the biggest blessing that God has given me in my life.  When I cannot run and spend the amount of time training I would like, I get to spend more time with her because I am not going to bed as early. I get to just hang with her more in the evenings and just be.  I offer up and go on more dates with her, even if it is just a date going to the grocery store to shop together.  When I do get a run in, they are shorter and slower, so she is more willing to ride her bike with me when I run.  Just more time I get to spend with her!
• A blessing related to the going on more dates with Elizabeth is that I am more prone to hanging out with friends more often since I am not staying home to get to bed early.  Without that early morning training run calling, I can relax when we are out visiting with friends.
• One thing that I have done over the many years I have been running is efficiently train my body and mind to be an early riser.  So, even when I am not training, my mind still is expecting to get things going early in the morning.  During an injury, I use this fact to get in to work early before most of my fellow workers get in.  I get so much done during this time that I feel less stressed during the rest of the work day.
• Not being able to run has opened up my mind to engaging my body in new and alternate ways of exercising.  Yoga, cycling, strenghtening, walking the dogs - I now look for ways to get some form of exercise in to keep myself sane.
• Meeting new people and establishing and reinforcing relationships with those professionals who are helping me recover from my injury and helping me in general.  While it is not good as to why I find myself in their office or talking to them, it is always good to establish these connections and develop new friendships and solidify those already established.  From all of the folks at Results Physiotherapy and SpineCare that I enjoy talking with and working with to looking into cultivating a coaching relationship with Will at Running Lane, I find that my sphere increases of those that I can turn to when I need help and hopefully, I lend some blessing into their lives as well since my main job here on Earth is to pass along blessings I receive to others.
• Another blessing I have realized/rediscovered is the quantity of folks out there supporting me both in person and online. Their support does mean something to me.  Just the simple mention that they empathize with me and are rooting for me lifts my spirit on those days when my mood takes a hit.
• In the view of my job being to pass along blessings, I have found more opportunities to connect and commiserate with others in their injuries and life struggles.  Just as others raise my spirit, I look for ways to lift theirs.  I look for ways in a simple text, a simple comment, a simple wave, a simple smile to pass along a blessing to someone else.  In some cases, it may be reflecting back a blessing that they gave to me in the past that they may not even realize they gave me. 

  I am sure that there are plenty of other blessings that I have been given during this time that I don't even realize I was given.  That's how life works; blessings wash over us and you would think we would recognize them and we don't.  Some are big, some are small, but they all weigh the same.  They all work to raise us up.  All of my blessings work to show me what I should truly focus on.  In this day and age of complaining about everything that happens in this world, or taking everything as a personal attack against one's self or one's beliefs, or attacking everyone that does not believe the same way or have the same values, I choose to focus on blessings, both received and given, and to focus on how I can take more of the blessings I have been given and reflect them back to others.  Just as my spirit is lifted by the hands of all of those that I personally know and by those that I don't, I want to be that extra set of hands that lift others up.  Being injured has shown me how I can be those hands.  I urge everyone else to think about life in the same way, be the light of support, not the darkness of complaint and affront.  Use your periods of injury or struggle to recognize blessings in your life.  When you start focusing on these blessings, your struggles have a harder time establishing a stronghold in your mind and you will have no choice but to pass along blessings to others.

I Can't Believe She Let Me Make It To 25 Years

Been a little while since my last post.  At last report, E- and I had just become empty nesters as both M- and R- had gone to college.  The next big thing in our lives just happened less than a week ago.  E- and I hit the 25th wedding anniversary level of our own real-life video game.  In reaching 25 years, I figured I would impart my wisdom to all of you on what it takes to get to that milestone.

Before I get to that list, I just want it to sink in a little more, mainly to me as I am still not sure I fully comprehend, that starting now I have been married to E- longer than I have not been married to her.  More than half of my life has been blessed because she said yes.

Now back to my wisdom in the form of a list of what it takes to get to your 25th wedding anniversary:

Number 1: Find someone who puts up with you and your antics and lets you stick around for 25 years.

Number 2:  There is no number 2.  Number 1 is it.  My wisdom ends there as number 1 is the sole reason I can think of for why I am still married to E- after 25 years.  It is nothing I have done other than love her.  It is all related to her ignoring me when I am being stupid, or better yet telling me I am being stupid and that I should stop.   It is all related to her loving me no matter what happens or what I do.  At least, I think she still loves me.  Hopefully she still does.  Otherwise, I don't know why she still puts herself through it.

Don't get me wrong.  I am sure there are plenty of days when E- does not like me at all, but I think she still loves me even in those times.  It is the only explanation for 25 years.  I do know and can easily state that I love her.  She is my life.  She is my joy.  She makes each and every day better.

Aside:  It is no coincidence that as I was typing the last paragraph, blink-182's Home is Such a Lonely Place came on. The lyrics "Home is such a lonely place without you.  Home is such a lonely place." describe how I feel when E- is away and not at home.   There is no "home" without her.  It is a house.  Each spot there is just a room.  It is a place to sleep and exist.  With her there though, it becomes a home.  A place that is safe.  A place that surrounds you in warmth and love.  A place that I never care to leave.

Done with the aside (but not blink-182).  Back to my list of one.  My advice to my kids and to others out there is find that someone that you know will put up with you.  I am sure E- has her own list, but this list of one is all I could rationalize as being worthy, from my point of view, of passing along.

If E- is willing, maybe I will be able to post 5, 10, or even 25 years from now with some additional items for my list.  Even if I get to those milestones, I am thinking my list will still just be this one item though.

Here's to 25 more

I love you, E-.  More than I probably convey to you or that you know.

PS:  After some deep thought, I have a Number 2 for my list of infinite wisdom.  Number 2:  Make sure that person in Number 1 is E-.

Sorry guys, I am the only one that can achieve Number 2.