The $60 T-shirt that I will never wear.

A few weeks ago I picked up a t-shirt that I payed $60 dollars for, it was for a half marathon here in my home town, one that I had registered for months ago. Unfortunately I've been plagued by injury the past few months and my training has gone to the wayside. Instead of prepping to run 13.1 miles, I've been waiting for a date for surgery on an injured foot. Picking that shirt up, and subsequently seeing all of my training partners and friends complete that race was hard for me. While I was naturally enthused at their successes and genuinely happy for them, sitting on the sidelines isn't an easy place to be for me.

Two years ago I was a couch potato, to put it mildly. I've transformed myself from obese to athletic, competing in several triathlons, multiple 5Ks and a Tough Mudder along the way. My new life was less about being sedentary and more about sweating. It's funny that as much as "fat kid problems" used to be a mantra of my daily lifestyle, active living, pushing myself and becoming a better me each and every day has become equally as important to me. I've gone from 12 oz curls to building muscle, stamina and endurance. To say that my life took a 180 would be to minimize the impact that this change in lifestyle really had on me.

Along the way I started to enjoy it, the sweating, the hard work, pushing myself harder and accomplishing things that I previously thought I wouldn't be capable of. I was recognized by the #2 Fitness and Weight-loss Company in the world as a finalist for their "Active Couple" award, and was blown away by this. Activity and physical accomplishment became a part of my life.

It was about 3 months ago that I became sidelined by chronic foot issues and all of a sudden found myself unable to accomplish even simple physical tasks requiring me to be on my feet. I spent a few weeks bound to a wheelchair, unable to walk. Until finally I was able to see a doctor that was able to offer me a resolution, and a date for surgery. That surgery is scheduled for 3 days from now and there's finally a light at the end of the tunnel, a reprieve for my physically imposed hiatus from the sports and activity that I've grown to love.

So now I have a red shirt hanging in my closet, it doesn't represent failure to me, but rather a missed opportunity, a door that will open again, a motivation to be a better me once more. This injury has held me back, but it won't hold me down. I will be back on the pavement, I will be back on my bike, and I will be back in the pool and the gym.

I've managed to lose 13 pounds bound to this wheel chair with an activity level close to zero, and I won't stop when I get out of it. While I may not have earned the right to wear that $60 shirt this year, don't worry I'll be back for it next year!

90 Days of serving you.

For those that know know me, you know that I started this year on top of my physical game. I was spending 15+ hours a week training, riding over 40 miles running 10+ miles, and in the gym hitting the weights a couple times a week. I was literally in the best shape of my life. I went from weighing nearly 300 pounds (285 at my heaviest), to coming under 200 pounds and performing the aforementioned physical feats that I previously would've thought impossible.

Thanks to ViSalus and the Challenge, I found a new confidence, a new pastime, and a new source of income thanks to Project 10. My wife and I both won $1000 just for losing 10 pounds, and we were both recognized as Active Fitness Couple at our companies national event in Atlanta, GA.

It truly was an incredible year. As great as last year has been, this year has equally been filled with obstacles. I've suffered with foot pain, elbow surgery, and numerous other physical challenges.  I find myself in a unique position now, two months after I had planned to compete in my first Ironman event, and having to make the decision on whether or not to cancel my last two planned events for the year (the Rocketman Tri & the Red Ribbon Half Marathon), I have extra time on my hands to help YOU achieve your goals.

So I ask you what do you want to achieve? How can I serve you in your fitness or weight loss journey? For my next 90 Day Challenge, I'm here to serve you, to serve anyone that needs the help, encouragement or the guidance in this journey. Ask me anything you want, come to me for advice, for help, for whatever it is that you need. Walk this path with me for 90 days and I can guarantee that your life will not be the same.

I am not a Network Marketer!

My wife & I have gotten a lot of messages lately, a lot of folks talking about different companies, new "opportunities" out there, and while we appreciate our friends reaching out to us, we would both like to go on record to say that "We are NOT Network Marketers!" I know that a lot of people would point out that we are involved in a network marketing company with ViSalus, and while that's true and we do believe in the industry as a whole, we will not be involved with another company. We are not in ViSalus because of "positioning" or the comp plan, although being positioned as the #2 Weightloss company in the World after Weight Watchers & getting paid 11 different ways isn't a bad thing! We aren't involved because someone promised us a downline, or because there's some new super rare fruit in our product that's going to change the world and allow us to cover our driveway in gold. I say all that to say, take your new rare only harvested by the light of the leap year moon, using the left hand of a man that has never done another wrong, processed in the waters of the Egyptian sunlight underneath the largest of pyramids, going to grow my hair, paint my nails, lose my weight, and buy me a plane product, and share it with someone else. 

Rhonda & I are bottom line involved with ViSalus because we believe in our leaders, from the couple that introduced us to the business right on up to our companies founders. We believe in the vision of our company, to take weight off the world 10 pounds at a time until we end Obesity. We believe in our products because they have transformed our lives, & we believe in sharing the Challenge with others because we are passionate about affecting that same change in the lives of our friends and community. My wife & I are standing behind something that we believe in, and our beliefs will not be shaken as they are built on a strong foundation of love, respect, and personal results. I don't "sell milkshakes", I couldn't sell a hot chocolate to an eskimo, I simply tell my story and allow others to decide if it's time for them to make the same change that I decided to make 1 year ago. I will not be leaving ViSalus, I will not be quitting, and I will not chase the newest shiny on the block.   

#rantOVER

#VItillthedayIdie

#resultstrumpallelse

#Iamstickingaround

#GetONthetrainORgetoutoftheway

The Hardest 200 Miles, laid a good man to rest.

Today I rode a little over 200 miles, spend time with some great friends and had a lot of time to reflect on just what we were doing. I've ridden a good bit in the last 4 years, some of it fun, some of it cold, some hot, most of it because I wanted to get away. Todays ride was not about getting away, but about facing something, honoring someone, and supporting others. Today we rode not for joy or pleasure, although at the end of the ride, there was some of both. Today, we rode for Bear.

Gerald R. Doris Sgt. USMC, those were the words on the pamphlet handed out at his funeral, it's funny that I never knew Gerald R. Doris Sgt. USMC, I only knew Jerry occasionally Wandering Bear, but never Gerald. I didn't know the young man that went so bravely into the breach, that gave away part of his youth and innocence to Uncle Sam in the jungles of Viet Nam. I knew the man that suffered with conditions related to Agent Orange from all those years ago. The man I knew never once complained about his condition, or his health, he took it in the same stride with which he attack the rest of his life, with a vigor and enthusiasm that was inspiring and infectious.

Jerry & I spent a lot of time together, both burning miles on the road, and sitting at a table breaking bread and he always said that I reminded him of himself when he was younger. I always took this as a compliment, but looking back  realize that he meant it as a caution, as words of wisdom passed down from a man with more experience. I took a lot of advise from Jerry over the years that I knew him, I can honestly say that he saved my life, and my marriage. He's the reason that a lot of my biker friends don't see a lot of me, and not at all in a bad way. He taught me that there is nothing more important in life than your family, and no moment more precious than that spent with those you love. This wasn't a lesson that he taught with words, all though he said things like that to me many times, it was his unfaltering devotion to his wife Karen that truly brought truth to his words. Never once did I see him speak a cross word to Karen, never once did he do anything but honor & praise her.

Jerry was a giver, riding to Florida National Cemetery today at Bushnell, I couldn't help but notice the parts on my own bike that were given to me by Jerry, and looking around at the other bikes on the ride, the same was true for everyone. Jerry was the type of guy that wouldn't just give you the shirt off his back, he'd go to his closet and give you a clean one, ironed and ready to go, just to make sure you looked good. His heart and honest desire to give set him apart from other men, and one just one more aspect of the great man that he was.

Today many of his friends showed up to wish him farewell, and many more were thinking of him, and praying for him. The outpouring of love was startling, on www.vtxcafe.com his memorial thread resulted in over 125 posts to date, with more coming I am sure. Bear was a man widely loved by all who's lives he touched.

I had the honor of giving the closing remarks at Bears funeral today, the first time I've been asked to speak at a funeral of a friend. I realized that I didn't say half of what I meant to, nor did a do a fraction of justice to the life that this man led, nor even to the affect that he had on my own life, so I say it here Bear; You were like a father to me, you looked out for me, you guided me in the right direction, and you were always looking out for me, even when I thought that you were just talking, I realize now that you were teaching. I will forever miss you my friend, my brother, my family.

I found this poem that makes me think of Bear, and what he taught to me it's a Pueblo Indian poem:

Hold on to what is good
even if it is a handful of earth.

Hold on to what you believe
even when it is a tree
that stands by itself.

Hold on to what you must do
even when it is a long way from here.

Hold on to life
even when it is easier letting go.

Hold on to my hand
even when I have gone away from you.

RIP Wandering Bear, Semper Fi Marine.

Goals. Or something like them?

Do you have goals?

Do you have goals?

I'll bet the majority of folks reading this would say emphatically "Yes, of course I have goals". My next question would be, does everything that you do in your life reflect those goals? Are you constantly and courageously striving towards them? Are you making waves with your goals? Changing lives? Challenging yourself or others? Are you advancing ever forward toward your goals with every fiber of your being?

Yes?!?! Awesome! You ROCK! You are one of the few, brave, resilient souls that will make a mark on this planet, leave it a better place and in doing so, gain more than you thought possible. You probably don't need this blog, heck you're probably not reading this blog because you're out affecting change in your world. Here's a hearty internet pat on the back for you, keep up the good work.

No? You're floundering? Struggling? Treading water? Maybe you're "in a holding pattern" or a "rebuilding phase". There's all sorts of names that you can assign to times when you're not chasing your goals, but the truth is, if you're not working on it, than it's NOT a goal, it's a dream.

Dreamers are great, god bless them, they dream up imaginative, creative things, some of which get given to doers that go out and create incredible works. Without dreamers our society would not be as enriched, I don't write this to drag down the dreamer, I applaud them. I write this to encourage you to be honest with yourself about which one you are.

Are you a dreamer, or are you working on your goals?

True goals can be birthed from dreams, many are. Many are also birthed from practicality, or a need for something not found in your current existence. Dreams have to turn a corner though, to become goals. It's the action, the effort, the simple fact that forward progress is being made that turns dreams into reality.

Life is full of seasons, I've heard that manny times and you can in your life be both a goal seeker and a dreamer at different times, but pretending that you're seeking a goal when you're simply dreaming is a sure way to set yourself up for frustration. Telling yourself that you are chasing a goal, when not putting in the action is the surest way to ensure that you will quit before you ever get any where close to that goal.

Today I was dreaming, literally laying in bed asleep, my alarm went off at the assigned time to wake me for an early morning cycling session, I made the conscious choice at that moment to go from being a true dreamer to truly seeking my goals. While this is a little bit of "literal hyperbole" it's that same sort of get up, get out of bed, and go sweat action that will take your dreams and make them a reality. Today I didn't reach my goals, my goals truth be told are pretty lofty, but today I made progress, today I advanced, and I know that today I'm one step closer to my goals, and that feels good.

Choose your attitude

I often start my blog post off with a story of how someone, or some encounter that day has inspired me, and sitting down tonight, I realized that I didn't have an anecdote like that today. Nothing that happened today touched me in any special way, nothing inspired me to write, nothing stopped and made me think. My first thought was, wow I surrounded myself with some duds today, I'll have to fix that tomorrow, or maybe I didn't get in enough personal development, bet I actually learned a lot today, just none of it inspired me to write as it often does. I spent a precious few minutes attempting to blame something else, someone else, but then I realized it wasn't anyones fault but my own.

I stepped off plan today, I shrugged off my morning workout, I got up late, slogged through my day, never really waking up. I didn't even enjoy my dinner with a good friend as much as I normally do. I didn't commit to today, I simply marched through it. Living my life with my eyes on my feet instead of my nose to the grindstone didn't accomplish me much today, but I can tell you that I realized tonight fully, and for the first time, that you truly do choose how your day can go.

Today I just choose wrong. Tomorrow I have a good day, tomorrow I don't let the world conquer me, I go out and conquer it!

Ride of Silence 2014

Tonight it wasn't hard to come up with a topic for this Blog. Tonight I knew what I was going to write about, and for a change I've been thinking a lot about exactly what I was going to write. Tonight was the Ride of Silence, a bicycle ride of about 8-12 miles at no more than 12mph, ridden entirely in silence in memory of those killed and injured while cycling by other vehicles, it's also to raise awareness for cyclists rights to be on the road and to be treated fairly in the hopes that a ride to memorialize those that we have lost will not be necessary.

For a few moments tonight, the cycling community came together, as we have all too few yet all too many times. For a few moments we weren't riders out of one of the shops, we were "roadies", "tri friends", or just casual peddlers, we came together, in silence for the memory and for the good of cycling as a whole. We were 66 cyclists riding out of several shops, riding several different kind of bikes, from the roadies that stayed under 12mph but never dropped below 90rpm of cadence, the lone guy in the bike on the tri bike, trying to remember to stay out of his aero bars, the man just back from a motorcycle accident on his first group ride, the passionate about biking entrepreneur on the tandem, the young lady clearly struggling with simply making it around the lake, the older rider taking extra laps at the end to get in his workout, or the big guy on the mountain bike clearly not his size.

Almost 40 years ago my father was hit while cycling home from Lakeland Regional Hospital, hit by a driver and left for dead in a ditch. He lay there, in the darkness not knowing if he would survive, the driver continued on his way. Were it not for a nurse on her way home noticing that the bike laying on the side of the road belonged to my father, he may have died in that ditch. As it was her stopping and finding him there saved his life, while she was there in time to ensure he didn't die, she wasn't there in time to save all of him. That night my father didn't lose his life, but he did lose his leg from above the knee.

I can't say that I know the pain of losing a loved one to a cycling accident, and I don't begin to compare that to the experience I'm about to detail, I lost something that day, my father lost something that day. He lost his love of cycling, he lost the freedom of the road, he lost a hobby, and although he doesn't often speak of it, I know he has mourned that loss every day since. What have I lost you might ask, while I didn't lose my father entirely, a lost a part of him, someone that I never knew, a father that would've woken up early to go for a "century" on the weekend, helped me wrench on my first road bike, maybe even cheered me on at my first bike race. While it's a lot harder to quantify the loss for me, it is still there. As I've, in the past year, gotten into cycling, I find myself looking next to me sometimes on long rides, wondering what it would be like if dad was riding alongside me, pushing me, letting me draft when I get tired, or racing me on that last stretch before we get home. He still rides, only on trails and on a trike now, which isn't quite a match for the riding that I do, crouched over aero bars for hours on end, so we bond over cycling, but all the while I notice the look when I talk about that great stretch along some road, or the flinch if I mention a "close call", make no mistake I lost something that day too.

There were lots of stories on this ride today, and the paragraphs above encapsulate only my own, but one thing that I'm sure of, all 66 of these riders came out for a reason tonight, a purpose, whether it was for a loss like mine, the loss of a close friend, a spouse, someone that that saw once a week at a shop ride, or maybe just someone that they felt a special kinship with because that person ventured out on two wheels as well, no matter what the reason I know that we gathered in that parking lot as 66 cyclists, but left that lot and rode this ride as one.

Thank you to all who came out, not just to this Ride of Silence but to them all, the world over.

Thank you to my friend Jesse Cookson for capturing this short video of the riders tonight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_fzP3f-pVc