A week of traveling and eating out for every meal leaves the body wrecked. Even though I got in two runs, I still feel like I didn’t do anything last week. However, standing all day while visiting shops also plays into the wreckage. The knees don’t feel that great at the moment. So, I need to get my body on track this week and start working hard to accomplish some goals. I have a half marathon coming up on April 25th. The weather has improved while I was gone. There was a huge snow melt this week thanks to some rain. The roads are in much better condition and that should lead to better running and riding. This winter has been tougher for me to find the time to work out. The Myles factor has changed a few things. I will gladly sacrifice my fitness to spend time with him and the family. However, I do need to find time to train. 5:00 am seems to be the only real time to do this. That is hard to do. I just need a little bit more will power to make it happen. 6 weeks to make it all happen on the half marathon front. 6 weeks. Here we go.
Need Excercise
Written by MikeBarnidge on March 14th, 2010Written by MikeBarnidge on March 10th, 2010
Life as of late seems to be about noticing the things in life that inspire me and taking the time to appreciate them. Family. Friends. Good conversations about the biggter issues we face. Coffee. Donuts. Laughter. It lives around us, within us, and because of us with the perfect balance of nature and God. I saw the woman make this coffee for me. She made one and noticed that it wasn’t completely perfect. She threw it away and made another one that was as perfect as she could make it. I can’t tell if these are wings or if they are hands holding the heart. I like to think that they are hands, holding something special. It made me think about how much attention I am paying to those special things that I create. Am I taking more time to make sure they are truly special? I like to think so, but I know I don’t always. How many coffees she must make each day and she chose to perfect the one for me – an impatient customer with his nose pointed at his phone reading emails. The powerful message is not only to appreciate what it is that people do to make my life amazing, but more importantly taking the cue to pass on that gift to the next person I meet. We all have the power to make people feel better about themselves. There are so many different ways. A kind comment. A special email. A perfected cup of coffee for a stranger. I just need to identify what I am serving today. A regular cup of joe or a piece of art that creates positive emotions. I can only control my actions and impact today. Today. I know the when and I must create the what and how. Today I will improve your mood by complimenting you on something that I appreciate. Pass it on.
Running
Written by MikeBarnidge on March 5th, 2010I ran three times this week: Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. To my surprise I have a total of 13 miles this week. This is my biggest week of running in a long time. Each run has been over 4 miles. Better yet, I am loving it! Add in a trainer session on the bike, and I have a pretty good little week of training under my belt. The weather is turning and the melt has begun. Sunny skies for the past few days really sparked my mood. With the three coldest months behind us, I can finally look forward to riding on the road consistently and eventually getting out on the mountain bike. I can’t wait. Life is good when the weather in Minnesota improves.
The Boys
Written by MikeBarnidge on March 2nd, 2010
Grady and Myles both have a book that goes to daycare each day. Grady is on his second book and Myles obviously just started his first. It documents what they eat, when they eat, when they sleep, what they did all day, what and when things left their body, so to speak. Some days are listed as great days, while other days are just listed with the facts. I wish I could say that I read this every night when I got home, but often times the books are just thrown on the counter top, waiting to be picked up in the morning to start the whole process all over again. I love looking through Grady’s book. The life that continually changes is documented in there. It is really neat to be able to track what is going on in his life. Crawling. Walking. Talking. Eating. It all continues to change and evolve. That is really one of the things I love about my blog. It is my own little journal of life. Things I’ve seen, thoughts I’ve had, and experiences we have gone through. It is all hear. I hope to continue to scroll back through my life and remember that life is continuing to evolve and grow, even though I am an adult. Taking the time to realize where I was last year at this time as well as 5 years ago at this time reveals a lot about me to me. Get it? Blinders are easy to throw on in life. It seems the moment you decide to focus on just one thing or a few things, many other things pass you by. Imagine being in a forest and focusing on just one bird flying around. You see the trees he lands on and the food he eats, but may not see the trees that he flies past. One of my goals is to see those trees I fly past. The people I fly past. The books I toss on the counter at the end of the day. They are all there just waiting for me to see them.
Blog Gadget
Written by MikeBarnidge on February 28th, 2010I added a new little blog gadget on my sidebar. On the top of my sidebar to the right I have my “Recent Workouts”. This is actually a list of my 3 most recent workouts on a feed from GarminConnect. I use my Garmin during my workout and then upload it to the website. It will show you the route I went on and then all the vitals of the workout. Speed, Heart Rate, Temperature, Calories burned, etc. Pretty cool. Garmin really is making life easy these days. They have ANT+ technology and they also have a kick ass website to review workouts. You can even hit “play” and follow my stats as the workout progressed. I can easily review my splits. An interesting thing that I noticed is that I burn about 111 calories per mile while running. A gel pack every mile. Interesting.
