Gonnachange

It should be me thanking you for your constant support and while I've never consciously thought of it, what your signature states is the way I go about life. Everybody is going to face adversity at some point and my observation is that a commonality among those that achieve their goals has less to do with what happened and more to do with how they react afterward. An endurance race is somewhat of a metaphor for life.

By definition they are long, be it a 26.2 mile run or a 100 mile bicycle ride (there are longer events, but I've never done one), and no matter how much one trains there are going to be ebbs and flows in one's physicality and mentality. I've done enough of each to know and in my mind the pre race training is almost as much about perparing my mind as getting my body prepared to withstand the rigor of the event. Just as with a setback in one's personal or professional life the key is to keep moving forward.

So thanks for giving me another tool in my toolbox that I can use to get me to the finish line in 15 days.

Dee74

Enjoy the weekend GC

D

Gonnachange

Thanks Dee and I hope yours is off to a fine start.

Info About Tonight

I decided to stay home. My wife and I had dinner and she just left with our next door neighbor to see the band and do some dancing. I'll hang with the puppy, take her for a walk, and then crank some tunes before going to bed.

All is good.

Gonnachange

It was an early and sober evening last night and when I woke this morning I decided to get my training run done even though the weather conditions were less than pleasant. I just didn't want it hanging over my head until tomorrow. So off I went. Nine miles, as planned. The temperature was 40F/4C and it was windy with a light rain. It wasn't too bad once I got going, but I wasn't exactly sad when I came to my driveway at the end of the run.

Gonnachange

Plans have changed somewhat for the evening as we were invited to a neighbor's house for dinner before the concert. I'm not sure what, if any, post concert plans will be made, but I doubt it's going to be a late night and if we do wind up going out for drinks I'm comfortable with that and am confident that I'll be ordering my usual, of late, club soda.

Everybody gathering tonight for dinner has lived on our little block for at least 20 years so we've witnessed all of the changes that multiple decades bring to our respective families. The artist we're all going to see grew up in town and went on to international fame both as a solo musician and with a couple of bands, the better known one being the Eagles, and he's performing at the high school in town that he graduated from in 1965. As a side note, because this is SR, as a younger man he had some serious addiction issues, but has been drug and alcohol free for at least two decades and openly talks about it and has written songs about his journey. I've seen him perform as a member of the Eagles a couple of times in 20,000 people arenas and he always made mention of his home town. Seeing him in a much more intimate venue, the auditorium of his high school, leads me to believe that tonight is going to be a very fun musical experience that I'll have the privilege of sharing with my dear wife and some close friends.

SoberLeigh

Have a fantastic time, GC; sounds like it's going to be a special evening.

(I am proud to be a part of your journey.)

Gonnachange

Thanks SL. I'm looking forward to a fun time that will also be helpful to my community. My understanding is that he's picking up the entire tab for his fellow musicians and road crew. He took the time yesterday to speak to the high school students about the dangers of drugs and alcohol and while some won't get the message, which I would not have when I was in HS, I'm sure that he's impacted at least one of the kids in a positive manner. Whether one likes his music or not, he has to be respected as someone who has never forgotten his roots and is willing to give back to the community that gave him his start. Beyond what he did yesterday and will be doing tonight, many years ago he established a foundation so that kids at the high school can continue to get musical education.

That I can walk across the street to spend time with friends, have dinner, and then drive all of two miles to the school for the concert is a set up for fun evening that is filled with good intentions by all attendees.

I don't know where you are other than generally, but I hope you were not too badly affected by the storm.

Gonnachange

SL, this may sound crazy, as someone who is part of my journey I would like if you participated in something that was suggested to me years ago. I've asked others to do what I'm about to ask you to make my task in Baltimore on October 17 easier.

You're a big part of my journey so I'm asking you to pick a number between 0 and 26. That's the mile number that we'll "run" together when I'm running my marathon. I know it sounds crazy, but friends have done this for me and I've gotten a mental lift when that mile comes around. Frankly, I don't need 26 because at that point I have only .2 of a mile to go, but something in the teens or low twenties would be appreciated. As I wrote, it may sound crazy, but mental games like this help when the miles get tough.

SoberLeigh

It doesn't sound crazy at all, GC; I like the idea. How about mile #18 if it isn't already taken??????

Thanks so much for including me.

Della1968

Joe Walsh??

I am sorry about what your family is going through due to your BIL...some of us are slow learners. I have no doubt it is awful on the receiving end!

Gonnachange

Mile 18 it is and that's a great choice from my perspective. At that point I'll have run for a long time yet still have over a hour before I cross the finish line. We got this!

Yes, we saw Joe Walsh last night and the concert was very enjoyable as was dinner at our friends' house and later when a couple of friends came to our house after the 2.5 hour concert. What added to the enjoyment was that because it was a fund raiser for the school system I knew a lot of people so there was an additional social aspect to the night. Not that I know them, but Joe's father and brother were in the audience as well as some friends from high school that he mentioned by name. He told a few self deprecating stories and gave thanks to some of his teachers that inspired and supported him to become a professional musician. For the first song of his encore he brought a high school junior on stage to play guitar, which I thought was really cool and something that kid will never forget.

It was odd being back at the high school, a place that I drove to every day for years until my daughter became old enough to drive and it was the first time I experienced a concert in that auditorium. It was quite impressive; I knew that the town spent a boat load of money to modernize the facilities in both the venue we were at and a smaller theatre at the school, but every event I've been to since the upgrade has been at the small theatre.

Thanks for your concern about my BIL and our family. It weighs heavily on everyone, but mostly on my inlaws who have to deal with it on a daily basis.

My Sunday

Just because we were up later than usual last night doesn't mean that our puppy was going to have any sympathy and she was up at 6 AM exuberantly imploring us to take her out and then play. Bummer for us, but while we were a little sleep deprived we were sober. :-)

That morning walk wasn't very long, but this afternoon we took her for a five mile walk. She's now napping. Sigh.

Gonnachange

Killer workout at the gym today. On Mondays my workout is directed by a personal trainer and he was especially evil this morning.

Gonnachange

Took the puppy on a two mile walk. Not enough to tire her out, but enough to calm her down.

Tonight's going to be a similar night to last Monday; I'll be cooking dinner for me and my wife and while she's at the gym I'll watch some Monday Night Football. I'm looking to make it an early evening because I want to run early tomorrow morning.

SoberLeigh

Those personal trainers show no mercy.

Hope you had a nice run this morning, GC.

Gonnachange

I'm normally pretty good about pushing myself, but he will often take me further than I would on my own. Also because I have a spotter for some exercises I know I can really try to get one more repetition with risk of injury.

Thanks about the run; I ran 2.5 miles at a moderate pace. I'm now off to walk the puppy.

Thanks for stopping by.

Gonnachange

From above:

Fixed.

My asthma has been bothering me all day and for most of the afternoon I've been sneezing and coughing...a bad combo that I hope doesn't prevent me from getting a decent night's sleep.

Gonnachange

Late afternoon thoughts:

I wouldn't say I'm in a danger zone, but I'm flying a little closer to it than I care for which is leading me to think about NOT drinking which leading me to think about alcohol when I normally would not be doing so.

Right now I'm not feeling my best so my mental toughness isn't up to par, I've under eaten so I'm hungry, and I'm home alone and will be for about 45 minutes when my wife walks in the door. Shortly after that she's going to be going to the gym, something she does almost every day for about 1.5 hours. So I'll be home alone again, probably still not feeling great, but hopefully not hungry since I'm going to start cooking shortly.

My after dinner plans are to watch some sports and start planning a menu for a small dinner party, yes another one, we're hosting on Saturday, a combination of activities that in years past would have found a drink within easy reach. Now in the past uncertain amount of months I've always made the right decision and I really thought that my habitual association of doing this with a drink was finally being broken, but it's still there so I need to be vigilant.

Things in my favor are how I've acted of late when in a similar situation, my wife won't be gone very long, since I'm not feeling great I'm looking to make this a relatively early evening, and my level of commitment to not drink is high.

Enough rambling. Thanks for "listening" SR!

Della1968

Hope you feel better! I definitely have my off days too. I think it's great how you think it through. Hope you sleep well.

SoberLeigh

Sorry that you are under the weather, GC. Colds and coughs can complicate asthma, can't they?

Hot chicken soup might be soothing.

There's something about not feeling well which seems to rouse those demonic AV's probably because alcohol was our go-to solution for every ailment so there is probably something 'associative' going on in your brain.

As Della said, good job thinking it through.

Sleep well tonight.

Gonnachange

Thanks Della and SL. Surprisingly I did sleep well, something I don't often do under the best of circumstances. Also, I was able to sleep later than usual because my wife took care of the puppy. She normally does the early morning walk and then I take over, but today she let me sleep. :-)

Generally, I've found when my AV has a toe hold if I come here and write about my concerns and my plan to deal then I'm okay. It certainly doesn't hurt and things worked out last night although I didn't finish the menu as I hoped I would. No problem, I'll get it done tonight. There are only six of us, but the protein has to be limited to either fish or beef; two people barely eat carbs; one person is allergic to gluten, another one is lactose intolerant, and one is down right picky. A crazy combo, but I know each of them for over 35 years and love them all so I'm happy to figure it out (again) and I know they appreciate the effort. As an aside, we had this same group over 6-7 months ago and it was suggested to me that I use the same menu on Saturday. My unwavering response was, "I can't do that." I don't care if I come to your house and you bring in pizza every time, but I'm not going to serve anyone the same menu twice. And yes, my wife thinks I'm nuts. She may not be wrong.

I followed my plan last night, but still woke up with a cold. My plan for today is to lay low, meaning not going to the gym; hydrate; and get to bed early. Beyond the obvious reason of wanting to feel better, I have an additional imperative to clear out my respiratory system because I have one final training run of ten miles this Saturday. Truth be told, if the run doesn't happen it won't be the end of the world from a physical aspect, but psychologically when I'm pounding the payment on the 17th it will be easier on me if I knew that my final training run went well and that my lungs are clear.

Wow, that post was all over the place.