My Grieving Heart

A day does not pass without me thinking about my brother John. It has been slightly over two months since he passed away under the second-rate care he received at the hospital.  Suffice it to say, mistakes were made and have been documented. But that is not the point of this.

I just want to document my grief because I think it will help me with the healing process. Although, I don't believe I will ever be the same. I will forever have those images of my brother suffering in the hospital tattooed in my mind. I can hear him pleading to go home. And I remember my anger and feelings of helplessness as I tried to get nurses and caregivers to do something to help him. John's heart rate was 134 for the better part of an entire day and he had shortness of breath. I alerted the staff but they were unconcerned. Every workout I do, I am cognizant of my heart rate. Oftentimes, even after multiple hours of biking and climbing in the mountains, my average heart rate is well below 134. John was in his hospital bed for over a week. His heart rate should not have been so high.

No one seemed concerned but me. And John of course. He knew something was very wrong. In fact, in hindsight, John really seemed to know that he was very ill and truly I believe he knew he was close to death. And when the nurses put a tube down his nose in preparation for emergency surgery and he started throwing up dark red liquid as the tube simultaneously drained the red fluid at an alarming rate, his expression was one of fear but also of recognition. John knew things were bad. I will never forget that moment. He eyes said to me, "I have had enough!" He pleas to go home were one of insight. He did not want to die in the hospital. Who does? But when the fluid started spewing and his blood pressure dropped and the crash team was inefficiently summoned to his room, he was ready to give up. He had been through so much and dealt with such horrible care. He rolled his eyes and shook his head side to side as if to say, "I can't do this anymore."

I was so scared but I am also glad I was there. I was able to talk to the crash team and help them piece together his last day. I had spent all night in the room with John and I have a good memory. I knew everything that had been done or not been done. Typically in an emergency like this, family members are encouraged to leave so the nurses and doctors can quickly and efficiently share information and implement the appropriate procedures. The nurses let me do the talking. I asserted myself and grabbed the attention of the young crash team doctor. I answered his questions and the actions the team took stabilized John. He was still feeling so terrible and continued to look defeated. It was so unfair. John was kind and caring, never mean to anyone. Sure he squashed a few ants as a child but beyond that, he treated everyone with kindness and respect. John was an inspiration and did not deserve any of this.

There is more to the story and I plan to document it here. But for now, I want to talk about the sadness and grief that comes over me pretty much every day.

As I mentioned, I think of John every single day. I often get these waves of sadness that come out of nowhere. One minute I am laughing, the next I am weeping. The other day, I was in a movie theater watching Ted 2. You don't need to know much about the movie other than it is an irreverent and crass movie with juvenile jokes throughout.  In the movie, one of the main characters is in the hospital. The others ask the doctor to do something to help the injured character. The doctor says, "we have done all we can, it is up to him now." When the doctor in the movie uttered this cliche I was suddenly reminded of John's last day in the hospital and I burst out in tears. I thought, "Damn doctors! They don't seem very helpful!" I tried to conceal it as well as I could. I did not want the other patrons to think I was weeping over the story line. It did not take me long to stifle my tears, take a deep breath, and calm down. Of all places to feel the grief and sadness, sitting in Ted 2 was the last place I would have thought I would suddenly feel that way.

There are some other examples and I plan to share them in the future. Poor John. He did not deserve the poor treatment he got. He did not deserve to die the way he did. It is just not right. I love you John and I miss you so much!



 

My Brother John

Thank you all for coming today to celebrate and remember my dear beloved brother John. Today I would like us to remember John, share some stories about him and of course-say good by to him.

John Rosen was a real jerk, said no one ever in the universe. On the contrary, John was the exact opposite. You can just look around the church here today and see so many people who were touched by John's life.

It is safe to say that all of you knew my brother in one way or another. For some of you he was a coworker. He was the coworker who was reliable and always polite and smiling. For some of you he was a former classmate who always had a sunny disposition and a positive attitude. For many of you here today he was a part of your church family. He was the guy who was always smiling, always positive. For the rest of you he was a good friend. Someone that again, was always smiling, always polite, always asking about your well being or the well being of your family. Some of the words that have been used to describe John are "brave", "courageous", "kind soul", "positive attitude", "gentle soul", "understanding person", "inspirational", "empathetic." Truly John was all of these things.

John was a brother, an uncle, a cousin, a nephew, a good friend, and of course a loving son to a wonderful mother and father. Today, I would like to talk more about John and tell you some things you might not have known about John and share some of his stories.

John was born with Spina Bifida which is a birth defect that affects the growth and development of the spine in an unborn baby. When I was a kid, Spina Bifida was a big word so our parents used these words to describe it. We always said, John was born with an "open spine." If you want to learn more about it, I invite you to google it or check out the brochures available.   Nowadays Spina Bifida can be detected in a developing fetus and surgery can be performed in utero to correct the problem. For John, that technology did not exist and for people of John's cohort who were born with an open spine, they were most often confined to a life of limited mobility with not as many life opportunities as the rest of us.

However, in John's case he was fortunate to have a brilliant young neurosurgeon and a genius mad scientist of a doctor at Children's hospital in Washington DC. He was also fortunate to have super supportive parents. My mom and dad went the extra mile to provide John with the best care possible. My mom and dad's unconditional love along with my dad's engineering brain helped contribute to John's rich life. In the beginning of John's life though he had to face a number of challenges, and the solution was often surgery.

Dr. Milorat was technically not even on the staff at Children's hospital when he performed his first surgery there. John was his first patient. Dr. Milorat had been repairing spines in New York and was well known for being a superb neurosurgeon. Dr. Milorat thought that John would be able to walk which was certainly not true of many people born with an open spine. John had only been alive for 4 hours when he had his first surgery to close up his spine. Later at one month of age, John had a plastic tube, a shunt, put into his body that drained cerebral spinal fluid from the brain down into his stomach.

Dr. McKay was performing revolutionary surgery to repair, correct, and rebuild children. I can imagine the conversations he must have had with other doctors. "Well, why don't we fuse those bones together so he can stand on that leg?" "Why don't we take out that bone, twist it around, and bolt it back together with metal pins? We can put a cast on it until it heals in the correct position." "How about if we take out that muscle from his stomach and put it in his leg?" "How about we cram titanium rods into his back?" These are all things that John had done mostly at a very early age.

In fact, by the age of 12, John had had 24 surgeries. For those of you who might be arithmetically challenged, that's two surgeries a year on average. And these were not simple surgeries. This was not an ACL repair. No, these involved open heart surgery, brain surgery, and other complicated procedures.

The reason these surgeries were revolutionary is they allowed John mobility. They allowed him to walk. And after lots of physical therapy at the old Children's Hospital in Washington, DC, John did exactly that. He walked. He had braces on his legs and used two small half size crutches but he walked. My father who took many many photos in his lifetime documented it with his camera and wrote on the back of the photo, "John walks."

If you have not had a chance to see the photo, I invite you to take a look at it. John has his signature smile.

Through the years, I took many trips with John to Children's hospital for follow up visits. My mom would drive us through DC using her crazy back road routes. We snaked our way through the city with limited number of left turns. We would pull up to the hospital and an old guy there would say, "Hi Mrs. Rosen". And then we would get out and he would go park the car. It was not valet parking. There was just limited parking and this old guy would somehow magically squeeze everyone's car into tiny parking spaces. We took many trips to that hospital and many more to the new Children's Hospital in another location in Washington DC.  You might be tempted to say, it was a way of life. But it wasn't. It was part of our life but it did not define us. Our close relationships with each other, our adventures together, our family, was central to our lives growing up and John was a big part of it.

I remember elementary school vividly. When it was lunch time, I got out of class a little early so I could go get John and take him to lunch. I would go to his classroom and put him in a little red wagon and wheel him to lunch. We would eat together and then I would take him outside for recess where I would drive him around the playground. I was proud to be able to help my brother get around and it truly was the highlight of my day.

I remember one day when I was in sixth grade. It was recess and John was a little older and walking around doing things on his own. He walked up to me and my friend. Now John would want to make sure I mentioned who this friend was exactly. It was Jeff Rogers. John walked up and said he did not feel well. He knew something was terribly wrong. John about collapsed into my arms. Jeff and I rushed him to the nurses office. He was turning blue. It was very scary for John and for me. Ultimately, this was one of those occasions where John would have to have emergency surgery to fix a complication with his shunt. In this case, he had an infection where the shunt terminated in his heart. John pulled through this surgery with flying colors as he always did and continued being the positive inspiration to all of us. Life went on as usual.

I can remember spending time in John's room with him playing various games that children play. One very strong memory I have is the two of us listening to a Beatles album and playing air guitar and air drums. We would use tennis rackets as guitars. We would play through the entire greatest hits, singing along and rocking out. It was one of the many childhood memories I have of John and I - doing things together.

I remember eating grilled cheese sandwiches together after school while we watched Batman, Johnny Socko and Ultraman. It was part of our brotherly bonding. As an adult, John and Tom had similar bonding experiences watching one of John's favorite sitcoms, Everybody Loves Ramon.

As John got older and stronger, he was able to do lots of things that kids without disabilities do. John participated in games of 123 which was sort of like Kick the Can. We tossed the football around, we kicked the soccer ball around. Sometimes the neighborhood kids would gather and play baseball in the street in front of our house. We used a whiffle ball bat and a tennis ball. We got better action with the tennis ball. John would stand at home plate with one crutch supporting himself and the bat in the other hand. He got really good at the one handed whack and was able to hit the ball and get to first base.

John did a lot of the things that kids do. In fact, there is one story that is particularly telling in regards to John being a mainstream guy. At one point in John's childhood, after many summer nights of playing outside with his family and friends, he developed a pain in his leg. So of course my Mom took him back to Children's hospital to see Dr. McKay. Dr. McKay determined that John had a stress fracture in his tibia. And Dr. McKay literally did a happy dance around the office. That might seem and odd thing. But Dr. McKay realized that a stress fracture in the tibia from playing too much whiffle ball, and 123, and kicking the soccer ball around was not something someone born with an open spine typically encounters. John was active and was putting all of Dr. McKay's operations to the test. Dr. McKay was so happy that John was leading an active life.

And John continued this active life. My dad and John would play pool nearly every night. John always had a bike of some sorts. From the Hot Wheels plastic bike he had as young child to the custom imported Bob Jackson racing trike, John liked to get out and ride. Him and my dad rode often. And I remember one long ride we all took together many years ago. John rode his trike along with the rest of us from his house on Jackson Parkway all the way to Washington DC on the bike path. I figure that it is about a 15 mile ride. He rode the whole way under his own power. It was a pretty epic trip for him and probably the farthest he ever went in one shot.

Not only did John like participating in sports, but he loved to watch sports in person and on TV. He came to our soccer games. He watched Tom play, Erik, me, Melissa, Becky, and Emma. He was one of our best supporters. I remember when one of my coaches, Ernie Smith, asked John to be the honorary captain of my soccer team. Before each game at the coin toss, John would go out to the center circle in his uniform and call the coin toss. I was so proud of John, my little brother. I could not tell you much about those years playing soccer but I do remember John walking out on the field every weekend.

In addition to being our best supporter, he also like watching DC United, The Washington Capitals, and the Washington Redskins. He knew all the players names and their numbers. He even knew how to pronounce the names of all the hockey players-something that I could never do. John was great with names in general. I think he got that from my mom. He remembered names of professional athletes, actors, and most importantly friends and family. He had an uncanny ability to remember names and telephone numbers as well. I can still see my dad smiling and shaking his head in gentle surprise as John would recall from memory someone's phone number or address. Perhaps that skill served him well in his job at Navy Federal Credit Union where he worked for 25 years.

Sometimes going places with John was interesting. With all the hardware in John's body, he really gave the TSA problems. He would always set off the metal detectors at the airport. And then he would politely put his crutch in front of him and lean on it with his stomach and put his hands to his side while they scanned him with the wand. This was not easy for him but he did not complain. He simply did as he was told by the TSA and then when about his business. It was really no big deal to him.

Despite John's disability and all the challenges he faced, he was always positive and quick to smile. He was always concerned for other people beyond himself. John's day started like all of ours with him getting out of bed. This was not something that was super easy for him but he did it every day. It took effort. He got out of bed, he took a shower, he put on his socks and shoes and clothes. Something that we all take for granted. It was a struggle for him every day of his entire life but he did it and he didn't complain about it. He just did it. He showed up for life every day, always with a smile. Positive, loving, caring, John was an inspiration to me and many others. When I get down about this or that or I am struggling with something, I always think of John. He would soldier through any challenge head on. Often he did not have the option. He endured much physical pain throughout his life. But he always fought through it.

I can remember asking him once while he was in one of his multitude of casts, "does it hurt?" John gently nodded his head and said, "Yeah, but it will go away eventually." I ask you to remember John as the the inspirational person he was. When you are having a bad day or facing a challenge, remember John and how he faced all his challenges head on with a great attitude and a happy smile. John is really a role model for all of us. He cared about people and was always polite to strangers. Even when he was suffering in the hospital towards the end of his life, he always said thank you and please to his caregivers. When he did not have the strength to sip water out of a straw, I dripped the water into his mouth. He would always say, "thank you." And I always said "your welcome brother, I love you." And he told me that he loved me too. We will all miss John immensely. But his spirit will always be with us.

As some of you know, I train and compete in long distance triathlon. When I am struggling through the last few miles of a long day of swimming, biking and running, I will always have a leg up on my competitors. I will have John in my heart. His strength, his courage, his gratitude and positive attitude will always be with me. And at the end of the day, together we are unstoppable.

Please be thankful for all the many blessing you have in life. John was always thankful. We will never forget you brother. We love you and we miss you. May you rest in peace.

Spring Has Sprung!

March is here and with it comes more sunlight, warmer weather, and of course that means the first races of the season are just around the corner! I managed to make it through winter without missing any workouts due to the snow. I was forced inside to the treadmill a few times but for the most part, the snow delays and early dismissals allowed me more time for training.

I did end up with lots of long trainer rides because of the weather. But honestly, I like putting in the work and improving. Riding indoors on the trainer can be a great way to improve if you follow a specific plan and don't dilly dally. My coach always gives me specific, focused workouts and I always do my best to hit my power numbers. There are no stop signs, down hills, or drafting indoors. You either put up the watts or you don't. And in the end, it ends up being less time consuming than meeting up for group rides, etc. And with a properly designed training plan, focused indoor training with a power meter can really boost performance much more quickly then simply slogging it on out on the trainer without any performance goals. 

However, there is really nothing like getting outside for a long ride. On this past Sunday, I got the chance to ride with a friend for 3 hours in shorts and short sleeve jersey. It was such a breath of fresh air after all the cold weather and snow we had the last couple of weeks. There is really nothing like being out on your bike, taking in the sites, sounds, and smells of the countryside. And for this particular ride, there was no slacking either. My friend is quite a bit stronger than me so mostly I was just trying to keep up. Overall it was a really great training stimulus and my power numbers backed up my perceived effort. 

Speaking of sounds, during the ride I heard the sounds of newly hatched frogs chirping away. It reminded me that spring is a time of birth and new beginnings. What better time than now to share with you Powertap.com's new announcement. Something exciting is coming!

Why I Train with Power

 

Many of my triathlon and cycling friends know all about power meters. But some don't. I decided to write a quick post about the pros of training and racing with a power meter for those people who have not looked into it or who may have never considered it. Much has already been written on the subject so rather than go into lengthy explanations, I will provide a few links to some of the articles written about power meters as well as my own personal take on it.

First, we need to define what a power meter is. Here is a snippet from Wikipedia about cycling power meters:

"A cycling power meter is a device on a bicycle that measures the power output of the rider. Most cycling power meters use strain gauges to measure torque applied, and when combined with angular velocity, calculate power." -(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycling_power_meter).

Using a power meter, a cyclist can get instant feedback by way of a handlebar mounted computer. The computer can display exactly how much power a cyclist is producing at any given moment as well as provide an average over time. Unlike speed, power is not affected by hills, wind, terrain, or other environmental factors. For instance, lets take a hypothetical situation. None of these numbers are real world numbers. I am just making them up to try to get my point across.

Let's say that my training has lead me to be able to bike at 200 watts steady for 1 hour before I am too tired to continue. Let's say that I go for that one hour ride on a Sunday and push 200 watts the whole time. After the one hour is up, I find that my average speed was 20 MPH. The following Sunday, I go for the same ride and I again push 200 watts for an hour. But this time, it is very windy and after I am done with the hour, I find that I have not traveled as far and my average speed was 16 MPH. In this example, I was putting out the exact same effort on both days but my speed was affected by environmental factors. In cases like this, average speed does not truly measure the amount of effort being exerted. However, watts are watts. No matter what the environmental conditions, my work rate can be measured accurately regardless of wind, road conditions, hills, etc. 

So why is this important? In the context of racing, pacing is racing. When we race, we want to be able to put out the maximal sustainable effort. If we go too hard at the beginning, we will bonk and slow down towards the end and our results will suffer. If we go too easy, we may end the race with excess energy that could have been used to go faster. An athlete who is experienced and intimate with his or her capabilities will be able to measure out the proper amount of effort throughout a race. Using a power meter can quantify effort accurately independent of environmental factors.

Perhaps equally or maybe even more important, the power meter is an crucial part of training. Training with a power meter can sling shot an athlete's performance on the bike. Using power zones to create a specific training regimen will shorten the amount of time needed to see performance gains. Again, a lot has been written on this subject and I am not here to explain it all. In fact, I am very fortunate to have a coach who knows it all. My coach gives me very specific workouts all based on power. And when I am done, I can upload my power file for him to analyze. He can then use this data to inform my training plan and measure performance gains. Together with my heart rate data, my coach can use scientific principals to design workouts that will give me the optimal training stressor which will lead to performance gains.

Before I provide you with links to the experts, let me just tell you that my experience with my PowerTap G3 power meter has been amazing. Using the PowerTap is easy and there are just a few things to learn about it. It is really a no brainer. I have gotten so much faster and stronger over the last 10 months by using power data to guide my workouts. Granted, you have to put in the work. But if you follow a well crafted training plan based on a valid power test, improvements will happen and they will happen fast.

Not only will you get faster but training with power can be fun too. Functional Threshold Power or FTP is a key measurement that is used to create your zones. It has been fun to watch my FTP climb throughout the last year. And it can be even more fun to calculate my watts per kilogram which is a precise measure of pure cycling ability and can be used to compare oneself to other athletes. When I did my first power test on April 1st, 2014, my FTP was 190. After a solid 10 months of training, my FTP is now up to 220. Of course there is a limit to how high I can build but I am a long way from reaching that ceiling and I know that with more training under the expert guidance of Dave Luscan at DLMultisports, I will continue to get stronger and faster.

So why do I use a power meter? Well, it is an excellent tool to get faster on the bike more quickly than I could without the power meter. It also introduces some fun metrics to track. If I want to podium in my age group, I need to get faster. Using a power meter, I will get there faster than without one.

And now, as promised, here are some links to the experts who know more than me and who write better than I do. If you want to learn more, check them out. And check out powertap.com if you are interested in stepping up your game.

http://www.powertap.com/pages/science-of-power

http://www.peakscoachinggroup.com/Articles.aspx

http://home.trainingpeaks.com/blog/article/how-to-interpret-power-data-and-what-to-do-with-it

http://www.joefrielsblog.com/2012/01/why-you-need-a-power-meter.html

And of course, you can just google for more information if you want to read more. Thanks for reading. Comments always appreciated.

PowerTap Grassroots Athlete

It's a new year with new challenges and opportunities. This year, I decided to apply to be a PowerTap grassroots athlete. Instead of reinventing the wheel, here is an explanation about what that is from PowerTap.com.

"PowerTap is proud to support and sponsor athletes at all levels of Cycling and Triathlon disciplines. Our goal is to support the exceptional athletes who support our brand through racing and training using our products. Our grassroots level sponsorship allows athletes access to discounted product to help them pursue their competitive goals."

Applying to be a sponsored athlete simply required submitting a one minute video. It was hard to keep it to one minute. After running through it a couple of times in front of the computer, I felt like I was getting nowhere. I came across as stiff and it looked like I was reading the text I had written for the video. It was also hard to cram in all the necessary required information and still sound vaguely interesting. Finally, Melissa offered to use my phone to make the video. I scrapped my script and wrote out bullet points. We did one take and it was good enough. Here is the video below.



And you know what? It worked! I have been accepted in the PowerTap Grassroots Athletes program. What does this mean for me exactly? Well, it simply means I will be promoting PowerTap and PowerTap products as I train and race in triathlons and other events. I have agreed to forward promotions, sales, new product announcements, etc to my friends and to represent PowerTap at events. It is going to be fun. In return, PowerTap will give me up to 25 percent off of items in their online store. That is a huge discount considering the products they sell are not cheap. I happen to be in the market for new trainer so I will be able to put the discount to use sooner than later. Mostly though, I think I will have fun using social media to promote the PowerTap brand. It will be a learning experience and will be one more training tool for me. Getting excited about promotions, products, and events will inject additional fun into my training and racing schedule. Plus I can represent Richmond, the Richmond Triathlon Community and DLMultisports.

I will be attempting to blog more as that is part of the deal. So you might see some shorter but more frequent blog posts from me. I appreciate you reading and if you want to learn more about PowerTap or CycleOps, please check out their websites and see what they have to offer. In my next installment, I will describe how my PowerTap G3 power meter has helped me train smart and get faster and stronger in a short amount of time. Thanks for reading. As always, comments are appreciated.

Really Ironman.com?

Ironman.com publishes a lot of articles about training and racing triathlons. Everything from how to choose the proper gear, what races one might be suited for, what to eat and drink while training and racing, how to pick a coach, how much swimming one should do, etc., etc. There are other publications that write about the topic too. I see multiple articles every day being published on various websites that go into some detail about training blocks, nutrition, what's more aero, etc.

Earlier today, I saw this article about whether or not an individual should seek out a coach or simply coach themselves. The original article is here:

http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/news/articles/2015/01/can-you-go-the-self-coached-route.aspx#axzz3NrrgLBkU

After going through the pros and cons of being self coached, the article ends with this statement, "Self-coaching should be an option for almost all triathletes. Our sport is not terribly technical—we’re just swimming, biking and running—the three things we’ve done since we were five years old!"

Really? It's that simple? Maybe it should read, ""Self-coaching should be an option for almost all triathletes who don't want to improve." It seems almost irresponsible to make such a bold and general statement. What are all those coaches for that are constantly referenced in all the other articles? Are they chopped liver?  How can Ironman.com constantly quote professional coaches and then in one article basically say that the sport is so simple, you don't need them?  The article did not come right out and say that no one needs a coach and gave discussion points about various resources that coaches provide and to think about whether that is something one might require. And they did use the word option. But ending the article with such a bold statement seems to suggest the author believes that coaches are not necessary for the common triathlete. At least that is the impression I got when I read it. 

Sure when it comes down to it, we are doing lots of swimming, lots of biking, and lots of running. Well, duh. But there is much more to it than that. Personally my coach is more than simply someone who manages my time for me. Don't get me wrong, this is a huge thing and I am lucky to have someone who knows how to structure my week, month, and year so I can get the most benefit from my workouts and races. And as far as accountability goes, my coach is good for that too. I want to turn my Training Peaks boxes green and I look forward to his feedback on those workouts. And does my coach motivate me? He sure does. But beyond all that, my coach really knows the sport inside and out. He knows what it takes for athletes to improve and race well.

Maybe not everyone wants to improve. Maybe some people just want a good healthy sport to help them with overall fitness. Plus there is certainly a social aspect to training and racing. Maybe for some people the social engagement is more important. I like those benefits for sure and for me, it is a healthy hobby. More than that though, it is fun. But what makes it fun is putting in all the work to improve, training hard and then on race day, executing the perfect race strategy that allows me to beat as many other competitors as possible. They do call it a race for a reason. And then doing it all again and trying to improve and beat more people the next time around.

As children we were often told that "it's not whether you when or lose, it's how you play the game." After playing soccer all throughout childhood and most of my adult life, I learned that that statement is only partially true. Fair play and honesty are no doubt the cornerstones of any competition. And while it is not really all that fun to beat a bunch of 5 year olds in soccer, it is a lot more fun to win when competing with people who are similar in skill and experience, drive and desire. Wining is fun.

The other day I had a bike trainer workout called "Anaerobic Sandwich". This was a challenging workout for sure. But my coach set me up to succeed. I am one hundred percent certain that not only was this workout challenging but since I was able to complete the workout as prescribed, I got the perfect stress on my body to help me improve as a cyclist. That's why I do it right? Sure I was queasy afterwards and slightly dizzy and the thought of eating made me a little pukey. But that is part of the fun. My coach knows what to throw at me that challenges me but does not set me up for failure. And we are not simply toughing out these workouts just so we can get through the workout. The end goal is to beat other triathletes to the finish line. No, I am not going to win. Not yet anyway. But I am going to perform better and chase down the competitors in front of me. Someday, I may win my age group. In fact, that is my goal. Thankfully I have a coach who knows how to motivate me and make me a better athlete all around. He does that with knowledge, science, experience, personality, and even humor.

Funny how one article on the Internet can drive me to babble on a bit. Thanks for reading.

Reflections on 2014

The celebrations and parties are over and many best wishes for the new year have been wished upon friends and family. Blogs have been written, Facebook and twitter updates have been posted. And now, I would like to add to the digital record. There is much to be said but I have challenged myself to be as brief as possible. So here goes my wrap-up of 2014 and my thoughts on the upcoming year.

A lot happened in my neck of the woods this year. Of course a lot happened to everyone all over the world. While I reflect on all these things, I have to remember how lucky I am despite the challenges I faced. Not once did I have to worry about my next meal. Not once did I wonder where I would be sleeping. Not once did I have to flee my home because of war and barbarism. Not once did I not feel loved and appreciated. There are millions in the world who are not so lucky. 2014 had challenges but in comparison to many, they were really not that big a deal even if they seemed to affect me greatly.

In 2014 I quit my job and started a new one. Also, Melissa and I decided we were tired of dealing with a big house and big yard and devised a plan to downsize. That meant cleaning up our big house and putting it on the market and finding a new place to live. Once we made that decision, we moved like lightning to execute our plan. With the help of our excellent Realtor, and because of Melissa's keen mind and sensibilities, and a great deal of elbow grease from our most generous friends,  we were able to move out of our big house and into an 8th floor condo in the city of Richmond rather quickly. And we love it!

Also in 2014, my dear old dad passed away. I have written a few times in this blog about my dad. I miss him a great deal. But I have missed him for several years. Dementia took my dad away from me little by little through the years. As his disease progressed, and he could no longer do all those things he loved to do, my sadness grew. Fortunately, my dad never got violent or went missing. He was gentle as always. But in the end, he could no longer do the things he used to be able to do including eat. Truly he was a skeleton when he finally gave up his last breath. And were it not for morphine, his pain would have been hard to bear. Like I said, I miss my dad and there are many things that remind me of him and make me smile or cry. When this happens, I let the emotions wash over me and let the sadness fill me. Thankfully, I have many pictures of him that help me remember his greatness and make me smile.  Here are just a few. Big shout out to my brother Erik for going through all the old photos and scanning them. It's a big job that everyone always talks about doing but Erik gets things done.

So in 2014 I got a new triathlon coach, started a new job, bought and sold a house, lost a close loved one, and completed several 5ks, a 10K,  a 15K, and 7 triathlons including Ironman Chattanooga which I finished in 11:45. Not bad at all. Busy, stressful but successful. Thankfully, I have Melissa as my number one supporter. I could not have gone through all of these events without her by my side, offering advice, always encouraging, always supporting, always chipping in to help, always available for hugs. Sharing all of the difficulties, stresses, and accomplishments with her is really a blessing. I am one of the luckiest people I know when you think about it. Thank you Melissa for always being there for me and with me as we make our way through our lives together.

What is in store for 2015? So far, I have decided on the events listed below. Likely there will be a few more running events thrown in for good measure. My goals are to get faster, PR or course, and come closer to the podium. Also, I am hoping to step up into the world of time trial bikes which will assist me with these goals. I started out the new year with a 5K time trial on the track and set a new PR of 19:11. Thanks to my coach Dave Luscan and thanks to the  Dalton team for their pacing and encouragement.

I have a few non-triathlon/fitness goals too. While my diet is pretty decent, I would like to improve it. More homemade juices, more vegetables, less toxins.  I think this year I would like to increase my charitable giving as well as my own investments. My dad did so much for the less fortunate. I would like to model some of that behavior.

2015 Events

April 11th-Crossover Ministries 15K
April 18th-Smithfield Sprint Triathlon
April 25th-RTC Sprint Triathlon
May 31st-Raleigh 70.3
June 27th-Blood Sweat and Gears Century
July 18th-Snake Bite Century
October 11th-Ironman Louisville

Happy New Year Bitches!