Start Me Up!

I will be celebrating the start of 2009 with a 10K fun run, back and biceps workout, plus abs class. 

=)  Enjoy the new year!

 EDIT: 11K fun run (6.4miles): 56 minutes 43 seconds.  That sucked.  It was cold and I’m out of shape . 

EDIT #2:  Abs class was better.  Holy crap I’m outta shape.

Holy freaking cow I got destroyed at Abs class last night.  I started late and finished early only about 25 minutes (a 45 min class).  I am out of shape.  I thought I was in bad shape when I was going but at least I did the full 45 minutes about 4 different sessions.  I quit going during football "season" and that was a big mistake.  Just gotta keep on going. Damn! 

So far I’ve got four main stops for next summer.

1. Fort Riley KS (Army friends)
2. FLW, Missouri (more Army friends)
3. Toledo, Ohio (big lift!)
4. Philly

After Philly I’m headed south. 

A lot of people say "Quitter’s Never Win" and "Nobody Likes a Quitter".  That may be true.   But quitting can be good.  I quit and I won.  Here’s how.

I quit smoking two years ago.  I win.

I quit dipping months ago.  I win.

I quit putting alcohol into my system.  I win.

I quit sweets and sugary things.  I win.

I quit making excuses for myself.  I win.

I quit listening to other people’s excuses.  I win.

I quit selling myself short.  I win.

Do something bold for yourself.  Be a quitter, and WIN!

Knocked one team to the loser’s bracket, went there ourselves, knocked a team out of contention and then lost two night ago.  Tough game. Got a reception and a sweet 2 pt conversion.  Shoulder feels a lot better.

Back to the gym.  My home away from home.  And yes, I will be lifting on Christmas day

Why?  Because I CAN!

I separated my shoulder last night playing football.  Same one I separated four years ago around this time.  yuck.

We’ll see how it feels throughout the day.  Range of motion is limited.

Somehow, by the weird magic of numbers and whatever-logic-the-commissioner-uses, my team is in the local football playoffs.  Looking at the bracket, we have to win 8 games in 8 days (okay, not exact but just as ridiculous) in order to see the championship.

SWEET! Let’s get to it!

9 miles should feel great tomorrow morning after a night on the mudfield.  Comfy memory foam mattress thing, be good to me tonight…..

is over.  Didn’t make the playoffs.  Played hard though. 

Back to the gym and running =)

So I’m beginning to discern the lessons learned from my second deployment overseas.  Learned a big one last night.

We got trounced in football last night.  Absolutely embarassing.  Mercy rule in the last two minutes was the icing on a very dis-tasteful cake.  We can do better than this.  We can win.  We are capable of beating every team we face.  And yet we lose.  We continue to lose.  These are my thoughts as I ran back to my room at game’s end.

"I hate losing.  I can’t stand it.  I can stand failure.  I’ve stomached plenty of other failures, many of them needlessly and of my own doing.  Failure is when you’ve done your best and you just can’t pull it off.  Sometimes your best doesn’t happen until you get your life stuck in a whirlpool.  That’s where I went wrong at some points in my life.  Losing is just giving up, taking a knee, and getting knocked around until someone calls the fight and ends your misery.  I cannot swallow the bitter pill of defeat when I know we’re capable of winning.  It’s painful.  I can’t believe I feel this way over something as insignificant as a flag football tournament but I do.  Why the heck am I going out there at nights, giving up an hour of my time if only to be thoroughly and needlessly beaten?  Why the heck do we keep allowing ourselves to lose when we can WIN?  Why aren’t we just doing our best and fighting to win the championship?"

Of course the reality of my life hit me as a swatter smacks down a buzzing fly.  "’You fool!  That’s you!  That’s your life right now!  Why are you just going through the motions?  Why aren’t you striving to be your best?  You are capable of anything.  You have goals!  You have dreams!  You have tough challenges ahead!  You’re not setting yourself up to fail, you’re setting yourself up to LOSE!  Change the way you do things.  Be all that you can be.  You are capable of anything.  Fix it!  Quit being just good enough and DO YOUR BEST"  All this from going through three tough losses in a flag football tournament.  Methinks the Lord has a message…

Got up and ran 9 miles this morning.  Just because I can.  What are the small and seemingly routine or insignificant events in your life trying to tell you about your reality?

Lost our football game by one point 8-7.  Opposing team got a safet in the last minute of play.  What a smash mout hard nosed hard fought game.  I was ticked because I got burnt in the first half which resulted in their 6 points.  Oh well. just means more energy for the lift tonight.