Off track

Certainly, I have come of the rails in pursuit of my goals here.  I completed a marathon with my younger brother last month, but will need to revise my plan, as so often seems to happen with these endeavors.  There are things in life more important than this, and those things will always come first for me.  Nevertheless, this goal will be attained!

I am at the end of a week off work.  I was able to complete some exercise goals and spend some quality time with my girls.  I managed to get the first sunburn I have had in a decade.

Nikeplus.com is a great resource for anyone looking to make jogging more interesting.  I have never had much success distance running on a treadmill because I become bored, even in the 'cardio cinema' at the gym.  Nikeplus provides serious breakdowns of runs, routes, times and calories burned.

Jenna and I moved way out into the country and I found a nice 4.5 mile run.  If you search my name on nikeplus you can see the actual route I will be running when I am not traveling.  It includes a small mountain that makes me feel like Rocky Balboa climbing the stairs of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

It's not K2 or Everest, but I only made it halfway up before I was forced to begin walking.  At the top the view offered a look over a neighborhood, across some farmland and out to the nearest lake and Rocky mountains.  

At the top I drank the rest of my water (I run with a Nathan 4 bottle running belt) and had to slog 2.3 miles back home with a fierce thirst...lesson learned.  This run was the longest i've done since I ran a marathon last year.  I completed this course in 52 minutes and i'm going to make it a regular so I can see how much I can cut the time.

Two of my favorite activities (among eating fine meats and watching baseball) are family time and exercise time.  My ever evolving philosophy on getting by teaches me that enough of both is prerequisite for a successful life.  Combining family time and exercise can be challenging, but my family and I have had some reasonable success in exercising together.

The first time I ran a half marathon (2009 Top of Utah 1/2) I completed it with my brother Zach and his wife Marilyn and my sister Courtney.  Zach ran with me during my first marathon (Utah Fittest State Marathon 2012) and I will be joining him for the Top of Utah marathon as he pushes his toddler Claire in her stroller!

Zach writes a blog and devotes a YouTube channel to his endeavors in exercise and adventure that is worth a look:  http://www.youtube.com/user/1MonthChallenge and http://www.youtube.com/user/ZachAttackDuty

Today I enjoyed a day off work by jogging with Brooklynn around our new neighborhood.  Pushing a stroller makes jogging miserable.  Keeping one hand on the stroller ruins your stride and you expend much more energy.  I bowed out after 2 miles and finished out my routine with a fake "1000 calorie work out" that I saw on Pinterest recently.  Yes I have an account...it's a resource.  There's no way I actually burned 1000 calories and I have found that most exercise advice online has no factual or scientific basis for the claims that are made.

When Jenna got up (I try to let her sleep in on my days off...being pregnant does not look easy) we ran a number of errands and then took Brooklynn to a farm.  We enjoyed a hay ride, Brooklynn abused a pony, and we observed a peacock fighting a turkey.

After B's nap we walked down to our neighborhood park and met some of our neighbors.  Our subdivision is newer,  which lends to the budding family dynamic and we met a big dog who had a couple with him who had a couple kids that Brooklynn teamed up with.  After Brooklynn attempted the monkey bars a hundred times and dumped out a bottle of bubbles we bought for memorial day we headed home, spent some time on the backyard trampoline, and retired.  Brooklynn threw a shut out today in respect to potty training.  The process is almost complete...yessssssss.

I didn't do any hard training today.  I didn't count my calories.  I ate at a drive through, drank Dr. Pepper...not even diet.  Sometimes there are better places to focus our energy.

Jenna and I just ordered a pizza from a local place and we have a movie on the DVR.  All is right today.

Recording your goals helps you accomplish them. "WRITE IT DOWN"...an easy concept to understand.  Another thing we can do is allow others to hold us accountable for making your own dreams a reality.  My wife Jenna and I are still learning the fine craft of motivating one another.  It's a delicate task to motivate your loved ones without causing them to feel that you are disappointed in them or that you are criticizing.  We talk about this all the tim and will master the art in the eternities.

In my early twenties I realized that I wasn't going to live forever.  I tore my anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and underwent surgery to replace it with a bit of my hamstring.  In the 4 years i've been married I have gained almost 30 pounds.  I'm of average health...i'm average in a lot of respects.  I'm ok with that.

There's a spirit in all of us that wants to do extraordinary things.  During my knee surgery -in physical therapy, I decided that I would complete an Ironman before turning 30.  Im 29.  This blog is my way of allowing everyone who reads it to hold me accountable for accomplishing my goals, and not just the Ironman.  I have goals for my family, career, personal development and spirituality.

I also recognize the resource this forum could be for my family.  It can be a record of my life, and the lives of my loved ones.  My dad advocates journaling at every turn, and his personal journals represent our family's most valued treasure.  I hope to commit to this outlet in the same way I hope to commit to my goals.  Everyone is welcome and I hope I have something to offer anyone with an interest in tuning in!