Running in Greece

You know, you'd think that would be a runners dream right? The home of the original marathon and the Olympics. Amazing right? Uhhhhhh, not so much. I had a chance to spend the last week there because of work and let me tell you something - I do not enjoy running in a garbage and stench infested town. The garbage in the streets was ridiculous and it was literally piled as high as two adults. The stench was almost over powering. I ended up spending way to much time on a treadmill when I was in Athens. Bottom line, it was extremely disappointing for me. I still plan on running the Athens marathon before I leave Europe, but at least now I know what I'm in for!

Stupid body

The older I get the longer it takes to recover from stupidity. Yeah, its true. During my Thursday run, about 1/2 mile from the end, I pulled my left calve muscle, but instead of stopping like I'd tell everyone else to do I just "sucked it up" and finish. Moral of this story...no long run today....maybe none tomorrow as well, which puts me 7 miles under what I needed for the week. Second lesson, always...ALWAYS listen to your body stupid.

Life seasons...

So, I've always said that you will make time for what you believe is important in your life. That being said, I think what is important to "you" changes depending on the season of life you find yourself in. For me, this is a tough season when it comes to training. California was great because my only "job", as it were, was do attend grad school classes. So, I was home during the day alot and was free to train at night for two straight years. Unfortunately that has changed coming back to work. I know it probably sounds like whining...which it probably is...but I'm having a tough time striking a balance between work and play. Chelle and I have talked about it several times over the last four months. On a normal day I'm not leaving my office before 6:30 or 7pm at night (every night) and, when I do get a chance to make training, I'm not home until 9pm after two of my three kids are in bed. So, I'm up at 5:30am (for PT) and out the door with only about 10 minutes of face time with my kids and then I return after they are sleeping.

This problem weighs heavily on me. I LOVE jiu jitsu. I love time on the mat, I love learning and coaching....but I hate seeing my kids only on the weekends when I live in the same house with them. So, like I said in the beginning you've got to make time for whats important in your life. Right now, for me, its my family. I have to step away from jits for a little bit and get the rest of this under control, spend some quality time with my replicated DNA and enjoy my life instead of feeling guilty about family, jits and training all the time.

Phew...man that feels better. I'm still training for the Rome 35K and Milan full marathon races. I still go to the gym over lunch (instead stuffing my face at BK) to get strength training every week, but for now, my nights are devoted to my family. If that makes me a bad jits guy then so be it. When I'm an old (my kids would say 'older') man I'm not going to wish for more time on the mat, I will have wished for more time with my family. Until work (which is an unfortunate 'must do' until I retire) calms down, I am laying down my gi and belt for something much more important.

So I enter another season...