My Journey To Be

Time for some other things

Yes, it is time! Time to ride and time to get back into taking care of myself. No escaping this one. The last two years have not been kind to me. 100 percent my fault! I have to own that.

So from now on, I will posting some basic thoughts and training.

Today was an hour on the stationary bike and trying to curb my "out of control" appetite. If you believe in the power of prayer, then I would appreciate your prayers. Things have to change on my end.

Take care and have a great day!

This photo is from a trip to Florida after the hurricane there in 2022. Just a reference photo

It has been a while, has it not? A year almost has passed by since I last posted something to this site. Numerous times throughout the year I have thought about cancelling this site and saving a few dollars, but that has never happened. As I approach Christmas, I cannot help but think about my parents and in this month, my father. He passed away in December back in 2007. Fifteen years ago, the world lost a good man and I lost my best friend. Since that time I have lost a good many best friends. Keith and Tony have been gone years now. Not sure about you, but good friends are hard to find. When it comes to good men, that also is something that the world seems to be missing. That generation of guys who would sacrafice for others. I recently had a weird conversation in Cancun with a couple from England. Not sure if the man was joking or not, but he defifently believed that Americans had impossed their military might on the world over the years. Not wanting to pick to big of a fight, I did say something like, "we saved you guys" a few times. Men like my father, fought and died for the freedom of others.

My father flew in a PBY aircraft in WWII. He was drafted in High School and got a deferal so he could graduate with his class. He was sworn in and attended basic and his class to become a radio operator. Then he was assigned to the PBY. Can you imagine doing all that at 18? Why am I talking about this, sometimes life is overwhelming, but we all need to take a break and refocus. My break is over and I am ready to get back to work! Enjoy your Christmas break, see you on the flip side as they say Peace, love and a lot of Jesus!!!

IM Training Update

IM Training Update Who has been to the Normandy area in France? I was fortunate to be able to visit there in 2018. One of the most impressive sites was the scaling of the cliffs at Point du Hoc. A highly motivated group of American Army Rangers made that incredible climb under fire and captured the enemy position. Wow! Pictures do not do this cliff justice. I could not imagine doing this. The reason I bring this up, some days I feel like I am climbing an impossible cliff. That I guess is just life, but I feel that way. The last three weeks have been good. I am still to scared to get on the scale, but I have been able to tighten my belt two notches, on my way to a third hopefully this week. Workouts have been good, but I still have avoided the pool. I finished a three hour bike last week and hopefully this week I will be able to knock out a 3:30 bike. Last week I was also able to get in a long treadmill workout of 7 miles. I managed 5 yesterday without issue, so this next week I will do an 8 mile adventure. I guess if you keep knocking out things, it might not seem so hard.... We shall see Peace this beautiful day P

Weekly Wandering

Are you a day dreamer? I remember as kids that if you were accused of day dreaming you could have been thought of as a slacker or not focused. Is it just me or did society just rob us of our childhood?

Think about it, we always talk about what we wanted to do as kids. We dreamed about running on to the football field with the Cowboys or Redskins. Or joining the military, only the glamour side, sitting with head out driving a tank in Europe. Who knows.... but it was fun to dream wasn't it?

Then someone told us that dreams were no longer acceptable... All of a sudden you have to pay bills, so you get a job and the endless cycle continues...

I often look back at pictures in my phone and wish I could go back to Scotland. I dream of living there, squeaking out a living, having a humble life enjoying the beauty of the Highlands. But then reality strikes, and I will leave it there. Most people would laugh at me for suggesting that I sell everything and move. But that is how I feel.

Mumford and Sons has song called "Hopeless Wanderer", maybe that is what you should call me, a hopeless wanderer...

Well I have to stop wandering for now and get back to work. It's Saturday morning, I need to finish up a sermon for Sunday, ride a bike and do other things this day. Always something!

This week has been decent for getting back into the swing of working out. Yesterday I spent 1 1/2 hours on the treadmill, nothing great, just a steady cardio workout. Today I will hit the bike for a few hours. Food intake is my challenge, I had a pretty good week. Still have a lot of room for improvement, so we will see....

Peace and love

Happy Birthday Danny

Happy Birthday Danny!

Hope you have a great day....and an exciting 2022!

On a different note now

What transpired yesterday?

Well a decent day, again not perfect though.

Avocado toast in the morning. Spinach and grilled shrimp for lunch. A chicken sandwich with some leftover red beans for dinner.

I was also able to get a solid one hour bike ride in again.

Today I will head to the gym to get a treadmill workout in and then it is off to real world of meetings and ministry work.

Peace

Time to Ride

Time to Ride

It has been a few years since I owned my last motorcycle. A few months ago this Harley came up for sale. I have never owned an older Harley, so here was my chance.

The bike has a neat history, built by friend in Lacombe, it was the last motorcycle he built before passing away. The bike got sold immediately after his death and the new owner parked it along with his other project bikes.

I got a call a while back telling me this bike was for sale and after looking at it and negotiating on the price, we loaded it up on the trailer and brought it home. It is now at a friends shop getting some modifications done to fit me.

Hopefully it will be ready to ride soon, I am getting excited!

Speaking of it being a time to ride, yesterday was another good day on the bicycle. It was also a good day for food intake. A little hiccup for dinner, but nothing horrible. Keep refining and working!

Peace on this wonderful day

Throwback Tuesday

Good morning world!

Throwback Tuesday

It is a little scary to look at this picture. That is me with one of the ladies from our church.

The picture is about ten years old. It has been a long... I repeat long ten years, but I feel like if I do not get a grip on my life, I will be right back in that shape before long.

For me it happens rather quickly. Go on vacation, over eat a week or two every month or two and next thing you know you are at the store looking for the next size up in clothing.

The worst part is the embarrassment that you feel. Knowing where you have come from and where you are headed if you don't change. The embarrassment leads to anger and a feeling of self-hatred from letting things get out of control.

Change has to take place, or this throwback picture could be a new reality. Enough said...

On a different note, I had a nice hour and half bike ride on the trainer yesterday. Back on the back this morning for a quick ride and hopefully a stop at the gym after work today to get a walk in the treadmill.

Peace

January 10th. A New Start

Back on the rollercoaster...

It has been at least 6 months since I last posted something. I could make my usual excuses about being busy. Hurricane Ida derailed a lot around our area, but that didn't stop me from doing things. So be prepared for the next few months, I will be writing more!

So, back on what rollercoaster?

Yes, a race is on the horizon. The great question will be..... wait for it.....

Will I be ready for it...

And the answer is...

Health Update

All clear, disregard the "Police Notice". I really do not think the police care if I got the 'All clear'

All clear, that is a great topic for the day and in some ways a little troubling.

My all clear comes from a successful nuclear stress test. In the past two years I have slowly or not so slowly put on fifty pounds. Yes... I can add weight quicker than the average bear. With a race on the schedule for November, I figured it might be time to train and try to lose weight.

But first, health check up. I have not felt the greatest lately. I can not point to one thing or another, I just have not felt good lately. I seem to have a variety of aches and pains; shoulder pain, neck pain, side lateral muscle spasms, plantar fasciitis, tired feeling, the list goes on and on.

Is this just a by-product of my weight gain and the world we live in?

Your guess is as good as mine. But I figured it was time to have a doctor help eliminate some things. So a stress test was ordered. Easy for me, I am over fifty, overweight and complain about aches and pains. Safe bet, stress test...

The early results are in and I am fine. No issues as of yet.

Which leads me to wonder, what the heck is wrong with me.

I am guessing that any number of people could come up with a wide variety of answers to that open ended question. Oh, let me count the ways.... I can hear the "What's wrong with Paul" comments now. For the sake of this blog post and my life, we will leave them off for now.

So what is wrong? I wish I knew.