Teaching a value lesson

Well 'Sophie' the pigeon has died after 4 days of excellent care and comfort. Kinda saw that coming. He had a very large box to walk in with views of the sky, top notch bird food, dry paper under his feet and clean water to drink. Mighty Mo took his job very seriously and each day we took him out to the grass for a few moment of freedom. Mo would sit a little chair and watch him, because in his mind a giant dinosaur bird was going to swoop down and eat it.

I taught him how to hold support the pigeon when holding it and not damage his wings or feathers. How to be gentle in picking it up and putting it down. How to herd it where we wanted it to be in the yard without scaring it. We discussed the it probably would not live but it was important for all creatures to die in comfort if possible. Now as his father I will teach him a valuable lesson in loss.

Later tonight we will go out in the front yard and dig a grave. I will let Mo say something nice and
that will be about it. I doubt he will be too sensitive about the whole thing.

Hey..Oh...Were'd the week go?

Geesh, I would have thought this was Thursday. Man this week went by fast.

Had a great OW 850 yard swim last night. I took it slow. Sighting was for crap. Guess that happens when you don't practice the skill. I looked up once to see I was a good 30 yards off track. HaHa. Classic. Murpy's Law had to state that my goggles would be scratched and fogged up and the buoy in shadows so I could not see where my target was.

Next week I am going to a small rural town in Washington State (Cle Elum) for a business retreat with my company. Most of us are staying at my partners 'cabin' (its like 5,000 sq ft) and I am staying with another partner in a condo at the private resort the cabin is located in. I actually prefer that arrangement as the few hours we meet each day are right there in a meeting room, as is the pool and gym. I heard we can rent bikes and hoping their of the mountain variety.

I know this is telling on myself, but I have had thoughts of pulling some safety tabs on my training limits. I know, I know, not a smart thing to do. I will fight it as best I can. But it is not often I get the opportunity to run in a lush green forest.

Rescue Ranger

I was working at a job fair yesterday and as a bunch of us were leaving there was a young pigeon that was in obvious distress. One the guys started to sneak up on it and it waddled off but it was certainly catchable.

I decided that this bird was going to die but there is no reason for it to do so in oppressive heat. So I walked over, picked it up and carried it half mile to my car. Some of the others were laughing that I would pause to take care of a bird, others applauded my decency. I suppose its a bit of both. But just the act of picking up a bird is just something people don't see.

Mo already thinks daddy is the Best Hunter In The Whole World. Just in the last few months he has seen me catch three fish and couple lizards with my hands and now a bird.

Mo was ecstatic to have a new pet to care for. He made sure the lighting was low and reminded us to be quite. After a bit of water, it slept until morning. This morning he desperately wanted to take it to grandmas so he could make sure it rested because he knows its 'sick'. I have reminded him that the bird, which he has already named, may not make it. He is okay with that.

Building up a tolerance

I have moved into a new phase in the recovery program. Along with my vibrant colored meals which include lots of red and green, I have to drink a very nasty tasting herbal tea. Imagine if someone could bottle the smoke off a wet log campfire. You know the part when you can't get away from it and it chokes you out? Thats it!

I could have it worse. Two women my wife knows found lumps in their chest in the last week. One looks to have caught it sooner than the other.

Look. I may have two shot kidneys and a blown liver but my options are pretty wide open. If I just never work out again or enter a race I can live a healthy and productive life with no thought of dialysis or fatality.

Which makes me seriously wonder why I have spent way more money than I possibly should just to be...I don't no, selfish. Vain. Competitive. Oh, I know. I know. There are so many more positive adjectives to exercise than the worrisome words I just listed. I did it for all the right reasons, I know that. You really think I can accomplish anything like this without Mistress supporting me. I know and she knows, I need exercise like I need air. Like I need love. Exercise keeps me balanced. Exercise allows me to be a better man. Exercise saves me.

After convalescing for so long, you like that, my new term for recovery; I have to remind myself now to be consistent. We all know how easy it is to fall out of a habit. I am still bouncing around trying to fit training back into my life in the way it needs to be.

Just like this nasty tasting, pungent tea I have to suck down each morning, I am building my tolerance up in other areas. That includes cutting myself some slack. No one wants what I have, but I ain't trading it for something else.

Shameless Corporate Plug

This is a video loop we're running in the my clubs to promote our new model of fitness training called High Intensity Functional Training. Lookie here, I don't get involved to much in the details, we hire people to handle all that, my goal is just to show off the clubs and equipment and really the people that make our company tick. I am in maybe one second of the video in the background, proving my theory that I am a cross between Quasimodo and the Elephant Man. If anyone wants the workout, let me know.

Weekend Wonders

Other than the awesomely amazing comments people left me, my birth day went by with little fanfare. I went to see the Mummy 3 with my dad. Mighty Mo insisted on making me a cake with lots of frosting and sprinkles. And he did it all from pouring, mixing, spreading and sprinkles. At five years old he is better in the kitchen than his ole man.

I started the second phase of my recovery drugs over the weekend. I finished the cocktail that made me so fatigued and started a Chinese tea that is absolutely nasty. The first thing that pops into my mind is someone bottled smoke off a wet campfire. I immediately got a brand new headache.

A side affect of this, perhaps, is that food tastes terrible to me. Mistress and mom went through a lot of effort to make me my favorite foods and when I ate them, they had strong reactions with me; steak, potatoes, sandwiches, cola, beer, layered dip, even, unfortunately Mo's cake. The only thing that tasted as it should was water.

With all food tasting horrible, I could only go off texture. I ate some corn chips and tried parts of everything on my plate at meals with the family. No success. Mistress became frustrated with me, so I had to constantly affirm that it was me not her cooking.

I went to a class on Sunday that was a couple miles away. I decided to run there and back. Keeping the HR under 140 is not that easy and my pace suffered for it. I ran high 11/ 12's when I could and then walked for a minute or so for it to drop back down. It made for a frustrating workout but glad I did it. Heading back in the heat I dropped the running all together and speed walked that last mile which kept my pace around 13'/14and my pace solidly in the 130's.

Hey its Monday, today starts a new week.

Another year gone by.

Okay, Okay. A shameless plug.

I am putting a pork chop around my neck so you dogs will play with me today.

It's my 38th Birthday.

Charlie Mike..(Continuing the Mission).