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Editorial comment - For those unfamiliar with the sport of "Dadding" - much like duathlon, it involves three phases, but only two sports (chauffeuring, spectating [often on bleachers], chauffeuring). If horse racing is the Sport of Kings, "dadding" is the sport of jugglers (or court-jesters at times).
BODY: The "body" portion is usually not a problem for me, but with the compressed weekend, it makes for a LONG session on Sunday, which is a bit ahead of schedule. Today? 3.5 hours on the bike trainer - another "butt buster" - but what a great workout. This week followed the last couple - strong on Monday & Tuesday and then trailing off as the week progressed. I wiggled a short but intense run in on Wed (my normal off day), but Thursday (meetings) and Friday (spirit/soul) training was usurped.
MIND: Three weeks ago I was in class, two weeks ago I went out to Salt Lake City, UT for a meeting of professionals from my field.....so mind featured prominently over the last 3 weeks.
SOUL/SPIRIT: The World Health Organization defines health as:
Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity,
Even though I know this, and in general, subscribe to a similar definition, like most, the "social well-being" (which to me includes soul/spirit) is an area of health I probably don't put enough energy into. However for the second year in a row, I decided to attend a weekend long immersion/meeting (of sorts) with a group of guys from my area - some I knew, some I didn't - to invest a bit more. It involved some story telling and some searching, both internally (soul) and externally (spirit), plenty of socializing and (too much) good food. I found it to be a rewarding enough experience last year [thought-provoking, inspiring, etc] to give it a go again this year.
The good news is, like the professional sessions the two weekends before, this session left me both charged up and run-down - if that's possible. It was intense and draining from the perspective of pure rest/recovery, but super moving otherwise......which is where the Amazing Grace reference came in.
As I walked in to eat, someone had put on Pandora and a bagpipe version of the song "Amazing Grace" was playing. For me, this is a really moving song, done by a really moving instrument. Some of it's meaning is in reference to my maternal grandmother who's name was Grace - she was awesome; but also because it's an amazingly powerful song about something not everyone believes in, but something we could all use a dose of now and again (a big dose for me please). It's often played at the funerals of soldiers and other badass warriors.
I smiled a little bit and thought of my "Grammy". And then today, as I got on the bike trainer ready for my 3+ hour tour, I thought about that moment and decided to pick "bagpipe radio". Wouldn't you know it - same song. I laughed a little, but figured, how many bagpipe songs could pandora really have? I proceeded with my workout and after each hour, changed to a different pandora station. At the end of the 3 hours (with only 20 minutes to go) I switched back to bagpipe radio. I did my 20 minutes and decided that I'd try to slog through another 10 minutes to get to 3:30 even.....at exactly 3 hours and 30 minutes, I clicked my watch and slowed to a stop.......at that very moment, a different version of Amazing Grace came on.
I had a friend tell me yesterday "There are no coincidences" - maybe he was right.
The next several weeks will be an intense focus on the "body" portion......and although I don't expect to be on the trainer for 1000 years, I'll still take some amazing grace if anyone has some extra they want to part with......or at least some wisdom & courage.
Here's to a balanced approach,
Mike E.
ps - if you want a to hear an awesome version - check out this one.
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