2nd wind

There is no other sporting event I enjoy more then the Tour de France.  The race is epic and challenging to say the least; it is torture at best.  Through picturesque countryside, riders traverse an entire country in 21 days of racing all by the power of their own two legs.  Wow cannot begin to describe it!

For such a race, there are great stories.  Each day is filled with triumphs, overcoming, Hope and heartbreak.  Similar to the recent soccer world cup, there are rrepresentatives from all over the world.  It is beyond category!
My favorite stories are the ones of courage and passion, or, as the Italians call it, panache!  The days where a rider breaks away from the pack all day and wins the day in front of his compatriots or when a rider finishes the race despite a crash that would put most in the hospital for a month.  The stories of true grit, and never giving up.  Of setting your sights on a goal and reaching it no matter what.
This years tour has been full of such stories.  Even today, Lance Armstrong attempted to win the day by riding over four mountains solo to the finish over one hundred miles.  He did not make it.  However, his effort was valiant and had all the fans reminiscing about his wins just a few years back. 
But it was truly the attempt that took the most courage and gave everyone, especially Lance, a reason to Hope.  This is every bit a parallel to real life.  We are more then halfway through summer.  For many their have been great struggles, beautiful and equally gut wrenching stories, reasons to Hope and reasons to doubt.  Yet it is in the attempt, in the saying "yes", in the moving on, even if that movement is at a crawl; it is in these things that our stories are truly made complete. 
In endurance sports, after the rush and speed of the opening of a race, or a long mountain climb, an athlete is said to get their "second wind".  A rush of adrenaline and strength that leads them to get back in the hunt or otherwise continue on towards the goal. 
My Hope is that,
wherever you are,
 in reality and passion,
in spirit and in truth,
that you are on your second wind, or quickly approaching this renewal, while keeping an iron focus on the goals of Life and Love.
This is not just my Hope, but it is also my belief.  I know that you will find that strength, from deep within, and when you do, know that you are courageous and lovely, a bright spot in a universe that would sometimes seem against all that is good and true.

It may not start with moving all the mountains in your life,
but it may just begin with YOU.

Listen:
josh moore- "too good to be true"

Dedicated to Vino'- for second wind, and second chances...
(photo courtesy of Graham Watson)

moments- EVERY fracture caused by the lack of it

It was a beautiful weekend!  Racing and family time are two of my favorite things and I had both this weekend.  The race, held Saturday over nasty terrain in the mud and thunder was, to say the least, a little more difficult then the 60 degree sunny training day I had on the course two weeks prior-
This blog is not about racing, but rather what hits the heart and I love endurance sports because they give you so much time to think and ponder life and love as you physically attempt to conquer peaks and valleys on foot or on a bike or in a boat.  Add to that the camaraderie of new friends, the cheers of fans (sometimes), the sharing of your passion with your family and the "runners high" that happens when your body goes into overdrive (See: there ain't no drug).  So during my over 4.5 hours running through the woods with little people contact alot arose about life and love.  Due to my lack of oxygen and poor blood sugar control I cannot remember much, but I thought specifically about the fact that many moments and many more minutes and even more hours were making up this event, but yet life is to be lived here, and now, moment to intriguing moment. 

It also reminded me about Einstein's theory of relativity and how time is time, but yet sometimes it seems as though it goes faster and other times slower; and never on our schedule, as when even we want some things in life to pass by quick (work, illness)!!

Whether you plan on trying one of these events or not, the lessons found here, especially in the woods, are pertainable to all; that life is, for the most part, a long term story, made up of microcosms and microfractures (and fractals http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fractals ).  Yet each one of these moments has the equal parts possibility of purpose, of beauty, of Hope: and yet destruction and chaos loom there also.  As if two armies were waging war for a single second of our lives... and the only saving grace, the only field medic available at the end of the day, is LOVE.

"Wake up, wake up,
I think the worst is through,
we are surrounded, by color and life,
and we don't even know it"- Sleeping at Last

Oh yeah,
Dear Mom,
Thank you for doing your best to make my moments lovely and loved.
They are.

Happy Mother's Day

listening to:
Copeland- "brightest"
Copeland*