August 7, 2005

The fun part of my days are usually when I lay down in my bed and I feel totally beat up and exhausted, yet refreshed, calm and content because then I remember I just had a super efficient day that began with a kick butt workout!

This morning I completed a 33-mile bike ride in the “Tour de Peninsula” with my friend, Connie Wu. It was interesting because it was the first real, physical event we participated in together. You see…Connie and I are at different fitness levels: I know few people who train as often as I do, so I don’t expect her to match my strength and endurance….so when the hills came, I trekked ahead and at many times, she strongly followed behind. While I internally wanted to complete the bike tour at a speeding rate, in truth, I know that the ride would not have been as rewarding or gratifying without the company of Connie. After every hill I waited for her at the top, and cheered her all the way to the last push: and the funnest part was speeding down the hill together, both enjoying the fruits of our hard earned labor.

As friends, that is the role we play for each other….we all meet somewhere in this bike route called ‘life’ and we find connection because we’re both traveling at the same pace and heading in what seems as a similar direction…but as one biker hits some ‘roadblocks’, some ‘detours’, or needs a ‘break’ here and there…what matters most is that the other biker waits for his/her friend to catch up so they can enjoy the ride down together in the end. While we can focus on our individual strengths and travel the road of life with explosive speed, the fact is, is that traveling in solitude gets a bit lonely…and a true testament of your personal character, is the ability to help guide, motivate and inspire others to pedal stronger, who are still in the route behind you.

This past year I’ve focused on a lot of physical training outdoors because I’ve become really tired of the walls, music and dead weight of the gym environment. (This is where my consistency to train shines through.) I’ve been training at different gyms, I bought a new exercise bike, I’ve been running sporadically in-between work breaks, I’ve started circuit training and will begin working for the first time with a personal trainer: all in the name of consistency. When you are tired of the routine, you’ve got to do whatever it takes to maintain the long term focus. It’s important to remind yourself that physical conditioning doesn’t just remain indoors, the gym is only an atmosphere where you can condition and strengthen your muscles so that you can utilize them out in the real world.

And just to let y’all know…I’ve been feeling a lot better lately: so there won’t be anymore bashing about the world for at least three weeks!