What I Did This Weekend Instead Of Being Productive!

1. Tracked Irene

2. Took Lydia on her first Pony Ride (Picture) at the Hunterdon County 4-H Fair.

3. Prayed for a dry basement.

4. Tracked Irene some more.

5. Carried about 267 toys from the patio into the safe haven of the garage after comparing notes with my brother on children's toys that we might prefer to have blown away by the storm!

6. Extended a few downspouts.

7. Took Lydia to the park as Irene approached and hoped no one called child protective services.

8. Eyed the trees in my yard and tried  to calculate which room each would destroy if they fell on the house. Yes, that one is 3x bigger than my house!

9. Had tea time with Lydia...Best tea I've ever tasted!

10. Went out to eat with some great friends in Stockton, NJ as Irene began to bare down on Hunterdon County.  The car ride home began to get a little dicey!

11. Day dreamed about how awesome OhFar will be and if actually wearing lederhosen would be taking it too far!

12. Tried to figure out the best way to convince the dogs that going out in a Hurricane isn't that bad.

13. Laid awake in bed listening to the wind and rain...hoping I hadn't jinxed myself earlier in the day when I had that thought about the trees in my yard!

14. Walked to downtown Clinton and watched the South Branch of the Raritan River overflow it's banks.

15. Cleaned up water in the basement (Luckily it was minimal!)

All in all my family was extremely lucky as the storm provided us with only a glancing blow.  My thoughts and prayers are with all of the communities and families who have had their lives turned up side down by this storm.  I also commend and thank all of the utility workers who have been working tirelessly to restore those families and communities...it's truly a monumental task.  Thank You!

Yodelay, Yodelay, YodelayHeeHoo!!!

                             

Yodelay...

Yodelay....

YodelayHeeHoo!!!!

                   

That's right my yodeling friends...take note- This year something a little different in the way of endurance racing and fall festivals is coming to Hunterdon County and it's sure to be Awesome!  The "O'er Hill & Far Away" Race and Harvest Festival will be held on October 8th, 2011.  The festivities will be kicking off Friday evening (10/7) with the O'er Hill & Far Away Event Expo held at BaseCamp 31 (1250 Rt 31, Lebanon, NJ 08833) where legendary track coach Frank Gagliano will hold a coaches clinic along with other elite coaches, professional athletes and health care professionals specializing in endurance sports.  It's sure to be a wealth of invaluable information for coaches, parents and athletes young and old.  

Event day will consist of three (3) races and is sure to hold a little something for everyone:                                                                                                         1) Spectator Dash & Fun Run...It is "O'er Hill & Far Away" after all so if you want to catch the "Elite" or Mortal's race this is your ticket for front row seats. 

2) Elite 8K- European style Cross Country course consisting of a 2K loop to be completed 4 times.  It will be sure to have all the fixings complete with a few ups, a few downs, unmatched beauty and a few hay bale obstacles to keep it interesting.

3) Mortals Race- We can't all be "elite fast" but we can still run the same course as those vying for a spot on the 2012 Olympic Team.  The Mortals Race will cover 3 full laps of the elite course along with a mystery distance section which will land them back at BaseCamp 31 where the Harvest Festival will be kicking off.

4) The Harvest Festival will be true to form with it's Oktoberfest Bier Garden, family friendly games/activities, vendors and food.  You'll be able to kick back, relax and share your stories and experiences from a day that's sure to be memorable.

 If you want to reserve your spot now check out active.com to sign up.

Beware of Zombies!!!

1:57 AM, 2:23 AM, 2:44 AM, 3:02 AM, 3:10 AM...

I'm sure just about everyone has experienced insomnia at some point in their lives.  Yes, it's pretty miserable if you ask me.  Typically I have no trouble sleeping, just ask my wife, but this morning I started to believe that the clock is my nemesis this morning!  However in reality it's that thing between my ears that just won't seem to shut off.  The good news is that there are a lot of powerful strategies out there that may help us avoid becoming a zombie.  Since I'm not officially a sleep expert I won't get into the nitty-gritty research on this stuff, instead I'll try and keep it simple.  


One idea that has gained some pretty good traction over the past several years is that as a society for the most part we are mentally exhausted, physically however...yeah not so much exhaustion going on it that department!  This simply attests to all that physical activity the average American isn't getting.  We see this example all the time- An individual with a mentally high stress job/life who at the same time has a low stress life physically.  They get home at the end of a long and stressful day and feel exhausted.  They feel as though there's no possible way they could get some  physical activity in with how tired they are.  However, when they try and go to sleep what happens?  That's right...they don't sleep.  Instead they lay awake watching the paint peeling from the ceiling.


So why the heck can't I sleep when normally I could probably sleep through a bomb going off?  This isn't an official diagnosis, but I think it probably has a lot to do with it.  Here's a little insight...over the past 2 weeks my workouts have gone from consistent to zilch.  While at the same time the mental stress has probably gone up a little (I'm getting the feeling that trying to sell a house in the current times has a way of doing that to people).  There you have it...the recipe for nice helping of insomnia- a body and mind that are out of sync.


So the key is to get my butt in gear and come up with some activity that's not limited by a knee that's not 100%- cycling and walking seems to be a good fit.  Another key is to practice being mindful, something most of us could always use a little more of I think.  If you need a little help in doing so, here's a little excerpt from the "Recover" section of this months Pro-Activity Newsletter "Thrive".


Enough insomnia already...time to get out for a walk and to practice being mindful.  I'll let you know how it goes.

So there's not much to update this week regarding "that knee thing".  After partaking in the ridiculous (#redrelay for you twitter folks) relay this past weekend the knee acted really consistently...when cycling- no pain or symptoms at all, it actually felt great.  When I threw on my running shoes to run (hadn't planned on doing this) a few miles with Renee down an unfamiliar trail the tell tail symptoms came on.  No, I didn't run again after this and the knee felt fine.  In any event...no worth in continuing to dwell on it at the moment.  Heck there's plenty of other great stuff to dwell on...

With all that has been going on in the world lately...you know, that debt ceiling thing, dysfunctional government, war, uncertainty and the list goes on and on!  Take all of these external factors and throw them in with all the craziness of your personal life and you may have enough to make you go a little bonkers.  With all the debt the world and individuals seem to be bearing made me think about the idea of net worth.  In full disclosure I'm no MBA so this is certainly not meant to be a technical discussion on the matter, but instead more of a humanistic one.  In thinking about one's networth (an individuals net economic position) I began to realize that if I thought about it too long in the traditional (assets-liabilities) sense I would begin to get depressed pretty fast.  So interestingly enough just as I began to ponder what my actual net worth may be I came across an interesting blurb on "the new net-worth".  Ahh this made me feel better.

The idea is simple, instead of simply looking at financials in your life (which have not been tied very strongly to happiness or overall quality of life) take a more holistic approach and look at and evaluate 8 areas of your life...Mind, Body, Values, Career, Family, Social, Learning and Money.  Obviously this is not a new concept, but one I feel is important to come back to frequently...ensuring the balance of life in a time that can make us feel pretty uneasy.  So if you've got a few minutes give it a try and see if you are investing adequately enough in the areas that count.

When a Plan Doesn't Come Together

“I love it when a plan comes together”

Yes, Hannibal Smith, we know you do.  Unfortunately, mine is not. 

Cue: Stage Left--- “nagging left knee pain”.

After spending what felt like an eternity on the DL (disabled list) while working to nurse my knee back to health from its previous state I felt like I was on the road to recovery.  Well, after easing back into activity…guess whose back?  That is CORRECT…left lateral knee pain which has ranged anywhere from mild to excruciating.

Cue: Long “Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh” followed by “expletive!”

So, here I am…not exactly where I wanted to be, but non-the-less, this is where I have ended up.  That’s right, this is the point where I say to myself…you know those lofty goals of running a marathon in September and an Ultra in November (for the record that is in fact the 3^rd revision of the original plan)… “Well, it’s just not going to happen as you had hoped.”

Well, I guess it wouldn’t do much good to sit around and feel sorry for myself.  It wouldn’t.  So what’s the plan moving forward?  Simple- Evaluate the next set of treatment options- this is going to happen over the next few weeks…but I figure I’ll keep you all in the loop as to how things go.  Until then, if you want to see something pretty incredible...watch this!

Here's hoping my come back looks like this!