What a BEAUTIFUL day!!!!

“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.” Ashley Smith

Today was a lucky day. Don't get me wrong -- my run time was not good, I forgot my Garmin so I was 4/10ths of a mile short on my run and I was suffering from some serious allergies. But, it was in the 70's. I got to ride and run outside. AND I got to do it with my best friend and supporter -- Derek. There was one point on the run when the sun was just beginning to go down that I looked up at the sky, felt my legs underneath me and thought, "How lucky am I?" I have no idea what I did to get so blessed but I will try not to ever take for granted the amazing life that I have.

So many days of tri training are about how to fit it in, how long, how fast, how much better did I do, where was I lacking, what can I do better. Sometimes it's easy to wonder why you are doing it. Why you just can't accept life in it's non-self-challenging form. But then there are some days that you go out and your spirit literally answers for you: because you are blessed with the strength, determination and perserverance that many have learned to live without. And, I suppose, this is why I tri.

Many times when I'm training -- particularly when I'm running -- I get caught up thinking "This sucks." "I hate running." or, "Dear God how much more." When that happens, I go through my mental checklist of thanks (thank you that I have legs to feel this pain, thank you that I am slow enough to appreciate all that I am passing by, thank you that I have someone to run to instead of run from) Today, I also remembered a quote that says something like "The ultimate goal is being able to do your best and enjoy it." Today was that day.