Planning Ahead and Challenging Yourself

Thanks for all the feedback from my daughters blog yesterday. She was so proud of it and kept asking me the rest of the day to see her writing on an internet site. I am excited for what the future holds in terms of the determination and drive some of our youth are capable of. I know when I was my daughters age everything revolved around sports and anything outside that was a waste of time. My wife and I still want our girls to engage in athletics but their drive for the intellectual/leadership side of life is all driven from them.

The picture above is my middle child who when I step back and look at posts I feel she is left out due to baby bragging and her older sister involved in everything. The thing with her is she likes the fancy sports but at the end of the day she enjoys pushing her brain with activities. I know that I have written posts about her before but some things to reiterate in regards to her personality are: perfectionist, 10 steps ahead of you in thinking, 100 percent confident in herself and always pushing the envelope on what she thinks is the right way of doing something.

I have learned a ton from this child and to this day outside of always supporting her and giving her all the love I can I think she is smarter than her dad. Just the other day she called me into the other room and she said watch dad...she continued to read 3 pages of a book her older sister is reading and then sing a song in Portuguese. I should have known from the beginning though that she would be the one that always mastered an activity with little effort. She was our only child (although the baby is almost there) to skip crawling and when she turned 8 months started to walk. The goofy part of it is my girls are tiny so seeing an 8 month old walking at the store was a strange sight to behold.

So at the end of the day while her older sister is pushing the limits of the physical side of life Brynn is pushing the limits of what a 5 year old can do intellectually. She plans ahead in her mind of what she wants to accomplish by laying the foundation of ideas today. I can't say that she really understands that what she is doing now will lead to success in the future but I also can't say for sure that she doesn't. I mean what 5 year old really thinks about what effects their actions will have. She also challenges herself daily to be better. She may not have the physical gifts her sister has but she will not back down from any challenge. The girl doesn't want any toys for Christmas but wants a Kindle Fire so that she can read....I love it!!!

So that leads me to the topic of this blog....Planning Ahead and Challenging Yourself. With only two weeks left in the year now is the time to start thinking of what you want to accomplish in the new year. Your actions today will lead to building towards what you want to accomplish starting in January. If weight loss is the goal then don't go crazy during the holidays eating everything in site because you know Jan 1 things will be different. Instead starting today start making small lifestyle changes that will make that goal in the new year a little easier. I also ask you to start challenging yourself and living outside your comfort zone. The most successful people in life are constantly trying to push themselves to the next level. With this drive comes some failure but there is no success story that didn't encounter failure at some point in the journey. Don't let the word NO or I CAN'T be a part of your vocabulary. These words are common with people who tend to fall short of their goals. One way to push yourself outside of yourself is to play a game that my wife and I started to do this week. Each day we start the day with a challenge to the other person. The benefit of this is someone else is coming up with the challenge so almost instantly you will be pushed outside your normal thought process. I will say that after only three days of this routine my wife and I have seen a drastic difference in our view on life and the small rewards it has already given us.

I am grateful for everyone that takes a moment out of their busy days to read my blog. I 100% promise if you just implement a few of the random ideas I throw out that you will notice immediate positive improvements in your life. I know I constantly am searching for perfection in my life and most days I can tell you that I am just about there.

Enjoy the holiday season, tell the ones around you how much they mean to you and most of all Make It Count!!!

Give Back

So as I sat down to write my bi-weekly blog today, I was pleasantly interrupted by my 7 year old. With their creative minds flowing today due to their second snow day in a row she stated "Dad why don't you let me write the blog for you this week." My mind didn't even hesitate but blurted out almost immediately that I would be honored for her to do such a thing. So what follows is everything that she wrote so I hope every one enjoys her words.

Give Back....by Avery

Christmas is not about getting gifts or presents it is about giving to the poor and people who need because they need more then you because they do not have that much money, food, clothing, toys, books, games and other stuff. You should give to the poor or toys for tots this Christmas because they are looking forward to you.

What I am grateful for...by Avery

I am grateful for my family
I am grateful for my aupair
I am grateful for my school
I am grateful for my cozy home
I am grateful for my cousins
I am grateful for my sister
I am grateful for my friends
I am grateful for my grandmas
I am grateful for my dad
I am grateful for my mom
I am grateful for my carrigan
I am grateful for my brynn
I am grateful for my neighborhood
I am grateful for my relatives
I am grateful for my teacher
I am grateful for my uncle
I am grateful for my aunt
I am grateful for my bus driver
I am grateful for my religion
I am grateful for my coach

So there you have it...the two blog entries that she wanted me to post this week. I am blessed to have amazing little girls with wonderful drive and determination (must be from their mom).

Everyone stay safe this holiday season and make sure to always...Make It Count!!!!

Grateful

I will keep this one short as today is Thanksgiving Day. Today in my mind is one of the best days of the year for many reasons but the top three reasons that come to mind are...1) Family, Family, Family...without them in our life we are lost and lacking one of the most important support systems we have 2) Fitness/health...its one day out of the year where lots of people wake up (usually to cold temps) and get out of the house to run, walk, trot or crawl some sort of Turkey Trot 3) This one might step on the feet of number two but FOOD...I absolutely love the food that is served on turkey day. Maybe one of the reasons that the food is so good also is that it is prepped at home for hours and with lots of love instead of some store bought garbage.

Thanksgiving Day is also a day in which we should recognize how grateful we are for what we have in our life. Each year I love to put these down on paper as it reminds we of how special our lives are the rewards of all our hard work each day of the year. Its also important to tell those close to you how much they mean to you. Sometimes we can get so focused on the process that we forget to take a second to tell those around you THANKS for all that they do.

My list of things I am grateful for is to long for this blog so I will keep it to a top ten list today:

1. My three little ladies. Without them my life would truly be empty. They are hands down the most important things I have in this life and everything I do all comes back to those three very special little ladies in my life.

2. My wife. I know she should just be part of number one but she deserves a point all to herself. In ten years of being married to her she has not once complained about any of my antics. She constantly supports me 110% which I know can be hard at times. She works harder than anyone I know professionally with the sole purpose of providing for her family and I want her to know that the girls and I are so grateful for her.

3. Friends. I am not going to list out any individuals but I am grateful that life drove me towards this uber passion of running/triathlon. If you have never hung out with this crowd then you are missing out. This community revolves around support and always putting themselves second behind helping someone first.

4. Chiropractic. The reason I am grateful for my profession is that I get to go to work every single day and make an immediate impact in someones life. There is not waiting to see if surgery worked or if some medication will make a change. I get to physically work on a patient and make an immediate positive change. I have had patients come in with tears of joy that after years of discomfort I was able to provide them with the relief they were seeking.

5. Failure. Without failure in my life I would never be able to reach the next level of success. I love failure as it is the ultimate professor of success. I get to learn what I did wrong and adjust everything that is needed to make that failure a success the next time around. Don't shy away from failure but engulf the experience and learn from it.

6. Health. I can't say that I have always been focused on health but my education and personal desire to always want to be better has led me to leading a healthy lifestyle. I am grateful that my daughters would rather eat fruits and vegetables than a bag of chips. I am grateful for being able to wake up each day and press forward without anything getting in my way. I am not big on medication and believe that a lifestyle diet, exercise and positive mental thoughts are the most powerful medication we have. Take time now to make the right choices in your life as I can promise that they will lead you to a happier life later in life.

7. Family. I think I tried to invite about 50 patients/friends to my house this holiday season as I hate when people don't have people around them to spend this time with. I have been blessed with an amazingly supportive family base in my life. My parents never told me I couldn't do anything but knew I had to fail at times to understand life more. I appreciate everyone in my family as I know no matter how bad life can get they will always be there for me.

8. Success. Success has led me to keep pushing the limit of what I can accomplish. In my mind there is nothing that I can't accomplish in this world. Success allows me to experience many levels of joy and internal peace. Success has also allowed me to give back to those who are less fortunate whether in financially or words of wisdom success allows you the power to change someones life.

9. Humble. I purposely put this behind success as I think its an important concept for individuals to learn in life and something my wife and I are trying to teach our daughter after her recent success's in running (actually everything she does). Every once in awhile I look back on what I have done so far and it puts a smile on my face of the accomplishments I have obtained. I could use that and be very arrogant but that is a character flaw I am not fond of. I think it takes a stronger person to be humble and praise other peoples achievements instead of brag about yours.

10. Freedom. At the end of the day without freedom a lot of the previous 9 items might be more difficult to appreciate. I am grateful for everyone that wakes up in the morning whether over seas or on US soil with the main goal of keeping our country safe. I give THANKS to all military members who are waking up on Thanksgiving away from their families as they protect our freedom.

Make sure at some point today you share with yourself, your family or your friends what you are grateful for. If you have a hard time coming up with anything than at least starting from that point on you know that you can make your life that much more rich by starting to build you list.

One last point as I have been working towards it all month. November is also known as Movember and for those who are not familiar Movember is us males version of breast cancer awareness month. During the month of November men are suppose to not shave and grow facial hair with a mustache being the ultimate goal. The goal is to raise awareness for health issues that affect men in particular...i.e. testicular cancer, prostate cancer and even breast cancer. This is my second year in a row trying to spread the word and below you will find my most recent Movember photo.

So on this day of thanks go forth and enjoy everything that you are blessed with and realize that life is ever evolving so if you are not happy with your situation today then you have the power to make a change.

Make It Count!!!

Time

When the word time is used in our day to day language or thought process how is it defined in your world? Most people refer to time in regards to being stuck on Interstate 95 with only 10 minutes till work starts and they are an hour away. Some people refer to time in regards to how long they will wait at the local eating establishment to be seated. Then there are people who view time in regards to how many minutes are left until the weekend. Over the past year I have started to view time in a different manor. Time to me stands for making sure that each day I make the most out of my time on this earth as I have learned that nothing is guaranteed.

Above you will see pictures of the the man in which this whole blog started. I am bringing up Jimmy once again in my blog as one year ago on Thanksgiving my family had the joy of spending the day with Jimmy and his family. The day was surrounded by food, drinks, a touch football game and more important the sight that no one could tell Jimmy was dealing with brain cancer. His strength and will to fight the fight over powered the tumor that was trying to overtake his brain. He showed everyone that even when life just doesn't seem fair you don't have to give up and throw in the towel. Life is all about what you make it and Jimmy was going to make the most of what time he had. The picture on the bottom was 6 months later days before cancer won the fight but not the battle (just would like to note Jimmy was a die hard Bears fan all the way to the end...I knew there was a reason we bonded so well). He fought all the way to the end making the most of his days and trying to leave a lasting impression on the world of the great man that he was.

What can we learn from Jimmy and just about every person that has been given that diagnosis of Cancer? I think we can learn that each and every one of us has the strength and will to make life (time) count. My question to you is why wait until something negative in your life happens that forces you to change? Start today and build on the person you want to become. We all have goals or bucket list items in our life. Why wait and keep pushing off your dreams when the day may come where time is not your friend. Act today and forge ahead pursuing the goals you have stirring in your head.

Here is an action plan that works...pick a goal, skill you want to obtain, a dream vacation, potential new career and follow this strategy. On a piece of paper write down 30 days, 60 days and 90 days. Now under those headlines start filling in what you need to do in that time frame to conquer your goals.

Time is the one thing that will always be there but also can be pulled out from underneath us in the blink of an eye. Why wait to make a difference when we have the power to make the most of our time on earth. I will always guarantee to Jimmy that I will not waste what I have been given and I will keep pushing to make sure I prove to him and the world that I can make a difference.

Make It Count!!!

Escape

I know that there is no shock that I am once again using a picture of my daughter to illustrate my point. The thing is that the three of them are constantly teaching me values/principles in life even though they don't even realize it. The picture above is my little one and what the picture is showing is that with twisting/turning and pulling she is able to get herself out of the cribs harness. The days and comfort of knowing once you put her down she can't move and get into trouble are over. Your asking how this relates to my blog topic today and its pretty simple. She has taken it upon herself to figure out how to get out of a tough situation (situation being that she is tired of just laying around) and ESCAPE from the limitations or harness that life has placed on her.

I hear patients, coaching clients, family, friends and just about everyone at some point say they CAN'T do something. For some reason they have developed some type of doubt in their mind and put a limitation on accomplishing a task. These people believe that certain achievements are beyond their grasp and no matter the hard work put in they would not be able to succeed. People have built this idea in their head that if success is not an easy acquisition then why try. Everything now is the easy way out with fear of hard work or fear of the unknown result. Well let me be the first or maybe the hundred person to tell you that this is all garbage!!!

We are 100% capable of accomplishing anything we put our minds to. Yeah most of them will take lots of hard work, focus, determination and a thick skin knowing that failure is part of the learning and success process. I have failed many times over my life span but I have never once looked at it as a negative maybe thanks to my parents instilling me from day one that failure is fine as long as you take something positive away from it and LEARN.

Life's harness and restraints are everywhere we turn from fast food restaurants tempting those trying to loose weight, the snooze button allowing you to sleep in and miss that integral swim set, taking medication instead of taking time to figure the root cause of your problem which may fix the problem for good, fear of public speaking which may hold you back from giving that presentation needed to excel professionally or the hours of useless TV content distracting you from finishing your research needed to obtain your PhD.....I could go on forever with theses examples as they are present everywhere you turn these days.

Whether its the picture of my daughter figuring out how to succeed in ESCAPING from her crib or my other daughters not allowing anything to hold back their progress in life I have become so much more confident in the human spirit since having children. I have been trying to learn Portuguese recently from our nanny and its a tall task for me as something deep down is telling me that its to hard to learn...my daughters on the other hand don't look at it as hard but approach it more with a fun outlook and last night they where singing a songs in Portuguese...it was amazing!!!

I will let you know that ESCAPING the constraints in life is not an easy process but with focus, attention and a solid plan of attack you will be able to accomplish goals beyond your wildest dreams. I have seen people loose 200 pounds over time the hard way with nutrition and exercise...I have seen one of my good buddies cross the finish line of an Ironman (the amazing feat was at over 300 pounds society would tell him its impossible)....I have seen my wife push through constraint after constraint professionally with hundreds of roadblocks in her way only to succeed time and time again...I have seen my mom go back to college in her 50's and graduate with honors...I have seen my sister who at age 6 was given weeks to live only to overcome and live a life of success with two beautiful daughters (her only downside is she's a Packers fan).

So please if nothing else start today building your future. Pick a task or something that you have wanted to accomplish and start working towards that goal. If needed build a team or ask for help (coaches whether life or sport are great) if needed but know if you keep pushing forward I will guarantee you will succeed and in the end it helps me because the world will be a better place with people accomplishing their goals.

MAKE IT COUNT!!!!

Living In The Moment

Not sure where to go with this one as for most of my life this is definitely not something (i thought) I have been strong at. It may not come across sometimes and people may think that deep down I have everything figured out and that I am a very calm natured person but typically its the opposite...I guess I have just been great at hiding it over the years. I am one who desires immediate results and I was always so impatient waiting for what I wanted. Sometimes if I knew that the reward/goal accomplishment would take a long time I would keep pushing it to the back of my TO DO LIST. My first few years dealing with patients I would take it so personally if someone who had been suffering from an injury for years didn't get better after one treatment. When I started triathlon I had a large checklist of what I wanted to accomplish but would get very irritated that the accomplishments where not dropping from my checklist daily.

It wasn't really until this past spring that I woke up one morning and walked downstairs and looked at what life has given me that I realized anything worth while in this world takes time and patience. I saw my amazing wife and three princesses just belly laughing on the couch with not a care in the world. They didn't care what the day had ahead of them or what stresses presented themselves the day before...they were in the moment and living life to the fullest. It was then it hit me that what I thought was years of impatience was truly my way of being patient with all situations. I was overwhelmed with the thoughts of all the early mornings/hot lunch time hours/always smelling like chlorine which in my mind proved that I really had been patient over the years knowing that consistency and always trying to be better the next day was what made me the fittest I have ever been late into my 30's. I was overwhelmed from all the patient feedback that maybe I had taken for granted but now meant more to me than ever before...all those times healing people which allowed them to continue on with their goals in life made me a better person and maybe I presented my self with patience and confidence which gave them the trust in me as a doctor. I was overwhelmed with the now THREE little girls in my life look up to me every single day for guidance...for a shoulder to cry...for a tickle or a laugh...for a snuggle buddy...and most of all just to be their dad. Having three children at times can feel crazy but they look to you to be patient is situations and to help teach them whats right and wrong.

What I am trying to get out in this message is that nothing in this life of ours will ever be easy. If its easy than either you cheated or you didn't push yourself far enough into discovering what really lies deep inside of you. Greatest comes with determination, sweat, tears, injuries, an amazing team and most of all the PATIENCE to know that if you believe in yourself and wake up each and everyday giving 100% of who you are that nothing will stand in your way.

It has been about six months since my wife's cousin Jimmy passed away from brain cancer and there is not a moment that goes bye in which I wish his life was not ended by such a terrible disease. It has also reminded me that the little things in life only matter if you give them the energy to grow and take over your life in a negative fashion. We live in a much different world than when I was a kid in which mom basically said go out and play and come home around dinner time. There is more going on in this world of ours that constantly tries to occupy our attention for the worst. Most of it is out of my control but what is in my control I make sure I push forward knowing that I will overcome.

MAKE IT COUNT!!!!

Time Management

Being a physician and coach the most common excuse I get towards rehab or a training plan is a lack of time. When it comes to accomplishing most goals in life I am a believer that everything comes back towards time management. If your goal is to qualify for Ironman Hawaii then you need to put in the time with no zeros...if your goal is to be a successful sales executive (seen it first hand from my wife) then you have to put in the time as there is no easy road...if you want to become the greatest pianist of our time then you guessed it right you need to put in the time perfecting you skill. I was not always the best with my time growing up. I can remember in college starting in-depth research papers the night before it was due. Early on I was not as committed to my training because I thought just because I was a good athlete that long course triathlon should be easy. When I started out in private practice I thought just by showing up to work that patients would start flooding my clinic. I think I also at one time fooled my thought process into thinking that balancing all that and raising children would be a walk in the park. Well as you can imagine following all these principles would lead to a failure or a lack of accomplishing any goals in a repeatable fashion. I think that finally at 37 years of age I am a master of time management. With three kids, busy practice, coaching, a wife that travels extensively and trying to fit in training for triathlons people ask me all the time how I do it. My first response is usually one of "It's Easy". I really do think from a time management respect its not that hard and when you are limited on what time you have people tend to be more productive and more successful. Its when you have to much time or you don't structure you day to day life that inconsistency and a lack of focus takes over. If you find yourself in dire need of a time management make-over then follow me in a basic skill I learned a few years ago. First of all draw yourself a chart listing the days of the week and then from here you need to start filling in the blanks as far as activities that you can't budge...i.e...work schedule, class, time with kids, community meetings, etc. From this chart you can start filling in the blocks of free time you have available and trust me there will be free time. In a given week I am usually always up at 4:30 to 5:00AM to get some sort of training in...I typically make the most out of my lunches and train then (this will also allow you to plan lunches ahead of time which means packing a healthier option than always eating out)...all of this gives me the extra FREE time I need every night to spend with my little ladies. I have heard this block called a BASIC week in the past which is something you can repeat week after week so it becomes routine and then the excuse of lack of time becomes a weakness that is no longer part of you. So at the end of the day its always easier to do nothing and keep complaining how its a lack of time fault. You will also see that its harder to obtain your goals or dreams in life. Although if you just break out a pen and paper and follow the simple steps in the previous paragraph then I promise you that you will come close to if not exceed any hurdle that has been in your way. So look at this blog entry as a challenge to be better and let me know when your life's goal sheet starts being checked off. Make It Count!!!!!

Self-Identity

I feel that most of the stuff that I have learned over the past couple of years about people comes from observing my daughters growth and interaction with others. As adults most of us have developed some preconceived way of viewing the word whether its negative or positive. We wake up in the morning and proceed through our daily activities always following these ideas in our heads. Unfortunately most of us follow the first way of viewing the world...in a NEGATIVE way. The mind is constantly viewing interactions as negative and sees the way the world interacts as being negative. When one is in that mindset we also fall into a trap of following the latest fads, worrying to much about what people think of us, worried about what the future holds and most importantly fail to develop our own SELF-IDENTITY.

My middle child Brynn lives her life to the beat of her own drum and always has. She doesn't care what the world thinks of her and if something doesn't agree with her she is always the first to respond "WHY?" Living with four amazing woman you better believe that the one thing that my girls don't lack is clothes. This summer at camp while my oldest was living the life of glamour (in her mind) each day Brynn had what we called the uniform. The same Justin Bieber T-Shirt and pink Justice shorts. In her world this outfit made her feel right at home and comfortable. Everyone at camp must have thought we only cared about our oldest and not her. At the end of the day she didn't care what people thought (I will say that we washed that outfit almost every night and it has since been retired).

Brynn's mind works similar to the way a person gifted in the game of chess plays. She is always 5 moves ahead in her thoughts. Nothing she does happens by chance but is more planned out in her head ahead of time. At 5 years old she knows how people should be treated and she knows how people will respond to the way she acts.

It is important that everyone take time every so often to sit back and reflect on what type of person you have become. Or for that argument what type of person do you want to be. Time may get away from you in the busy life style that we live and you may loose sight of the person you want to be. I know at times if I get busy and let some of the minor stressers in my life take over that I start to loose focus of the goals I have in place in my life. Some of those goals are always having a positive frame of mind. If you start the day thinking about your goals for the day and slowly chip them away your outlook on life is powerful and the energy will spread to others. If you start the day in the dumps and don't focus on the days goals the stress of life will accumulate and soon you will be the one sapping those around you of energy instead of spreading the energy.

So my question to you is are you happy with the identity you display to the world? If not what are you doing to change that image that you portray? Its never to late to make an impact and I challenge you today to step up to the plate.

Make It Count!!!!

On a quick side note...I have been in the sport of triathon for about 15 years and have had many accomplishments during that time that I am very proud of. This past weekend at a triathlon not to far from the house I had the honor of pushing myself and finishing first overall in a triathlon for the first time in my athletic career. The admiration of other racers post race and the joy of being the top racer was a feeling that I could get use to. However the one thing I took away from the race is I love to compete and I love being healthy enough to get out there and try and make a difference.

Self-Confidence

Coaching athletes over the years and treating thousands of patients has taught me one thing about a common trend affecting most people in today's society....an overall lack of self-confidence. I have witnessed first hand people that are on the brink of greatness and the one thing holding them back is a lack of believing in themselves. Most of my patients that take awhile to get better or my athletes that train 100% according to plan but consistently lack execution on race is mostly due to the fact that they don't believe they have what it takes to truly succeed.

I believe that failure can be the cause of why some people can't get over that hurdle. The fear of failing over and over haunts these people to no end. One can have near perfect execution in training or learning but when the big day comes if you don't have the self-confidence in yourself all that hard work becomes hard to apply towards your goal.

I try and not let failure enter my thought process when I develop my goals and go through the day to day task of accomplishing them. The reason I don't give failure the attention that it sometimes steals from us is that I know its going to happen and there is nothing I can do about it from happening. What I can do is learn from my mistakes, bad training days, lack of focus and failures and build upon them in the future. I can take that failure and then apply what I have learned from it and hopefully succeed the next time I try which in turn builds my self confidence each day.

We all have the capability to accomplish anything we set you minds to. There is nothing that should stand in our way from succeeding beyond our wildest dreams. However lots of people fail to believe in themselves 100% and when we start second guessing all of our decisions then we start to fade away from living a life of faith in our abilities.

I recently picked up the book The Power of Positive Thinking and along with having faith the number one goal the author has for everyone that reads the book is developing a deep down believe in ones own self confidence. Without it we are just going through the motions each day and not truly taking advantage of how great we can be.

I have attached two photos for reference in this article. The first one is of me starting the run at Ironman Lake Placid this summer. Going into the race I didn't have the best training the last 8 weeks of training due to the birth of my beautiful little lady. However what I did have going into the race was 110% confidence in myself and my ability to get things done when needed. Coming off the bike I felt extremely confident and ready to drop the hammer on the run. In the end what I lacked in some top end running training was made up for in my confidence in getting things done on the run and I had my fastest Ironman marathon time ever.

The second photo is of my 7 year old at her second triathlon this summer. Anyone that knows her always comments on how confident she is in herself. There is nothing that she attempts that she doesn't go into thinking she will master with effort. She is not afraid of failure at 7 years old and knows that if she gives it her best effort that she will be able to accomplish anything eventually. This girl has taught me so many valuable lessons in her short 7 years that I have been searching for most of my life. As the supportive dad I always try and be there for her and teach her that everything comes from ones frame of mind. If you believe in yourself anything can be accomplished and I can say that she is following daddies words and making the most out of her life.

As always take advantage of what you have been given in life and MAKE IT COUNT!!!!!

Growth

Growth comes in many different fashions in today's society. I have the pleasure and privilege of seeing growth happen every single day I wake up. Being a father is something I always thought would be exciting but I will have to admit that my previous expectations don't come close to how awesome it truly is. Not only do I have a direct impact on guidance and advice I can provide but I can also sit back and watch them become incredible young woman making the right decisions in life.

The baby has allowed all four of us to realized how precious life is. If at anytime we are having a bad day all we have to do is walk up to her and talk in baby language (I have gotten really good at the goo goo ga gaas) and the smile of pure love makes all the negatives melt away. I have witnessed the two older daughters mature into the big sisters I always knew they could be and yes from the looks of it the baby likes to eat.

Growth also comes in how we approach life. Part of being successful in anything you attempt whether it be business, relationships, sports or self confidence is always revolved around failure. Not to sound over confident but I have been blessed in accomplishing lots in my 37 years (more than I could ever have imagined) but it hasn't come without failure and self-doubt.

What stops most people from success in life is the fear of failure or they do fail and don't think they have what it takes to give it another shot. This is the flaw that I feel everyone can work on and push through to accomplish anything they set their minds to. All failure does is teach us what not to do the next time and how to think outside the box on what it would take to succeed. This is where GROWTH really takes over and allows us to succeed and teach the world that nothing can hold us down.

Just look at the recent success of Diana Nyad swimming 110 miles non-stop. She could have easily just thrown in the towel but her determination and ability to learn from her mistakes allowed her to believe in her abilities and push past the previous failures and GROW as an individual. Now her accomplishment is out of this world amazing but I bet if you take a minute and think of your biggest accomplishments you will see how you grew during the experiences and how it has made you a better person for it.

My oldest never ceases to amaze me with her determination and constant drive to push past any limits she may have on herself and grow as an individual. This past weekend her and I ran a 5K in which she told me she wanted to run it by herself and not with me. After I finished the race and cheered on a few people, I told my wife that I wanted to go see how she was doing so I started to back track the course but didn't have to go that far. To my amazement I looked down the road and saw her tiny legs speeding towards me. As she approached I asked her what she was doing (couldn't believe how fast she was) and she simply just told me "I am running dad". She crossed the finish line in 28 minutes holding her head up high and stating that she didn't walk and she was proud of her achievement.

What I would challenge all of you to do is put down on paper what your biggest goals are in life. Draw out a plan of attack and know that along the journey you may fail but if you learn from your mistakes and GROW your dreams will come true. If we could all apply this to our life's and know that nothing can bring us down then the world we live in would be amazing.

Make It Count!!!!

Falling Into Place

Well its been two weeks since my big race of the year and other than some stiffness in the legs (been lazy the past two weeks so recovery is slow) I am feeling back to normal and busy loving every second with my girls.

I might as well jump into the main reason this blog was originally started and it was a place where I could write down my journey towards the finish line of Ironman Lake Placid while spreading the word of my cousin Jimmy who was loosing his life to cancer. I think that what the journey taught me was that in the big picture the race was very insignificant in my life. I have put all this pressure on always training the right way, always eating the right way, always getting enough sleep, always maintaining a healthy mental outlook and that if I didn't succeed then the whole process was a giant waste of time. Well I sit back on the coach now and tell you that I have been living with blinders on for most of my triathlon career.

At the end of the day everything that I was focusing on is important but only in small increments individually. One can get caught up in the process and never admire the beauty that is surrounds them daily. In my world my beauty is my family and the friends that I have surrounded myself with. Without any of them this world would probably be pretty empty and quit frankly no fun.

I knew deep down that my training for Lake Placid was going to be interesting due to family commitments and a growing business. I however believed that if I could devote all my energy into the time I did have that I would at least know that I did everything in my power to prepare for what I wanted to be the race of my life.

The following is a short race report of my days in Lake Placid:

I drove up to Lake Placid the Wednesday before the race so that I could soak in the aura of the olympic energy that has been part of the town for decades. The only negative part of the drive up was having to talk to myself for 8 hours but I guess after being an endurance athlete for 15 years talking to myself is a common occurrence. The couple days prior to racing an Ironman can be relaxing or stressful depending on the company one keeps around themselves. I can say that I nailed my company perfectly this time around with all the wonderful people from Mid Maryland Triathlon Club, Josh and Becky Nipper and one of my best friends in the entire world Eduardo Guerra (and his beautiful bride,Stacy). My days prior where pretty uneventful and for the first time prior to Ironman I felt very calm in my mental prep. I knew that I had nailed some crucial workouts and although I didn't get in the volume or time that I had wanted I knew that my confidence in myself and the confidence of those I surround myself with could carry me when things got tough.

Race Morning:
I woke up at 3AM so that I could get my nutrition in place and then just chill before heading to the race start as I felt I was in a good place physically and mentally. Race morning nutrition consisted of one banana, two bottles of Ensure, 500 calories of oatmeal and of course COFFEE!!! After hanging out and doing one last mental rehearsal of the race it was time to head to the race start.

Swim:
Ironman forever has consisted of a mass start in which about 2500 of your closet friends line up in a small area waiting for the gun to go off. What happens next is what I call a bout of mixed martial arts in the water as everyone is jocking for position and open water which doesn't exist when you corral that many people into a small area. At the end of the day this is something I truly love and maybe its because I grew up swimming every day in open water and consider myself a stronger swimmer. Regardless Ironman is trying to make the swim a safer environment for the masses so they have switched the race to a rolling time trial start. I lined up with the fast swimmers in the estimated swim times of under an hour. The swim in lake placid is a two loop swim for a total for 2.4 miles. Everything was on track for under 60 minutes until about 300 meters to go when we ran into the back of the slow pack which closed down the open lanes and slowed my time down. The best part of the swim is that I came out of the water not taxed one bit and felt great heading into the bike. I wish I could give you secret advise to how I felt so great but in reality this was only the 5th time I have swam all year with no other swim longer than 45 minutes. Total swim time: 1:02:49

T1: The first transition at Lake Placid is somewhat of a run from the lake to the tent and the only thing that I noticed while getting ready for the bike was the fact that it had started to rain. At this point in my mind all I could think about was going doing the 6 mile decent in the pouring rain which scared me. Total T1 Time: 6:03

Bike: My training this time around has been unorthodox in nature due to the fact that we expanded out family and time was not on my side for leaving my wife for long OUTDOOR rides. That being said I only road outdoors twice in my training leading up to Lake Placid so most of my training was on my trainer in the "mancave". One of those sessions included a 140 mile bike ride (yes I need to be examined for psychological issues) with a 3 mile run to follow. The good thing about all those indoor rides was that mentally I knew I would be strong. The bike in placid is said to be one or lost in the first 15 miles of the bike. What that means is many people typically blow out the gates and don't realize it until about 15 miles in that they went out to hard and now most of the rest of their race is sacrificed. I stuck to my plan the entire bike (looking back I can break it apart and say I could have probably gone 10-15 minutes faster) and everything went well for the most part. I did have some stomach issues abour mile 45 in which some of my oatmeal was starting to come back up but that subsided pretty quick. I do know that getting out more and riding more of the longer descents will be in my future should I ever race Placid again. The only reason I say that is because I felt a little timid on the bike going 40-50MPH in the rain knowing that at any second my day could come to a very bad end.  Total Bike Time: 5:34:33

T2: The second transition is always the easiest in my mind as there really isn't a whole lot to do before one starts the run. You hand your bike off to a volunteer and then head into the changing tent where another volunteer dumps out your bag and helps you obtain any items you may need. For me all I needed was a fresh pair or socks, my shoes and a visor. Total Time: 2:50

Run: The run was the one leg of Lake Placid that I was most excited for and the one that I was the most scared of. I had some great early season run training in which I was running the fastest times I have put down in my life. My legs where turning over fast and there was not one hill that could slow down the strength that I had built. Then my beautiful little girl was born and some of that amazing run training came to a screaming halt. Balancing another kid to the family, sleepless nights, not the greatness nutrition and lacking the drive to get out the door in the morning threw a wrench into my training. Thats not to say I didn't have some great run sessions they were just few and far between at this point in the game. Looking back though I wouldn't have changed one thing. Spending time with my family versus training more is not my goal in life. So back to the run...I left transition with what felt like brand new springs in my legs. Quarter mile out of transition I looked down at my GPS watch to see I was running 6:45 pace which I knew I couldn't hold but I also thought well lets give it a shot. That was until our local pro suzy serpico yelled "Slow Down Oergel!!!". It was at that point that I knew I was playing with poision if I was thinking I could keep up that pace. So I slowed in down to the low 7's and plugged along. I felt absolutely awesome for the first 8 miles of the run and that is when my mind started to get weak on me (probably from the fact that at this point in the run you are out on a part of the course that is just you and the elements with no support). Before my mind took to much of a downward spiral I started talking to myself...well more talking to Jimmy asking for the inner strength and courage to push past this point. I knew that he went through more discomfort when getting chemo and dealing with the side effects of brain cancer. I also know that he pushed past those moments with strength and was always there with a smile and positive outlook on life. So sure enough after about a mile of inner talk and thinking of my ladies sitting at home cheering for me on the computer my mindset changed from one of difficulty to one of ease. For the next 8 miles I just plugged along trying to soak in as much of the experience as I could. Around mile 17-18 I even thought about dropping the pace and going for it as I started to feel like I had the strength to do anything...however I decided to stick to the plan. If I had stuck to my training plan without the interruptions I have no doubt in my mind that I could have taken another 15-20 minutes off of my run. The fun part of coming to the finish in Lake Placid is that they have the finish line set up on the olympic oval in town. I will never have the opportunity to be in the olympics but for a brief second with all the energy that is in the atmosphere in Lake Placid you get the feeling of what it would feel like. Total Run Time: 3:32:30

Total Time: 10:18:45
Overall Place: 100 out of 2537
Age Group Place: 20 out of 304

In the end I didn't meet my goal of qualifying for the Hawaii Ironman. The fast guys came out this year in Placid which is always more fun racing against the best. Was I let down that I didn't accomplish my main goal....not one bit. I stuck to my plan and nailed it with precision. I was able to race for a cause of keeping my wife's cousin Jimmy's spirits alive and well. I was able to show my girls that if you try your best (no matter what you have going on in your life) you can accomplish anything you set your mind to. I was able to help numerous friends up in Lake Placid who where embarking on their first Ironman attempt. I was able to show up to race day healthy as sometimes that is the hardest part of our sport is getting to the start line healthy. I was able to spend time with one of my best friends in the world who I unfortunately don't get to see all that often...love the Guerras!!!! I was able to use my healing ability as a chiropractor to keep a bunch of competitors healthy so they could achieve their goals. I was able to cheer on a new buddy of mine as he pushed past the demons telling him to stop on his way to finishing the race in 17 hours and becoming an Ironman...your determination and drive is contagious Sergio. I was given the honor of being asked to do the race for Team Inspiration and carrying the Inspiration Flag across the finish line...my goal in life is always to inspire others and try and live life to the fullest as nothing is guaranteed. Most importantly above everything else I was able to remind my wife why she married this crazy (probably a few screws loose) man.

There are too many people to thank for helping me this year through our crazy life we live. Just know that I love each and everyone of you and that I appreciate you letting me into your life. This is not the end of a journey for me but just another chapter in my life which I am sure will be just as crazy as past chapters. I have new goals for the next two years of my life which includes racing the 2015 Age Group Triathlon World Championships in my home town of Chicago. In the meantime my goal right now is to spend quality time with those close to me and constantly remind them how special they are to me.

One last special thanks to Jimmy for getting me past that dark place in the Ironman and I hope that I made you proud.

Make It Count!!!!

Perspective

As I write this post we are about 12 days out from Ironman Lake Placid which is hard to believe with how crazy busy this year has been so far. This will probably be my last post before the race but I am sure to follow it up after the race as the feedback from most of you has been very inspiring.  Who ever knew that putting words down was so therapeutic.

We live in a crazy world these days in which if you blink an eye time will fly bye leaving you wondering where the days went. Perfect example is my middle (still hard to believe I have a middle daughter) daughter will be a very grown up 5 years old this Friday and growing up faster than I would like. The speed at which they grow up is one reason why family will forever be my number one priority above everything else. I feel if I don't engulf myself in everything they do then someday I will be kicking myself.

Adding the third child into the mix this year has been very challenging recently in that it adds one more kink into our already busy world. My wife and I have had to become even more of a fluid machine or else everything becomes just a little crazy. I know both of us are ready for the Ironman to be behind us as it will open up a little more time in our world while Little C is still young. The most amazing thing about my wife though is she would never complain about me having to train or the race itself. She is my number one support person which I know is hard for her as she is busier than me but always keeps a smile on her face.

In the world of Ironman triathlon racing the last 2 weeks before the race (called the taper) is usually the hardest for most athletes to handle. Not because they are physically demanding weeks but more the psychological stress builds to a boiling point for many athletes. For most people they have devoted at least a year of very focused training and when you start taking away that time of training along with the looming race deadline approaching a lot of athletes tend to become very stressed. There is even a tendency at times to question every single day of training that you have done and wonder if you have done enough. As as sports medicine physician that deals with most of these athletes and their injuries I get the pleasure of also helping calm the minds of many of these athletes.

At the end of the day we are blessed with even being healthy enough to compete in the race. There are plenty of people that would love to have the opportunity to toe the start line but for whatever reason life didn't give them the chance. That is the main driving factor why I tend to not be so stressed before the race. I have seen to many diseases end peoples dreams and I know that no matter what I will cross that finish line on July 28th with a smile on my face. Hopefully the training has paid off and I will be one of the lucky few and my dream of racing on the big island will come true but if not I know that just showing up with a positive mindset and racing for those that can't is also a victory.

Enough of the rambling today as I hear my little lady crying for me in the background. Thanks to everyone in my world that continues to support me and know from deep down in my heart that I appreciate everyone of you. Many thanks again to my wife Britt...without her in my life I am not sure I would have come close to becoming the person I am today. I owe her a lot for being in my life and pretty sure I will never be able to repay her.

Make It Count!!!!

P.S. If you live in the Maryland/DC/Virginia area you should look into the Mid-Maryland Triathlon Club or Maple Lawn Endurance Club. Many of the members are competing in their first Ironman at Lake Placid and many of these people have become like a second family to me. The sport of triathlon has some amazing people in it but many of the people in this club take that to the next level and are exceptional people which I can't wait to cheer in to the finish line on July 28th.

Appreciation

At 36 years of age it has taken me awhile but I can honestly say that I have finally been able to appreciate some of the finer things in life. I think when I was younger I just took most of these things for granted as things that were just suppose to happen. The problem with this very narrow focus of thinking is that we never truly tell those people how much they are appreciated, we never sit back and appreciate how great our life is and sometimes we never change as individuals because we just assume that everything will stay the course and never change.

I have had lots of time to think the past 5 days as I was left behind as my family went away on vacation and it has left me time to ponder what I appreciate most in this life. I could go on forever as hundreds of things come to mind but there are three things that stand out in my mind as the most important things in my life.

Number one will always be my family. The first day they were away I can honestly say was great as I was able to get about 6 hours in of uninterrupted Ironman training. Then reality hit me the next morning I woke...I missed my ladies very much. The craziness of three girls along with always having my best friend next to me was missing and I felt empty. My wife is the most amazing person I have ever met and is the main reason that I always push on to be the best person I can be more cause I guess I always want to impress her. I see so much of her in my daughters which constantly puts a smile on my face. In the end I appreciate how much they love me and how no matter what happens day to day they are always there for me.

Number two is the sport of triathlon. The sport came into my life when I graduated college and has opened so many doors for me in life. I have been able to place large goals on my shoulders through triathlon and the confidence I have gained in the sport has lead me to a confidence that anything is possible as long as you have a solid plan of attack and never give up. There have been many races over the past 14 years where I reached a dark place in the race but the constant one foot in front of another has lead me out of that darkness and into a place of accomplishing any goal I want. The other thing that has come out of triathlon is the people I have met over the years. Triathlon attracts some of the most incredible people you will ever meet in your life and I want everyone of you to know how gratefull and appreciative I am to have you in my life.

Number three is my mother in law Susan. Many of you that know me know that I am a Chicago boy who eventually planted roots in Texas and thought I would never leave. We had everything from very successful jobs, incredible friends, beautiful house (without east coast prices) and life was perfect. Well not perfect enough as we didn't have extended family nearby and mostly grandparents to be exact. In the end we decided to move to Maryland to be near my wife's family and although it has been challenging at times I must say that it has been one of the best decisions we have ever made. My mother in law is one of the most unselfish, funny, intelligent and most incredible grandmas out there. She has made my daughters life's so rich and full of experiences that one day I hope they understand how great they have it.  She is always there for us no matter the time of day and the whole stigma of having bad in-laws missed me as I am very lucky to have such an amazing woman in my life. She has confirmed my decision that moving was the right decision and I want her to know how appreciative I am to have her around.

I ask everyone to just take a second today and let someone in your life know how appreciative you are of them and how they make your life that much better. I promise they will enjoy hearing the words and they may spread the word on to someone else which in turn will make the world a little better place to live.

On a side note I have turned my 10 days away from family into Epic Camp Jake which means I have nothing else to do but fit in a huge training week. I will fill you in with numbers once I am done with my own training camp but so far in 5 days I am at 18 hours of training and trying to balance improvement with recovery...exciting times!!!

Make It Count!!!!

Quitting

This a word that I have never used in my life as I have always contributed it to taking the easy way out. In my mind the easy way out never allows us to learn anything about ourselves or grow as individuals. Don't get me wrong though...with everything that I have accomplished in my life so far there have been plenty of moments when failure was the ultimate outcome and quitting would have been a lot easier then finishing the task.

Growing up my parents worked extremely hard and most of the time worked a second job or two so that my sisters and I could enjoy everything that our friends had. They could have quit many times and told my sisters and I to suck it up but in the end they didn't. They woke up every morning with the determination to work as hard as they could and not let anything set them back so that their family could live the good life.

It is hard for me to say this but this morning the word quit came out of my mouth for the first time in my 37 years of existence. Any one close to me knows that myself and my family have a lot going on currently with a new addition to the family, growing professional success, a constant desire to always make sure my daughters are striving to the next level, a growing coaching business and on top of that my passion to reach the island of kona at Ironman Lake Placid this summer. Well being a family man my training has taken a back seat since the baby was born and the constant toll of trying to get all the training in finally broke me.

I said to my wife this morning that "I QUIT and that i was backing out of Lake Placid this summer". Of course my wife's first reaction was excuse me as that is not typical talk used in the Oergel household. The mounting pressure of getting workouts in and the occasion zero days were starting to take there toll and the easiest reaction I had was to run for the hills.

After a while of selfish ranting I had to take a step back and realize that I am not allowed to "Quit" and I thought of three close friends who would literally smack me in the face for even thinking of it. My wife's cousin Jimmy, who recently passed away from brain cancer, would have loved even 10 seconds a day to exercise and enjoy life a little more. My best buddy in the world and brother from another mother Eduardo who was told by doctors that he would never race again due to a heart condition never gave up and pushed on for almost 2 years with the small hope that God would give him the gift of long distance torture just one more time....and sure enough he did and will also be racing Lake Placid this summer. Then there is another buddy of my Brian who just recently was released by his neurologist to race again after months of major neurological problems sustained from a motor vehicle accident in which he was lucky to walk away. There are millions of more storied out there that touch me all the time.

So after some selfishness this morning I have come to the conclusion that I will not QUIT. I will continue to course although maybe a shorted course due to family obligations but I will toe the start line in Lake Placid with the will to just give it my best that day.

Part of my job as a health care provider has been also helping people mentally acquire their goals and stay true to the course. I think its about time that I listened to myself.

New Beginnings

It has been a few weeks since I last posted something and I apologize to those who have asked for a post and I have not delivered. The past 2.5 weeks have been a blessing in itself as my wife and I welcomed into our family our third princess. She has been nothing but amazing and although I haven't slept well in awhile now I wouldn't change it for the world.

She is the main reason for the topic of this post this time around. New Beginnings are not something that come around to often in our life but when you step back and analyze how powerful your life is then you will realize that it can happen more than not.

I believe that each day we wake up and are able to take a deep breath is a New Beginning. Its a chance to put aside anything that may have happened negative in the past and build towards the positive. Its one of the few opportunities in this life to literally operate on a clean slate. What was done in the past is exactly that....in the past!!! Take the opportunity of being presented with a new day to make something out of your future. The change may be small but I promise you that the smallest changes lead to huge payouts down the line. For example....small dietary changes (i.e. eliminating excess sugar) can lead to improved health benefits in 5, 10, 15 years....doing one kind gesture to a stranger may open their eyes to a world that may be caving in on them....telling a loved one how much they mean to you in case you never get the opportunity again.

I am fresh off of seeing the blessing of life and all its wonders but I have already made promises to my family to always be there for them no matter what. It is not always easy and some sacrifices need to be made but at the end of the day its these small sacrifices that lead to a life of greatness.

One of my main goals for as long as I can remember has been to someday race the Hawaii Ironman. The passion I have for that race goes deep and not a day goes bye that I don't envision myself flying down the Queen K on my bike. Since having our third princess born though I have had to re-evaluate my goals this year towards trying to qualify for Hawaii at Ironman Lake Placid this summer. I have had a tremendous year of training up until May and would the race have been today I have no doubt that I may have been in the running. At the end of the day though being there for my family and making sure that I am a part of every developmental stage is more important to me than any race. My day will come when the sun glistens on me in Kona but today my focus is family.

On this memorial day I say thank you to all the troops that have fought for our country over the years. Without your dedication to our country many of use would not have the luxury of waking up everyday to an amazing new world and creating the New Beginnings that make it a life worth living.

Dig Deep!!!

Hard to believe that today is May 1st the year seems to be flying by in the blink of an eye. I hope that everyone has been maximizing their year knowing that everyone has the potential to be great. 

Being a sports specific chiropractor I have noticed a common theme with many of my runners, triathletes, cyclists and cross fitters recently....tired and losing some focus on their training. Most of this applies to the many patients I have competing in an Ironman this summer. They have been at training for awhile now and although most are enjoying the challenge many of them seem to be burning out. 

In my mind Ironman training is similar to every other goal or dream you have in your life. You have to put in the effort both mentally as well as physically to succeed and accomplish your dream. There will be some days when you wake up and say why am I pushing myself this hard, why do I always smell like chlorine, why can't I just sleep in instead of being up before the birds and the list goes on and on. 

You  just have to DIG DEEP and push yourself to the next level then the reward in the end will be absolutely amazing. The day to day consistency that goes into long course triathlon racing can be tough at times but the reward of crossing that finish line at your race and either qualifying for a world championship or just hearing the announcer say "INSERT NAME HERE" you are an Ironman...is an amazing feeling and something that pushes me everyday. I also push myself a little deeper each day as I was given the gift to be able to do this sport. I love to wake up each day and push myself to the limit and see how I will respond physically and mentally. There is a matter of DIGGING DEEP that is another challenge which is the ability to allow yourself to rest/recover. We also have to be able to incorporate recovery strategies that allow you to be able to push yourself on those hard days. I would say this is probably more of a strategy of mental control knowing that backing off in training helps just as much. The reason most people come into my clinic is they didn't incorporate enough recovery into their schedule. 

This summer at Ironman Lake Placid I will have to dig deeper than I ever have in a race before knowing what my times need to be to qualify for Ironman Hawaii. The thing is the pain won't be anywhere close to what Jimmy had to go through in his bout with cancer and this will push me to dig deeper while not complaining of the pain. I will be racing with the idea of constantly pushing the envelope and not giving up due to a little pain but knowing that I am racing for something bigger than me.

So when things seem hard or you are feeling defeated I ask you to take a deep breath and give it that extra effort knowing that you have the ability to accomplish anything you put your mind to.

Make it count!!!!

Memories

I missed posting this past weekend due to family commitments and my continued urge to always be there for my wife and kids and develop as many memories as we can. I have been blessed over the past 36 years to have shaped some incredible memories that keep me searching for more. Looking back at these memories most of them have shaped the person I am today and have taught me the same values that I try to teach my little ladies everyday.

This past Friday my wife's cousin Jimmy unfortunately lost his battle with cancer. I was both sad and frustrated that this terrible disease took such a young person away from us. Sometimes events just don't seem fair and I wish that there was more that I could do to change the world. I just have to keep reminding myself that if I can accomplish the small things everyday and always smile that it will change someones life hopefully for the better and that's all I can ask for.

I have noticed one common theme after loosing a couple close people to cancer over the years and that's the memories we have of them. The great memories of the good times seem to out weigh the sad days that come at the end and I am grateful for this. I was with my grandmother years ago when cancer took her life and to this day I remember all the great memories and not the final few days. I remember her telling me all about the upcoming Chicago Bears season and what she felt about what management was doing...as a kid I thought how cool is my grandmother that she is a bigger Da Bears fan than I was. I saw pictures of Jimmy the final weeks of his life and the first thing that always came to my mind was how he always had a smile on his face and such a positive outlook and not what cancer had done to him in the end.

As my wife and I get closer to welcoming our third princess into the world in a few weeks my mind is full of joy looking back over the past 10 years my wife and I have been married. She was there for me when I decided to do my first Ironman, she helped support me while I went back to school and more than anything else she has helped me raise two amazing little girls. If the memories I have had the past 10 years are any indication of what the future brings than I have hit the lottery.

What I am trying to get at with this post is don't waste your time worrying about the little things but make time every single day of creating memories with those around you. They will enrich your life more than you can imagine and when your time comes to leave this world people will remember all the amazing moments you provided them with.

As always thanks to everyone who has helped out Jimmy's family. Please keep them in your prayers as they go through the grieving process. I know that I will not give up the fight and I will do my best to spread the word.

On a training note I have had a great couple weeks of training and I am feeling stronger every single day going into Lake Placid Ironman this summer. Last weeks totals:
Swim: 5000...anyone that knows me knows I dont swim much so this is my start towards the next 13 weeks
Bike: 230 miles
Run: 38 miles
This week looks to be bigger and then I am planning on a recovery week soon when my new little lady arrives....

Make It Count!!!!

Teamwork

This weeks events have hit me hard emotionally on a few angles (Boston from the aspect that I have been racing for 15 years with many family and friends cheering me on from the sidelines and Texas from the angle that its my second home and some of the most amazing people I have ever met) and I want to first say that my heart and prayers go out to everyone that has been affected by these tragic events.

With so many thoughts running through my head this week I couldn't nail down a particular topic until this morning when the word TEAMWORK came to mind.

It is hard for many of us to be successful in life without a solid foundation and support team behind us. If you were to peel back the onion of successful organizations/individuals I believe that you would see one common theme...teamwork.

Many people ask me how I am able to squeeze everything I have on my plate into a 24 hour period (two soon to be three kids, busy chiropractic practice, coaching, training for Ironman and giving my wife all the attention she deserves)...well my answer is simply I couldn't do it without the support of my family and the teamwork that my Oergel princesses provide. Anyone that has ever trained for an Ironman Triathlon with a family knows that the teamwork and family support is crucial to the success of the race and the enjoyment that comes with the journey of training.

In the past three days with the unfortunate events that have taken place we have seen amazing feats of teamwork. When the tragedy happened in Boston instead of people running away they joined each other in an effort of teamwork to help those injured. The first responders came together and with that they were able to save the lives of many people due to teamwork. I would like to say I was amazed that so many runners went straight to the hospitals to donate blood for those in need but I am not. The community of endurance sports is an amazing community and it is one of the reasons I love the sport. Its a community of individuals who typically put themselves second in order to make sure those around them are taken care of first.

The last thing I see lots of teamwork in is the people that deal with cancer. Whether its the immediate family, friends circling the wagon, the doctors or the hospice team...the one common theme is being there for the individual and making sure they know how much support that person has.

Thanks to everyone that continues to support Jimmy and his family. Please take a second and read the caring bridge site ( link at top of page) that his wife has set up. She has been an amazing person through this and is the leader of their team.

I am not going to talk much about my training this time but will say that things are going as planned and I will continue to push on with a smile as I am doing this for those who's life's were cut short from recent events or from diseases like cancer.

Make It Count!!!!

Inspiration

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" Wayne Gretzky

There are many things in my 37 years that have inspired me to be better or try harder but this past week I had the privilege of being part of one little girls journey of never giving up.

My oldest daughter Avery has never ceased to amaze me at her drive and ability to always be optimistic. She attacks almost every situation with the will to give it 110% commitment and nothing less. She never complains but instead tries to motivate those around her to also give there best.

This past week she was the lead (Ms. Cruella Deville) in the schools play 101 Dalmations and then 24 hours later had her first step competition. Not once in the week did she say she couldn't do it but woke up each morning with a smile saying today is going to be a great day.

There was a moment of weakness the morning of the play as I was driving her to school but she once again told me that she was ready for everything she was just worried about missing a line or two (she had so many and a solo song!!!) and letting everyone down. I told her that was a common worry and that we can never be perfect in our daily tasks. Everyone no matter their position or chapter in life always hits a moment on weakness or failure. Its how we respond to those moments that determines our greatness. We have two options of either giving up and getting frustrated or we can learn from our mistakes and be better the next time around. I know most of this to a 7 year old would seem like a foreign language but not my little princess.  She proceeded to say you make great sense dad and I will grow from this experience.

She continues to inspire me to try harder and never give up as her own determination and ability to believe in herself inspires me to be a better person. What gives me the right to give up and lack the confidence when my little lady can be so strong.

Those that fight cancer also typically develop a belief of never giving up and wanting to spread the word that life is to fragile not to give your best. Jimmy is fighting the fight right now and not giving up even though giving up would be the easiest way out.

It will always be easier to give up when things get tough but I promise you that if you just give a little extra effort you will be blessed with incredible experiences and you will be amazed at what type of person is deep inside you.

As always thanks for the donations to Jimmy's fund and for following his progress as he is in our thoughts and prayers everyday. For everyone else who is dealing with cancer we want them to know they are in our prayers as well.

This past week training wise has been smooth also with the following stats:
Bike: 190 miles
Run: 41 miles
Strength: 1 hour
Swim: swim training starts tomorrow....pays to have been a competitive swimmer growing up!!!

Make It Count!!!!

No Regrets...

“Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.” ~ Groucho Marx

No regrets is the only way to approach life each day. There are so many opportunities for greatness in today's world but most of it will never be given to you so you have to take control of your life to make sure you are in charge of your future. 

When I was first out of college I lived blocks from Wriggle Field (greatest city in the world) and loved every second of it and was given a great opportunity with one of the largest sports and entertainment firms. It was an amazing opportunity but I had to move to the New York City. Being one that has always tried to maximize my opportunities in life I didn't think twice as it was an incredible opportunity. I packed my bags and moved with no regrets. 

My life changed direction and helped shape who I am today and the incredible system I have in place behind me. I got to hang out with professional athletes, build self confidence that makes decision making easier, started participating in the best sport in the world...triathlon, realized after years in the corporate world that I had more of a gift of helping people (hence my profession as a chiropractor) and most importantly met the woman of my dreams. 

I want to know that if my time was to end today that I have done everything in my power to leave this world with no regrets. I want people to think how great I was with my family, how much I loved my wife and most important have inspired people to try a little harder in life to make a difference in yourself and those around you. 

The best part is I can honestly say I have no regrets so far in my life. Can you sit back while reading this and feel the same? Don't get me wrong there is so much more on my list that I want to accomplish and be a part of...walking my daughters down the aisle (probably crying the whole way), continuing to teach them how small things can make a huge difference in someones life, racing the Hawaii Ironman, traveling the world with my wife and most importantly constantly believing that if I believe in myself and live a life of no regrets my life will be richer than any money could provide. 

If makes me sad that Jimmy is towards the end of his battle with brain cancer but I know for sure from knowing him that his enjoyed his time and has taught his family how to carry on the tradition. 

So do me a favor and evaluate your goals and know that anything is possible in life. That dream of yours can happen with just a little extra energy. Also always make sure that those friends and family around you know how much you care for them as time is fragile and its important to maximize our time on this earth. 

On a side note we hit almost 90 degrees on the east coast which meant a blissful 10 mile tempo run at lunch and everything is falling into place for Lake Placid.

Stick with your dreams and anything is possible....

Make It Count!!!!

Following is a picture of post Half Ironman World Championships in vegas last fall...I put everything I had out on the course in rough temps knowing that the pain would be short term but the pain of knowing I didn't give it my all would haunt me forever...No Regrets!!!