This past weekend saw my children being very active.  The highlight for me had to be watching Pie (my daughter) participate in her first High School Cross-Country Meet.  I am not sure who was more excited (me or her), and we both waited with anticipation for the race to begin.  Pie executed herself amazingly well, coming in 9^th overall (out of 51) and first for her school.  I swelled with fatherly pride and could not be happier.  I was also a little smug, when I thought back to just a few short months ago, when I practically forced my daughter to try out track.  She didn’t want to go at first, but once she discovered it, I could tell she liked it a lot.  Since she has been on the team, I could tell she has so much more energy, many more friends and simply exudes and enthusiasm towards life.

Beast Jr. was also no slacker over this weekend.  He had two games of Flag Football, but the highlight for him was the exceptional pitching he provided for his travel baseball team (he had two baseball games as well).  He pitched 3 strong innings and only gave up a few runs due to some shoddy defense.  The highlight was when he struck out the side in his second inning.  He then went on to cover catcher for a couple of innings, when the current catcher got hurt, even though he was tired from pitching.  He did it without complaint and played flawlessly.

I am very happy and proud my children are leading a healthy and active lifestyle.  I could only imagine that my own active lifestyle has somehow influenced them into pursuing athletics.  I truly believe that this will not only pay huge dividends to them in the future, but it is paying dividends to me right now.  Having come off a less than satisfactory Furnace Creek 508, I have found myself beginning to get that itch to get myself back together.  My children are inspiring me as well as I see the pure enjoyment in their eyes as they participate in their sports.  This enjoyment and enthusiasm is pouring over into me and I find myself on fire this week as I restarted my training.

This time around, I am dedicating myself to be a complete and all around athlete.  I am making sure that I incorporate multiple disciplines (specifically swimming, cycling, running) as well as core fitness in the form of Boot Camp Fitness.  Already during this past week I ran to the pool 3 times, swam over 6000 yards and have run 23 miles.  I still need to setup my bikes again, but I’ll probably wait until after the NYC Marathon which is in only 2 short weeks.

For the first time in a while, I am seriously looking forward to training for my upcoming events.  I could see the differences in my body as I’ve finally got my diet under control.  I can’t wait to fill out that entry form for next year’s Furnace Creek 508 and pray that I get in.  I have unfinished business, both in regards to the FC508 and IMLP.  When those races arrive, I am going to eat them up.