Morning shakes

It's been awhile since I was shaking and sick to my stomach on the way to campus. No, I don't have a major exam. No I am not ill or malnourished. I was full of nervous energy thinking about my workout today.

It's been too long since I've gotten a good dose of fear in the morning. The quesions of "Will I make it?", "How fast can I go today?", and "I hope I don't throw up" raced through my mind as I drove to the gym on campus. Somehow I know on a gut level that if I don't fear my workout, if I don't intentionally put myself in an uncomfortable situation, then I'll never see meaningful results.

Part of exercise for me goes beyond the physical training. The mental strength, courgage, and fortitude required to rise before the sun in order to face something that I'd rather not are integral things to training for me. What good is a capable body without a capable mind? What good is a sports car if you only use it to get groceries?

So, in addition to the nervous shakes and feeling nauseated, I felt a sense of joy that has been missing from my routine lately. After 15 minutes of sprints, situps and back extensions, I was lying on mat, making a sweat angel while trying to breathe, and thinking about how happy I am to be alive.

Back to work!

Well, school has started and it's back to 50-60 hr weeks as the norm. I accepted a GSI (Graduate Student Instructor) position for the semseter and so far it looks like it's going to a lot of work. Preparing lesson plans, performing assignments, etc with the intention to educate those that are uninterested in a course is going to be a challenge to say the least.

However, despite the outlook of a very heavy workload this semester, I do have all of my tuition and fees waived which is a pretty good incentive to get to campus by 7:00 and stay till I'm done for the day. So, it's back to work. It isn't a terrible life I must say.

On the rapidly diminishing "fun side" of life, I just purchased a new mountain bike frame. Notice I said frame and not just a bike. I'm going to be building a new bike from the ground up this winter and it's going to be a lot of fun... I hope. The bike will be what's commonly called a "96'er" or a "69er" which means it will have a 29" wheel in front and a 26" wheel in the rear. Not that it matters to most of you, but there are some mechanical advantages to this type of setup. The real reason I chose this route is that it's different than what most people are doing . It appears that I may have inherited my father's dislike of following the herd.

I haven't ridden much lately due to travel and getting ready for school. Now that things are back to a more predictable routine I'm hoping to log some good quality miles this fall.

That's about it , until next time,

Chris