Motivation Monday: The Very Personal Edition

This weeks post is going to be different from any other post I will probably ever write. It will definitely be the hardest one I ever write. I apologize now if it is long, but there is a LOT I need to say. If only I can find the right words to say it. On this Monday, I want you all to know me, and what REALLY motivates me to run. To you, this will all read easily, but as I sit here with a lump in my throat and tears welling in my eyes, know that the typing isn't flowing as smoothly. Man, none of this is making any sense yet, but it will, I hope. Usually, writing comes very naturally to me and the words just zoom out. But not now. My hands are shaking above the keyboard as I am about to write something, that I never have and share a part of my family with the world that hasn't been shared. To explain what I am babbling about and what my motivation is I want to introduce you all to someone...

This is my oldest son Peyton. He is 3 years old and he...has ASD, better known as autism. Wow, that felt incredibly liberating to just type that. He was diagnosed only a few months ago and even though others had expressed suspicions for a while, I really did not consider it until this summer. So this is all very new to us. We never want it to seem like we are ashamed or hiding what Peyton has, that is why I want to always be very open about it. Perhaps, had I been more willing to talk about it sooner, Peyton could have been helped sooner. But no, I was the Mom that was convinced that everyone was just autistic crazy and my son was just behind in his speech and, well, unique. I mean, he wasn't always in his own world and he knew who we were, plus the kid was smart and had a great memory. Of course, I would later learn that is very normal in kids with autism. By the time I was watching him choose lamp posts as play mates over his cousins and his language wasn't improving, I became racked with guilt. Shame on me for lying to the doctors, and myself. Sure, we all want our kids to be normal, but just believing strongly that they are doesn't work.

When we took him to the doctors and he watched him twirl his headband over and over in his hands while singing to himself, he confirmed our diagnosis. He was high functioning, but yes he had ASD. We would start him in occupational and speech therapy as soon as possible. Jesse and I thought we had prepared ourselves for this, and we kept it together quite well at the office, but when we got home we began to unravel. It wasn't that we felt like we had lost a child, but we had lost that imagined future of our child. Suddenly the what ifs? came pouring into our heads and there was no off switch. What if he couldn't go to a normal school? What if he was the weird kid that everyone made fun of? What if he never got married? I desperately wanted to know all of my children and what if I never was able to really know Peyton or him me? Then, there was all the care Peyton would need. Neither of us considered ourselves to be the worlds best parent and now it was up to us to give Peyton the best chance for success possible. What if we weren't up to the task. Up till then life with Peyton had been a constant struggle; frequent outbursts, violence, shouting, low obedience, lack of communication, boredom with people, picky eater and over the last two months many of his symptoms have been getting worse, probably because of all the new stresses. To make matters worse, I suffer from depression and anxiety (you're just learning so much about us aren't you?) so those close to me were afraid I would get stuck in a hole of depression and wouldn't be able to work my way through the rest of the grieving process. Things looked grim. People tried to console us with "Well, at least it isn't something worse." Yeah, that doesn't help at all. Tell someone who's relatives died "Well at least everyone you know isn't dead." See if it helps.

We needed to grieve, all the books said so. It was just a matter of how long it would take us to get to that last step. For some it takes years, my dad can apparently do it in a night, I am somewhere in between. It may not seem like I am almost through, but I am.. Peyton is the most amazing kid. He can work his way around the computer like no ones business, he is actually super athletic and has quite the jumping skills, when he wants to be he is the sweetest big brother, comforting Brady and bringing him blankets,  he loves numbers and counting and really does have a great memory, and  he loves us and wants to be around us. Once we are able to get all of his good qualities to shine, I am hoping people won't notice his "quirks" as much. Getting there will be a challenge. Everyday will be a struggle. But this is worth it. My son deserves the best chance at a normal life he can get.

Bringing this back to running and motivation... Peyton is my training motivation for two reasons, one more selfish than the other. Like I said, life with Peyton can be hard, frustrating, tear inducing, and just plain exhausting. Some times, I need to be just me. I feel most like me when I am doing something athletic. I train to get a break, to destress, to refresh.  There are days when I need a breather and to get away and feel nothing but raw strength and power coming out from me. See, I told you the one reason was kind of selfish. The other reason being, I want to be the best Mom I can be for Peyton, and that includes being healthy and happy. We started this training journey right around the time we found out about Peyton and it has done wonders to keep us sane. For both of us, having these athletic goals keeps us focused (distracted) on something else at times when Peyton can become all consuming and being in shape gives us the energy to really be there for him.

Has training fixed everything? Of course not. I still stare at the white hospital walls while he is in therapy and wonder if my son will ever get to know the cool, awesome person that he is. I wonder if he will know that I love him so much it hurts to think about that. But the point is, it helps. Running, biking, swimming, may not solve all of our problems but if it helps to improve our lives, then that is the motivation we need to get our rears in gear. I struggled with whether or not to tell you all this. Is it too personal? Will they care? Then I thought about the things I have read on your blogs. This is a world where we become friends with those we may never meet, and give true encouragement to them. We share our triumphs and our struggles hoping others will care and share back. Well, Peyton is my life's greatest struggle and triumph. It is not something I will ever be able to cross off a chart saying I completed it, and that scares me, but there it is. My son. My motivation.

Our Legs Do Love Lunges! Weekly Exercise # 4

After days of waiting... they have finally arrived! Wait for it... Drum roll please... Our Legs! Please hold the applause until the end of the presentation.

Earlier this week, we were presented with challenge. Amanda of 5 Miles Past Empty challenged us to perform lunges three days per week for the next four weeks. I, Track Coach, quickly accepted as I adore lunges. The wife on the other hand, basically had to be called out by Amanda on National Blog to agree to take part. To accept this challenge, Amanda DEMANDED that we post pictures of our minimally athletic stems on our blog to show the "before" and hopefully we will get an "after" to post later. So without further adu... here they are: and take note of Adorable Wife's super skinny calves and btw, can you tell I am trying to flex?

  

I know you're asking yourself "What does this have to do with the weekly exercise?" Well, if you'd just have some patience instead of interrupting me, I'd tell you. We thought in light of The Legs Love Lunges challenge, we would do our weekly exercise and our challenge; performing lunges... of course... it's brilliant! Plus, help some of you get the proper lunge form down.

The greatest thing about lunges is they work pretty much every part of your legs. Usually, it ends up being the part of your legs that needs it the most that gets the most sore. I was also told by my college trainer that lunges is a fantastic exercise for preventative maintenance on leg muscle injuries. 

Little Track Star and I displaying proper technique. I know, Adorable Wife is missing again, but she wanted to make sure that you had good form to follow (her words not mine) and she didn't know if she could do a proper lunge under pressure.

A few points to remember if you want to get the most out of your lunges: 1.) NEVER let your knee go past your ankle, this is bad for your knees and it also doesn't allow you to get all the stretch you need out of your lunge. 2.) Get to the bottom of your lunge and pause for a one or two count, you should really feel the stretch on your hip flexors and feel your hamstring working during the bottom portion of the lunge. 3.) Don't let your knee hit the ground at the bottom of the lunge. Again, not so good for your knees.  

So, if you are looking for a good way to strengthen your legs and make them sore like crazy, this exercise is for you. And if you are a fan of posting your sexy sticks on the Internet check out Amanda's blog here and sign up for the Challenge. Let me know of you like these, currently use, or have modified them. Happy Lunging!

Stacie wants to Tri too...Maybe!

Hopefully, I should say. I, Adorable Wife, really want a buddy for this. Doing things alone is not my forte, especially when it is my FIRST time! So when my my pal Stacie (Impossible is Nothing) mentioned she might want to do it, I jumped all over the opportunity to fully convince her, insert evil laugh here. Now, we have been friends long before this whole blogging thing blew up, so when we had their whole family over for dinner last night, I knew it was my perfect chance to work my magic on her. I explained that the distances were so short that she would easily be able to complete it now, it would all be about how quickly she wanted to do it. Then I moved on to how great the cross training would be for her marathon, and how nice it would feel on her knee. Finally, the piece de resistance. A bike ride!

Before the inaugural bike ride, Stacie was trusted enough to ride Coach's bike.

Even though we were not properly dressed (poor Stacie was wearing flip flops!) we got our helmets on, which took Stacie a while, but safety first, snapped a photo, and hit the road. It wasn't long before we were eating bugs and she was commenting on how awesome the views were, how nice it was not to have her knee hurting, and how cool it was that you can work hard and still chat with a friend. I was getting her hook line and sinker! After a slightly eventful 6+ mile ride that included scaring the crap out of some ladies and their dogs (more the ladies then the dogs), killing our bums on some bumpy bridges where scared some more people, almost getting eaten alive by a Kudjo like killer beast dog, and riding on a busy (but wide shouldered) highway that would later earn Stacie a spanking.

After the ride, just slightly sweaty, with lots of bugs in our teeth, eyes, and who knows where else!

As we rolled into the driveway and the men came out to greet us, Stacie informed her hubby that she would be needing a bike. YAY! I don't know if Jason is thrilled with me for getting his wife all into triathlons, but he can beat me up later, I don't care. It will be awesome to have a training buddy who is more my speed and someone to take on my first tri with me! So, she promised to look into the tri (which I have officially signed up and paid for, so I HAVE to do it) and then let me know. PLEASE let her say yes!

Bicycle, Bicycle, Bicycle...

I want to ride my BICYCLE! I want to ride my bike! I want to ride my BICYCLE ! I want to ride it where I like!

So, if you can't tell...my, Adorable Wife's,  bike came! Like I a kid waits for Christmas, I waited not so patiently for this bike to arrive. It was a very long week. Oh, but wait. I didn't tell you how she got here. I looked and looked on Craigslist, for a used puppy like Coachs', but apparently girls hold on to their stuff because I couldn't find one in my size. My hopes of being a Tri girl were fading until Coach found this website that sold road bikes at 60% off. Bikesdirect.com Basically, they use name brand parts with not name brand bikes. So, I browsed, drooled over bikes I couldn't afford, let my eyes spin over all the bike mubo jumbo I didn't understand, and then picked a winner. The Dawes Lightning 1200 Shimano 24 Speed Road Bike with Carbon Fork.  You can clink the link to check it out, and the website if you happen to care about bikes or be in the market for one. It wasn't super spendy, under $500, but that is all we can afford right now. SO, they had my money and I wanted my bike, perfect shiny and new!

When the box arrived on Friday, I begged Coach to come home (skip work?) and immediately put the thing together. Since, this wasn't the best laid plan, I had to wait until that evening for my little darling to be fully assembled. It was nice when he did , though. He took it out of the box, and it even had that new bike smell! About 2 hrs and 4 almost curse words later, she was done, and beautiful, and apparently Canadian? Well we thought she was done. We took her outside for a test spin, which the expert (can you hear the mocking in my voice?) performed and he realized that he had assembled something wrong because the front wasn't supposed to wiggle like that. It would take some tinkering so no riding that night.

Look he is even reading the directions!

 Goin around the driveway at top speeds!

The weekend came and went in a blur of rain and tummy aches and there sat my beautiful new bike. Just wanting to be ridden, but with no one around to do so. I felt so bad for my little import.

I know, I know! I have really white legs!

Then Monday came. Glorious Monday. The day of bike riding. The rain threatened to come, but I gave it my best evil eye and it stayed away. I bike suited up and took her for some test rides in the driveway to get used to how she felt and the whole shifting thing. I was able to mount her (that's what she said) no problem and even got my feet in the straps, yay me, without kissing the concrete. After I felt like I had a decent feel for the thing, we packed up the boys, the bikes, and the trailers and headed to a local park so I could get some practice on an un-open road.

Track Coach ready to pull the luggage (he needs the extra drag!)

I'm Ready, I'm Ready! I want those boots!

My cute little Future Track Stars!

Once we got the boys all settled in the trailer and took off, we quickly realized this road full of speed bumps was not for us or our bums, so I made the bold choice (for me) to ride on the big people road. We still took it nice and easy while I played with the gears and the pedalling motion and we just enjoyed chatting with eachother while we toured Centralia a little bit. I definitely was not pushing my legs very hard, just my butt and hands. By the time we were done we had gone 7.5 miles, so I know I won't die on my 9 in the tri! I like riding a lot, but have a slight fear of crashing and getting run over by a car, so I may need to work on that.  Me and the hubs loved having this family activity to do and I think the kids really enjoyed their nap! Now I am just awaiting the morning bum pain!

Me after my first bike ride, yipee for funny helmet lines!

 My biggest problem now, what to name my bike. She's Canadian, so do I go down that road? Or do I stick with something sport related? Any name suggestions for this fine steed?

Motivation Monday

What does Adorable Wife have to say to you on this bleek Monday to get you MOTIVATED?

I think I will let my friend, Barney Stinson, tell you the two most inspiring words I've ever heard!

That is why they have become our motto. (Just imagine the word Track first and they get even better!)

So, everybody. Be AWESOME! Be LEGENDARY! Earn yourself a HIGH FIVE! SUIT UP!
(And if you don't watch How I Met Your Mother, you should, because this post would make a lot more sense if you did!)

What is Motivating you this week? A race, a pal, your inner beast, or something else?

Fallin' off the Wagon...

Let's journey back to a simpler time, a magical time, a time when men were men and possibilities were endless. This story will take us back about 4 weeks ago... Two weeks before Chelan Man when I turned to adorable wife in bed and said...(don't worry, this is all "G" rated), "Honey, I think I'm going to give up soda for the next couple weeks to aid in my training for Chelan Man." Being the supportive, "adorable" wife she is, adorable wife helped me to my goal through the good times and the bad with ALMOST zero, "Oh, you can't have soda can you?" dances... which is good because a guy can get pretty cranky when he really wants a soda.

So raceday came and went sans soda and I was so happy with my race I had to celebrate with, you guessed it, a can, or umm 2 liter of dew. But I vowed that day that I was going to go easy on the soda and use it for the occasional celebration or pick-me-up. And at first everything went as planned.

Fast forward back to the present and I have officially fallen off the wagon, and I have the dew belly and breath to prove it. Today makes 4 days in a row with a soda... that's right, 4 days! I just can't help it, it tastes so wonderful and makes me feel all happy on the inside. Like that feeling you get when you just finished watching a new America's Top Model Community. I find myself thinking "hey, it's not a problem, I can give it up anytime I want." But I'm pretty sure I'm wrong. Adorable wife gives me the "look" when I ask her for a dew when she is in the kitchen, especially yesterday when I asked for a second (which she was nice enough not to bring to me).

I think I need some encouragement in getting back on the wagon (even if I have to be thrown on and clutch feebly on to a wheel for a while) and keep away from the bubbly stuff.  I know I need to get in the groove with my training. Does anyone else suffer or did anyone else suffer from a dew addiction? Please tell me I'm not alone...

Weekly Excercise Week #3

Hip Flexor Stretch

Everyone always asks me "Coach Morgan, Coach Morgan, How did you get so darn fast?" Ok, so nobody has ever asked me that, but my kids are always wanting to get faster. So I tell them "You can do it the easy way or the hard way." The first way to get faster involves a lot of running, a lot of weight training, and a lot of plyometrics (something that also should be done). But the other way to get faster is to become more flexible. Just a couple of degrees of flexibility can dramatically increase speed.

Think of running a 400 meter dash. How many steps do you take in a typical 400? The typical elite athlete will take in the neighborhood of 280-300 strides on a 400 meter dash. Now take that same elite athlete and add 1 inch to each stride. That's a 23-25 foot gain over 400 meters. Now multiply that over a marathon and you get how important stride length can be! 

So how do you increase your stride length? The first step is going to be to stretch and strengthen your hamstrings, the second will be, ta da, this exercise of the week. The hip flexor stretch. I like to call this the "speed stretch."

To stretch your hip flexor, place one knee on the ground and put your other leg out in front of you (when doing this stretch, make sure your front knee never goes past your ankle). Once you are in this position, place your hands on your hips and press your hips forward. You should feel the stretch in your upper quad and hip flexor. Take your time and ease into the stretch and hold for at least 25-35 seconds. Switch and repeat.

As with any exercise, let me know how you do the exercise and how you modify it to fit your specific needs. Plus, if you like it and how it is working/has worked for you. I know you are all disappointed not to see adorable wife pictured in this week's exercise, she hasn't been feeling up to par and I gave her the week off. I promise, she'll be back next week.