Blog Archive

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Refreshment

Warm up

This past Sunday was a fun day for me. It was actually a “me” day. I rarely plan these but many things fell together for me to really have an enjoyable day. My day actually started Saturday night by attending Pathway’s 5:30p service. The service was a great ending to a very busy Saturday and a great kickoff for Sunday.

Main Set

I woke early Sunday morning to watch a bike race held in downtown Fort Wayne. The format of the race was a Criterium.  Different age groups raced around a 1km track made up of the streets near Parkview field. http://www.fwcyclingfestival.com/  Races started at 8am and went most of the day. I watched four races. Juniors, Women’s, Master’s, and Cat 5. It was a gorgeous day to be outside. And if you know much about me, you know I took my camera.
I didn’t know anyone in the Junior race, but one of Ben’s college teammates, Emily, was racing in the Women’s race. Emily’s dad rode in the Master’s race. Two of our swimmers from our group, who are also triathletes, rode in the Cat 5 race. I could never see myself riding in this race but was totally motivated by the speed and power of the riders. They ride as many laps as they can in a set time period. Races range between 20-50 minutes. It was amazing seeing a group of riders riding together going 25-30 mph on a flat road. During the race, I was able to connect with other riders, race fans, friends and families of the riders. Even though I didn’t ride, I still felt part of the event.

To give you a flavor of the day, here are a few photos (click on the photos for a bigger image):
Emily and Mr. Palmer (her dad) warming up

Emily pulling a lap

Mr. Palmer in the Master's Race taking a corner by the baseball stadium

Cat 5 race

Cat 5 finish


Justin (black jersey) riding in the Cat 5 race


After the races, I needed to get to Chicago for early meetings on Monday. A business associate (more on him in a later post) and I drove to Chicago. However we made a detour just south of Plymouth to play golf at an awesome course, Mystic Hills. It is as fun of golf course as I have ever played. It was in the high 60’s, blue sky and a great layout.


After golf we finished our drive to Chicago/Rosemont.When we got to the hotel, my associate forgot to extend his reservations for an extra day. Unfortunately the hotel was sold out for Monday night. Long story short, I ended up giving him my room (it’s a very nice hotel), and the closest room they could find me was a 30 minute drive away. Needless to say, by the time I got to the hotel I was exhausted and maybe even a bit frustrated. It didn’t help matters when I was checking in the young lady behind the counter took a call from her manager and proceeded to talk to him about their occupancy and other hotel’s occupancy for 15 minutes WHILE I WAS STANDING THERE. But honestly, I didn’t let that ruin my day.

 
When I got to my room, I turned on the NBA game but really didn’t watch much of it. I relaxed by prepping for my Monday meeting and working on my photos.


Cool Down

As I normally do each night, I reviewed my diet and my exercise for the day. I use www.loseit.com for both. Even though I really didn’t have a workout, I still managed to get some exercise by walking for 3 hours at the bike races and played golf on a hilly golf course. Even though we had a cart, I still did a lot of walking. I didn’t think I exercised that much during the day but on review I did pretty well.

Most nights I feel tired from what I accomplished during the day, but I also feel overwhelmed by that is ahead of me. Sunday wasn’t one of those days. When you do things you love, it actually is refreshing and not exhausting. Hoping for many days of refreshment in the future.

No comments:

Post a Comment