It has been a long two weeks!

Obviously, I have had a break in my blog posting! So for those of you that have felt lost without them over the last two weeks, the wait is over!

Nature has taken its toll on me the last two weeks! Two weeks ago today, I woke up from a great night sleep in Tampa, Florida, overlooking the convention center where I would begin the day! The day went perfect! Picked up my number for the Gasparilla marathon, saw the expo, got a little jog in, ate some lunch, took a nap, relaxed, went to dinner, and got to bed early. Although, throughout Saturday I kept one eye on the weather forecast and unfortunately, for once the weather report was spot on.

With a front that came in to Tampa, came the wind and rain! The race began at 6AM, usually scheduled to beat the heat, which would not be the issue of the day. At the start, the wind, although there was some protection from surrounding buildings, was in full effect. By time we made it through mile six, it did not seem as though there was any hiding from the sustained 20 mph winds. Regardless of the conditions, I was feeling good and strong through the half way mark. I had run my race plan and was on track as we crossed the 13 mile marker and onto Bayshore Drive. The appropriately named boulevard exposed you to the bay and left you without any shelter from the weather. The gusting wind blew right through my inexperienced mind!

As I saw the wind alter my running and as the rain began, I found myself laughing and commiserating with nearby runners. They’d say, “This is ridiculous!” and I’d respond with a nod and say, “Brutal.” My pace had fallen off greatly once on Bayshore and I began to rethink my strategy. It became, keep moving and finish the race, whereas, experience, might have told me to shut up and run. Soaking wet and wind battered I trudged along, finding humor in asking the volunteers at the water station, “Is it supposed to rain today?” At first they’d look at me like I needed medical help, then they’d realize that I was joking and we’d share a quick laugh as I started by to my journey. It wasn’t until I heard screaming ahead at mile 24, that I began to snap out of the ‘Oh, woe is me’ funk. They had bussed hundreds of school kids to the mile marker and not one of them seemed to care that it was windy or rainy; in fact it seemed to invigorate them. They screamed as if standing out in those conditions screaming made them more confident and strong, as if to say, “The weather is not stopping us, how ‘bout you?”
I snapped out of the dreary funk and found my stride as the screams faded behind me. A second wind of sorts, I found the untapped energy that my inexperience held back. I finished the race to scattered applause and the random shout of “Strong Finish!” I in fact did finish strong and walked away with a new found confidence of pushing through mentally! Although, the race did not adhere to my plan I was very pleased!

Little did I know that the end of the race would be the beginning of another. I got a shower and was eating lunch when I found out that due to weather in Atlanta my flight home had been cancelled. With the possibility of not getting a flight until Tuesday, I climbed in a rental car with another Athenian and headed north. With over six inches of snow on the ground around me, I finally pulled in my driveway at 2AM Monday morning. With good fortune, the snow having shut down the area I was able to relax with the family and recover a bit, but not for long.

That night at 3:45AM, my wife woke me with the news that her water broke, some ten weeks before it should have. We raced (drove very carefully through the snow) to the hospital, where we remained for the next week. My son, Cade Mac Wiedower was born at 2:26AM, Saturday, March 7th. He weighed 3lbs 9.9oz and was 16.5in long. He and his mother are doing quite well, although he will remain in the hospital for several weeks.

So my recovery has been low on physical activity and sleep, but at least I did not have to convince myself to not push myself too hard! And now I have a third reason to commit myself to my health.

A 26.2 Mile Experience

The morning before my first marathon, my retrospective words spilled out of my mind and into a letter, in which I had hoped that my emotions and thoughts would not only give my respects to those who had conquered that distance in a race, but also serve as a testament to my desires and successes in refocusing my life. What I received in response to my letter not only humbled me but will remain with me as motivation to continue my journey of self respect.

On the heels of my letter going into the marathon, I received a few motivational quotes the morning of the race that were more than appropriate. The first of which simply read:

"We are different, in essence, from other men.
If you want to win something, run 100 meters.
If you want to experience something, run a marathon."

-Emil Zatopek

I found this quote so appropriate because I was in search of exactly that, an experience. I believe in the philosophy that what people become in life is not dictated by their experiences, rather what they have learned from those experiences and how they apply that education. Some things that we experience give us an instant knowledge; while others take years to unravel their lessons. In the previous fourteen months, one thing that I had discovered was that mirrors are the cause of a considerable amount self deceit. For some, these creations yield unforgiving truths that promote self loathing and self doubt. While for others, they permit an ego to run rampant, without concern for others. Of course, these are the extremes of the habitual daily confirmation of coordinating colors, but their constant reuse can and will develop thoughts that are simply not factual.

For years I looked into them. I convinced myself that I was not good enough. At a very young age, I convinced myself that I was much larger than I was at the time. Through their use, I labeled myself the typical “fat kid”, who becomes the class clown, using humor and sarcasm to deflect his own self image. I looked into the mirror long enough that my body slowly became the image that I had already believed it to be all those years. As my body filled into my self-image, in an effort of accepting myself, I began to convince myself that I was not as big as I had become. In retrospect, the years in front of the mirror had taken one lie and created another. Fortunately, I did not allow for that continued deceit. It took me thirty-two years to know without question that I appreciate who I am without regard for the reflective glass in my closet.

With that realization, I began to take my life and my body back. That action began a journey that reached another summit that late October Sunday. On brink of that event, I received another quote that had a profound meaning to me as well:

"Now go run like the bad ass you are!"

-Michael Williams

As of that Sunday, a ‘bad ass’ is exactly what I had come to trust had lived inside me all of this time. Over thirty years of my mind believing differently, it was hard to imagine that I could overcome my lack of confidence in such a short period of time. Yet I attempted to surface my inner self in fourteen short months. With the years of doubt in tow, I set out to experience and learn of a number. A number I had only heard, with determination to rid my mind of the created self-image by putting my trust in my inner being that I had continued to uncover.

This past October, on the eve of my first marathon I wrote a letter expressing my emotions leading up to an event that would change my life forever. A portion of that letter read,

"You hear a number. 26.2. You can respect the number, but until you experience that number, you can’t understand that number. Tomorrow I will learn of that number and in doing so I anticipate that I will learn a lot about myself and the others in my life that have experienced that number."

A 26.2 mile experience is exactly what I had received and a lesson was delivered. Now on the brink of my second marathon I will see exactly what I learned from that experience...

TGIF

It has been a long week, as they all seem to be!

I have had some really great workouts. In just three short weeks, my swimming confidence has soared. I now look forward to my swim workouts, who would've known? I am continuing my taper for the Gasparilla marathon in Tampa, Florida a week from this Sunday. I have to remind myself daily, "Just don't do anything stupid." It's amazing how hard it is to follow through with that advice. I will do my best to make sure that I follow the advice and to not become a reason the advice should be followed!

A little housekeeping for all. If you have subscribed to the email for this blog, thank you! However, that subscription will not allow you post any comments to the blog entries. To be able to leave a comment you would need to become a "follower" of the blog.

I wish it were not so difficult, but thank you again for your support and interest! I hope that this blog can continue to bring inspiration to you all!

ATTITUDE

I really enjoyed this and wanted to share it with everyone.

ATTITUDE
by Charles Swindoll

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company...a church...a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you...we are in charge of our Attitudes."

A Long Road

Two weeks from today, I will be basking in the glory of completing my second full marathon, and by basking I mean I will be asleep. Today is the first day of a long week, and I am already tired! My alarm went off at 4:45. I went to WoW!Bootcamp at 5:30, then straight work. I will squeeze in some weight training before heading to the evening Jefferson edition of WoW!Bootcamp. After which, I will race home to get on my bike in the basement for a Bike Test, as the wonderful Kim Dunker has instructed me to do. At around 9:00 tonight, I will grab a warm (if not blazing hot) shower, make sure the alarm is set for 4:45 and then immediatly pass out in bed.

Training for anything can be exhausting, but when you add in the rest of your life, it can be torture to squeeze it all in! The upside is that the training is the best part of my day and I look forward to it constantly! And when I cross that finish line in Tampa two Sundays from now, it will have all been worth it!!!!

Being a Provider

As many of us have, I grew up in a household of two working parents. I would see them rush around every morning trying to get the kids ready for school while preparing for their days, and then I’d see their frustration when they’d come home to a house that had been driven further into despair by my afternoon activities. In attempts of explaining the frustration of his responsibilities, my dad would seem at times to dwell on the “obligation” to be the provider. I would hear that how the longer and harder he worked would allow him to provide more to the family.

I grew up wanting to become a provider. It is the type of provider that I have become that is different!

I grew up with a strong work ethic. I grew up with the quote that suggests that sleep is overrated, and I lived that way. Even in college, I would take on any job I could find, if it fit into my schedule. I graduated, got married, and started working. During my first year of marriage, I recall systematically turning off the alarm, and reciting “Time to Make the Doughnuts”, as I slept walked to the shower. It began to look like I was eating the doughnuts as fast as I made them and the weight of providing became both mental and physical!

The last couple of years have been tough on so many people and it took finding my way through these hard times to recognize that the best thing that I can provide my family is an attitude. An attitude that allows for concern while remaining confident! Confident that I am doing all I can for my family, while the monetary reality of those efforts are completely out of my control.

My fitness provides that attitude to me, and in return, I provide my family with confidence, pride, and self respect. With those attributes anyone can overcome any obstacle that stands before them.

What do you provide?

LOOK AT THIS GUY!

NO REALLY, LOOK AT THIS GUY!

THIS GUY RAN A TWENTY MILE RUN YESTERDAY,

AND FELT GREAT DOING IT!

IT WASN'T EASY, AND DISTANCE RUNS AREN'T
FOR EVERYONE, BUT WHEN YOU TREAT YOUR
BODY WELL AND DEDICATE YOURSELF
ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!!

Today I feel free!

Today I feel free from my past heath issues! My fitness lifestyle not only has given me some much needed self confidence but has provided me with a healthy state of mind that allows me to acheive all of my day to day tasks while redefining my life goals.

I go into everyday with confident answers to questions that I feel should be of grave importance to any parent!

Will I be around when my children graduate from high school?
Will I be around when my children graduate from college?
Will I live to see my children become parents?
Am I setting a good example for my children?
Am I giving my child the tools to make healthy choices?
Am I teaching my child to respect themselves?

Embarrassingly, two years ago these questions would have barely entered my mind! Now I walk tall (and lighter), knowing, with out a doubt, the answers to those questions!

I'm swimming!!!

I survived my first instructional swim with Coach Kim Dunker!

As I tried to explain to her while I was gasping for air, it is amazing that I have trained my body to not only run twenty miles, but do it holding a conversation, and I can't get in a few laps without feeling like I'm going to die.

"Humbling isn't it?" she said.

It is truely humbling, but at the same time a great example that there are so many options and ways for someone to develop their fitness! I am excited to know that my time in the pool will continue to progress my overall body fitness!!!

Building Up to The Goal!

Although I have had the past 17 months of physical progression to hang my hat on, as I stare down the barrel of the next 8 months and 2 days, I find myself excited and cautiously optimistic about the coming demand of juggling life while chasing my new found goal!

January has brought many changes for me. My wife has started back to class, I am now instructing an additional WoW!Bootcamp class, I fill in for the occasional Georgia Basketball game, I have taken over the primary task of delivering my 20 month old daughter to and from "Mother's Morning Out" (which I take offence to, because Dads parent too!), I have officially signed my training life over to the always energetic Kim Dunker, I accepted the secretary possition of the brand new High Shoals Elementary PTO, and I have begun my first two construction projects in almost a year! So time is certainly a rare commodity!


As we all know it is very easy for 'life get in the way' of so many things. When it does, we tend to let the things that are seen as extracuricular or less desired to be the first things to be struck from our schedules. For many, exercise would be the first thing thrown into the category of less desired actitities. If exercise was in the schedule to begin with, it is the first thing to go when time gets tight. Over the years, as so many others have, I let my time be the excuse not to exercise or to interupt my exercise.



Not anymore.


I am an addict. Whether it is fifteen minutes of stretching and ab work or a forty-five minute ride on my bike trainer in the basement while my youngest is taking a nap, I am getting my fix every chance I get! It is the one thing in this crazy time (for all of us) that keeps my wits about me. Everything in my day goes smoother when I've had a chance to exercise! I have more patience with stressful days!


I will admit that training for an endurance race would border on the edge of extracuricular as opposed to generally keeping a healthy lifestyle, however having a goal keeps the motivation elevated. So for now, I will juggle the best I can and just listen to my body which is now telling me to shut it down.

The motive.

In the summer of 2007, through some innocent words, filled with blind love, my then five year old, Annabelle, sparked a thought in my head that no parent would truly ever want to have. In an instant, I saw her growing up without a healthy father and potentially settling in to a complacency that has come to rule our society. A few weeks later, knowing that I am a very social creature, and not the amazing self motivator that she is, Kelly mentioned a fitness bootcamp that she thought would be of interest to me. She was right.

The next month, I joined WoW!Bootcamp founded by April Williams. Her husband, Michael, who ran the men’s class, quickly became one of the most influential people in my dramatic turnaround! This class has introduced me to dozens of other fathers searching for what I have come to find.

Through their support and guidance I lost 60 pounds! I have competed in triathlons, completed three half marathons, one full marathon, and I am now the lead instructor for the Oconee County Men’s WoWBootcamp.

I am currently being coached by Kim Dunker (dreambelieveTRI) and Michael Williams (WoW!Bootcamp) to prepare for the inaugural Augusta half Ironman 70.3, September 27, 2009.