Improvement tagged posts

Ashes to Beauty

August 21, 2015 Devotion, Recovery  2 comments

I realize three weeks have gone-by since my last report providing details of my emotional and physical condition as I recover from a broken hip. The reason; there wasn't really anything worth writing about. No one likes to read whining. I know I don't. No one can immediately fix my situation. I know I can't.

A week ago I met with my surgeon who told me post op I would be on crutches for two months. Exactly nine weeks later I drove myself to Kaiser, fully expecting to crutch in and walk out. After 30 minutes of waiting and the 10 minutes it took to get x-rays done, I was sitting in an examination room with my legs dangling and swinging, imagining what it would feel like to carry the crutches rather than have them carrying me. I was told Dr. Le was running late, "He's in the

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Seeds of Inspiration

July 18, 2015 Devotion, Recovery  10 comments

There are times, a moment, when something so enormous cannot be ignored and yet times, a season, which run their course and very little seems out of the ordinary. While some events are akin to a massive highway-pileup on a foggy day others become nothing more than the distant sound of a firecracker, engine backfire or gunshot... who knows what that was? When you're young, events and relationships play a significant role in determining the course of your life. I've witnessed how the loss of a parent placed a seemingly, happy family on the road to despair and how the personal attention of a thoughtful and caring teacher raised the timid to soaring altitudes.

Inspiration is something most people would agree helps move the sedentary, challenge the status quo, and create the next new thing.

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That Guy

July 11, 2015 Recovery  2 comments

Lately, I've been needing to explain a lot of things... first "What happened?" then "How are you doing?"

Typically I'm fine. I have especially come to enjoy sleeping. During these past four weeks it's the time I get to walk, even run. However, last night was the first night I actually needed crutches for dream walking. It's these subtle and not so subtle things that tend to affect my mood and has me taking account of who I am, what's truly important and the changes I need to make.

Before I became a triathlete I was an observer. It began by watching the Ironman race on television and finding myself in awe of men and women who could swim, bike and run ridiculous distances and overcome self-inflicted, physical punishment with sheer mental toughness and emotional will... deep down I

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You People Say the Darnedest Things!

June 28, 2015 Recovery  9 comments

Good intentions... I suppose that could be the cause.

I remember the first time someone called out my name in a race who wasn't part of my family or a friend who knew me. I had heard that during a race a spectator might see you coming and quickly look up your number in the race program and instead of calling your number, which they noticed on your race bib they would use your name instead. Unfortunately that did not happen, well not until they started printing our names on the race bibs. Then it happened a lot. However, instead of being encouraged by what the person said, oddly I found myself questioning and thinking about the meaning of their words.

"Way to go Daniel... You're almost there!" 

"What?!" I would think. "Did she just say or did he just

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Training is Good for Every Body

October 29, 2012 Training  No comments

Now that the season is officially over (at least for me) I have declared a season of rest. This means a break from training and opportunities to eat fast food and sit on the couch... well, not quite but I'll not worry about those early morning swim sessions as much nor will I be anxious to get home and pull on those shoes for a 90 minute run before dinner! Regardless of how I look at it one thing is certain; a break from training means simply that... a break. Training is necessary and should be a constant discipline of a successful triathlete. The same is true for success of any kind in any field.

Let me state the obvious as it relates to us on a personal level: The very word "training" sounds hard. Training comes in all kinds of means and methods. For a musician training can be

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