Merry Christmas

For those who enjoy good music and are looking for Christmas Eve worship near Lancaster, I recommend the 10 pm service at Grace Lutheran Church (517 N. Queen Street). If you go you will be able to hear me practicing my other hobby in the choir loft. There's also a wonderful "family" service at 7 pm.

If I don't see you, have a blessed Christmas!

Some Inspiration

The kids’ basketball seasons and holiday parties have dominated my free time the last couple of weeks. Blog writing has had to take a back seat! So tonight you get the equivalent of a teacher substituting a National Geographic documentary for classroom education.

I just received a good inspirational e-mail from Coach Patrick McCrann. Here are some excerpts for other athletes seeking some early winter motivation or for non-athletes wondering what we do in our “off” season…

“…Part of what makes the sport of triathlon so alluring - and challenging - is the concept of delayed gratification. You don't go race every weekend like a roadie or a runner...you train for weeks or months to peak for a single event. So in many ways it's not the event that should be your focus...your focus should be on your daily training. If a journey begins with a single step, then your triathlon journey begins - every day - with a single workout. Completing these little steps will put you very close to the top of the mountain. The final push will be reserved for race day. Think about eliminating the "zero" days when you miss a workout and you'll be that much closer to your race day goal.”

“For me, the most exciting part is the unknown. If I have learned anything in 5+ years of coaching, it's that you can't plan for everything. Some of you will get injured, some will get sick, some will get lost on long rides, most of us will bonk, bounce back, and learn to fuel better next time. These detours, even though they are unplanned, are a huge part of our journey...and should be embraced just as the "perfect" workouts are. A significant part of pushing our personal boundaries and limits is about being on the edge. On the edge of fatigue, at the edge of our knowledge of local roads, beyond the edge of what our bodies can do without some food. This, people, is the whole point!!! Athletes who wait for a transcendent experience on race day will more than likely finish wishing they had an "out of body" experience to avoid the suffering. Live in the daily miracle of being able to train and race and you, like countless others before you, will realize that the journey itself is the adventure, not the destination.”

Seems to me a lot of these themes could apply to far more than triathlon. Have a peaceful week.

Why the Bridge of Hope?

Several of you have asked about the Bridge of Hope – What are they all about and why did you choose them? I’d like to deal with the “why” before the “what.”

When I made the decision to enter the Janus Charity Challenge, I did not have a specific beneficiary in mind. I evaluated charities on the basis of three personal criteria…

1. Proven effectiveness. If I was going to be asking friends and corporations to ante up, I wanted to make sure their contributions would be put to good use.
2. Significant impact. I wanted to select a smaller organization that would greatly benefit from the fundraising effort.
3. Emotional attachment. Selfishly, I figured a heartfelt attachment to the charity’s mission would better compel me to train & race through fatigue, pain, and the occasional bad attitude.

Measured against these criteria, the Bridge of Hope was the clear winner. I made the decision and have not looked back. In fact, I’ve become more excited after interacting with their executive director and a couple of board members. They are thankful people.

The Bridge of Hope is effective. They have maintained close to an 80% success rate over the past three years doing an extraordinarily difficult mission. With Lori’s personal involvement in two BOH “mentoring groups,” I can attest to both the difficulty and the effectiveness of their mission.

The Bridge of Hope is small and will benefit from your giving. Last year they provided assistance to 33 families. If we hit my fundraising goal, we will provide enough funding to support five families through their program. They rely on private giving, receiving zero state or federal funding.

The Bridge of Hope transforms lives. They end and prevent homelessness for women and children. They enable self-sufficiency. More on that soon…