What brings YOU here?

Okay, not much to report on the training front other than I've been off my bike for a bit of time and in the gym doing some strength training and core body work. Not terribly exciting but it definitely feels good to change up the pace and get back into the gym on a regular basis. The snow is starting to fly up by my house and this morning I was greeted to a quarter inch of ice on my truck.
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Now for something entirely different. There comes a time when one must assess what brings them to a certain point, if they are comfortable with that point and how they will resolve any conflicts which arise when they deem themselves uncomfortable with that point. I speak in code, however this sort of "crossroads" moment is relevant in sport training and even interpersonal relationships (the most recent example for me, recent as in THIS MORNING). How do we decide what to do when the "cards are down?"

I've been labeled through numerous tests as having the quintessential "field marshall" personality, which is a personality that lends itself to taking all available information, processing said information in an efficient manner and making decisions on the spot. About a year and a half ago I said YES! to joining Team Strong Heart and have never regretted that choice. TSH is an amazing organization that is as vibrant as ever. Great choice!

I know what brings me to Team Strong Heart and will keep me here. I know what brings me to the people closest in my life, even though those people don't always reciprocate that choice (again, in code, most recently I found this out this morning via e-mail (thanks AKB!)). Think about what brings you to the table, whether that table be the dinner table surrounded by family, the table of your local bar with friends, or the table you share in an RV traveling 18 miles an hour across the country.

Sorry for the ramble, but enjoy these song lyrics that came to mind as I closed my e-mail at 4:45 this morning and stumbled out into the misty cold of Mt. Evans, Colorado...this may uncode what I just mumbled about...

GOODBYE: Drive By Truckers
These cities blur before me, a swirl of colors leaned against the sky
Gone so far away and I never really told you good bye
I know it's kind of lame but sometimes things just turn out that way
We were the best of friends and I'll always remember you that way

We started out with nothing, but wild plans and big ideas and dreams
You were quick to swing the hammer and always fast with some ingenious scheme
Sometimes we argued violently but forged it out of bedrock into steel
Our foundations were so solid and our instincts based on something very real
I feel so damned nostalgic every time I think about those times
I forget how it became that I wouldn't recognize you on the line
I start to feel so guilty but goddamn it I swear to you I tried
To bridge between the distances before I left without saying good-bye

I have friends I met last weekend and friends I've had since I was eight
Friends I've said goodbye to and friends who unexpectedly passed away
And nothing is disposable; at least it's never been that way for me
Its not like you were an acquaintance that I could say never really meant anything to me
No we were really great friends and I always thought that it would be that way
Yet I wonder if I'd know you if the guy that I saw last walked in here today
And I swear until I die, I never would have expected you and I
To grow so far apart and leave without ever saying good bye