Monday, May 27, 2013

A true test...

As I sit here and reflect on this weekend I can't even begin to put it all into words and get my thoughts together. What an INCREDIBLE weekend it was. I was surrounded by good friends, good food, pretty good weather and everything was just fantastic!

My weekend started on Friday. I am super blessed to have an incredible aunt who is a VERY gifted yoga instructor. I went to her class on Friday morning and it was fantastic. It was an awesome workout and it really helped me clear my head from the past week and get zoned in for the weekend. I then jumped in the pool and knocked out some yards for my race before I had to go to work for a few hours. I went to work and had a blast with my students, they were extremely well behaved and it was so much fun. I always enjoy going to work but when my students are well behaved and I can really have some fun with them and loosen up a bit it's a blast!  I then came home and knocked out some dinner. I made chicken burgers using a sweet potato as the roll with a little squirt of BBQ sauce. Quite delicious if I do say so myself! 



Not too much going on for Friday after that. Saturday I woke up and I was just off. I could feel it but I didn't know why and it was annoying me. I packed my bag and headed for the gym to do a brick workout. The entire way there I just didn't want to go SO BAD, but I forced myself to get there. Even when I started my bike I kept saying man I don't want to do this today!  I got through my hour long bike ride(longest I've done to date) and jumped straight on the treadmill. It ended up being a great workout and I was so happy I went. Then the TRUE TEST came. We were supposed to go out to the bar for a friends birthday. I decided I could continually run away from the bar or just accept it and go. So I went and just like my gym trip I was so glad I did! I had this image in my head of me going off the deep end and ending up getting arrested and all kinda of craziness. None of which happened. I went out with friends and had a good time just like I used to and it was PHENOMENAL. I am so happy that I went with them I can't even describe it to y'all. 

I woke up Sunday and decided to take the day off. I went to church in the morning with my brother and sister and then decided instead of working out I was going to head down to the boat to see some more friends. I got down there with my cooler full of food and we took a little ride to a beach. We hung there for awhile and played some beach games and just enjoyed the weather. When we got back to the dock my friends mom was there and I have not seen her since last summer. She about lost her marbles when she say me for the first time. She even went as far to say that I looked SPECTACULAR! Boy was that a great feeling, but it didn't stop there! There were more people who I haven't seen since last summer and they all gave me wonderful compliments. One guy in particular, Brian, who I have only met a few times came up to me before he left and said "hey man, you're doing a great job, keep it up!" It felt awesome.  I have only met this guy a handful of times but I felt like this was a true and Sincere comment and it made me feel awesome!

This is a shot I took playing one of my favorite games, Polish!


It did not even stop there though! It just kept getting better and better.  I left the boat that night because my family was having friends over who I have not seen in a long time so I really wanted to make it a point to come home.  I came back and enjoyed and awesome dinner and some great conversation with this family.  I have know them ever since I was a kind and what truly great people they are.  Paul had wrapped his arm around me multiple times and told me how great I looked.  Just before they were leaving his wife shared something with me that was very powerful and she probably didn't even realize it.  She said "I found your facebook and I was going through your pictures.  I saw your picture from the Broad Street Run and I was just in awe.  I just started working out not to long ago and I have since lost 20lbs.  I ran for 8 minutes straight for the first time not to long ago and when I saw that picture I though, if Ian can do this so can I."  What an inspiration that was.  Just knowing that I had an impact on someone helps me keep going and doing what I am doing. 

I went to sleep feeling great and woke up this morning with the intention to do a fasted cardio workout.  I have been reading up on it and figured I would give it a shot.  I laced up my kicks and went for a jog with absolutely no food or anything in my system, hence the name, fasted cardio.  It was very different.  I felt super slow although I had a beautiful run through this trail in the park around the corner from my house.  I came home and showered to head back down to the boat.  Today was supposed to be the best day of the weekend so I figured why not enjoy it down at the boat again!  I got down there and we were just hanging around the boat.  A few of my friends were fishing off the dock and I had my swim gear in the car.  After talking with my buddy he said I would be good to jump off the dock and go for a swim.  I figured this would be a great chance to get some experience in open water.  For those of you who have never swam in open water let me just say WOW!! You can jump in the pool and swim two miles with easy but getting into rough open water where you can't see your hands is a completely different ball game.  There were MULTIPLE times where I freaked out and wanted to quit.  I felt like I was learning how to swim all over again.  I finished my swim though and climbed back on to the dock.  We hung around for a few more hours and just shot the breeze.  There is a bar down the river so we motored down and grabbed a beer.  We actually towed someone down the river because their boat broke down so that was some good karma points for us.  We then threw the lines back in and had a little gentleman's bet on the fish.  My friends were laughing at me because I am not the outdoorsy type.  They told me I would never win....Man was THAT a mistake. I may not be a fisherman but god am I competetive.  I ended up winning the race to catch five fish and I caught the biggest one!

Here's a snap shot on the monster I reeled in.
  All in all I had an incredible weekend and I wouldn't trade it for the world.  I spent time with amazing friends and I couldn't have asked for more.  It was exactly what the doctor ordered as they say.  I hope all of you got out there to enjoy your weekend and remember what it is all about!  Thanks for reading and thanks for the incredible inspiration.  Keep doing what you are doing!


All for now
Keep FSU and Do It For Yourself.

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