** Not Work Related **

I like to exercise; I usually run every day except Sundays, and more recently, mountain bike too. I enjoy participating in crazy run races, usually;y the Ragnar Trail races where you run as a team for over 24 hours, to all run three legs. The crazy 2-am runs are the worst; it is like the Blair Witch movie, running with a flashlight on your head through the forest, sometimes not seeing anyone else. I have completed quite of few of these and am usually a captain trying to get people inspired for running them and wanting to be part of the team. I also like to run virtual runs; over the past two years, I have completed thirty-three of them.

Mountain biking is a newer one for me, though I have always enjoyed it. I am not a road biker, I get bored just riding the roads, and it isn’t dangerous enough, albeit crazy drivers on the road. There is something about riding through the forest, up mountains, and then crazy riding super fast down hills with trees almost hitting you. The nice thing I learned about picking both these sports back up when you are older and having worked for twenty-plus years with decent earnings is that you can afford to get what you want (in most cases).

For running, I remember being able to walk into the running store and ask them to kit me out with what I needed. I never thought I would then own multiple pairs of running shoes for different types of running, along with all the gear to go with them.

For mountain biking, I started with a cheaper hard-tail that I could get back when COVID began and more recently moved to a full suspension. My younger self would have slapped me silly for buying an expensive bike, saying I could have used the money elsewhere.

I am grateful to my previous employers and those I work with now for providing me with work that allows me to do these things. I am under no illusion that it could be so much different.

Maybe it is because I had time to lay there sick for three weeks thinking and analyzing everything in my life, or perhaps I am just getting old, and this is what happens.

Alfred North Whitehead, an English mathematician and philosopher, said, “No one who achieves success does so without the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude.”

My most favorite reminder quote is from Henry B. Eyring who stated: “We so easily forget that we came into life with nothing. Whatever we get soon seems our natural right, not a gift. And we forget the giver. Then our gaze shifts from what we have been given to what we don’t have yet.”

I am very grateful to those who have helped me, been examples, and allowed me to have the career I enjoy. Thank you, I hope in some part I can give back where I can.