Revisiting Canada

Here are more pictures from our Canada Trip


Pa Pa Victor feeding Bijou

Cousin Lizzy Queen of the Garden

Bijou and Dad's circus act

Uncle Albert and Betty Ann on the farm

Victor and Janet

Pa Pa Victor with Bijou and Nevaeh

Ready set GO!

I have been wanting to post an up date every night since the last, but no such luck. I wish I had some more pictures to post but it will have to wait. I have not had a chance to download them yet.
So just a quick post to get up to speed. So much has been happening lately it all most feels a bit uncomfortable. I trust it's just a season and well get through it.

The end of the Canada trip was great. I was able to golf for the first time up there at a beautiful course. The way things are going it will probably be my only outing. Sunday we went to the farm in Haford Sask. where Janet's dad grew up. It is always a blast to visit that side of the family at the farm. It is always a highlight at the farm and this trip was no different. Mom, dad and I packed up Monday morning and meet Victor for breakfast one last time, then hit the road. It is always good to see family. We certainly do not see them enough ( that's a hint for them to come down and visit!)

As you may have guessed I haven't had a spare moment for myself yet. Nor my wife, or Bijou. All the things always seem to happen at once and August must be my month. The positives are work is really busy. That's better then the latter. Team in Training is fantastic. I have received so much encouragement in letters and donations that I have committed to doing another race. I will have much more information about it soon. The race is a century ride on the bike. It is basically one length of the Tour de France, I think 112-116 miles. It is called the Tour de Tuscon. It is November 19, and I am very excited and thankful to all those who have been so generous in your support, that has allowed me to continue. Thank you letters will be coming out soon.

I have "crack pot" dreams of finishing the century bike ride in November and rolling right into training for the Rock in Roll Marathon in Phoenix come January. Let me know what you think. If you haven't received a letter from me yet, leave me your address in the comment box and I will be sure to send you the details in my next letter. It should be going out next week.

Man's rise or fall, success or failure, happiness or unhappiness depends on his attitude...a man's attitude will create the situation he imagines. - James Lane Allen

More pictures on the next post I promise.

Beach Day and More!

Here are some fun pictures from Canada trip 07'

Pa Pa Victor with Bijou

Auntie Jennifer with Bijou

Bath time with cousin Nevaeh

Squeekey Clean!

Watching rodeo barrel races at the PA fair

Dust off the ole' "Fendelet Girls Rocket"

Pa Pa Victors backyard is full of fun!

Sun-bathing at Emma Lake beach.

First time in the lake

Mommy these waves are huge!

More to come!

Canada

Mom, dad and I loaded up the car Tuesday morn' and hit the road at 5:30 am. Destination Prince Albert, Sask. Canada. Just shy of one thousand miles later we arrived at approx, 9:00pm. It was smooth sailing until a large hail (just past Yorkton Sk) storm brought us to the shoulder along with all the other traffic. We sat for about five minuets and prayed that the windshield didn't break. It was really that bad. I have see large hail but not for five straight minuets. Needless to say the van has some more character to it.

I was so excited to see my little girl, and my big girl too, of course. Just as I imagined she was bigger and was doing more new stuff. At the rate she is going she might be walking by nine months. Scary!

Bijou decided to wake up early at 6:30 am so I decided to load her up in the stroller and we went off to find Janet's dad Victor at his usual morning coffee spot, A&W. Right as rain, he was there. After Bijou and I split some toast we headed back and I re-assembled my bike. Of course I had to take it for a spin to make sure it all worked so I went around the entire perimeter of the city. I pulled back into the garage forty-five minuets later and about 15 miles logged. I wanted to go more but my knees still felt a bit stiff from the long drive yesterday so we took it easy.

The PA fair is going on right now so we all meet there and had fun doing all the things you do at a fair. From there we went to help Janet's mom Bernice, with her lunch/dinner. She has not been willing to eat her food as of late. Janet has found some success feeding her so we helped as much as we could and tried to get her better situated. If you are someone who is in favor of government controlled health care, I would invite you to come up and experience the hospital here. I will just say that it is not exactly what we are used to. It's not horrible unless your the one in the bed waiting for weeks for a doctor to see you and nobody knows when there going to have the time to come around. And that's just the tip of the ice berg. Anyways, it was good to be there for her and do whatever we could. It was very hard to see. The only info we could get out of the temporary doctor is that one of the tests showed that Bernice has a form of leukemia called CML, he was unable to explain very much of it except to say that it would take up to three more months of testing just to be sure. It is a difficult situation and I am so thankful that God has given Janet so much strength to be patient and caring both with her mom and the doctors and nurses.

Thank you for your continued prayers!

Weekend Train

I Have been without my girls now for two and a half days. Good thing I have had lots to do.

Good friends, Clark and Molly, drove up from Chicago Friday night and moved in for a month until they close on their house here in Minnesota. It's great to have great friends so close. I am doing the Waupaca Tri with Clark also. He is the one who got me interested in tri's two years ago at Waupaca. His uncle Steve has been competing in it for years and I hope to come close to his caliber this year. Molly is a Marathon runner so the three of us went out for my four mile hill run Saturday afternoon. Good times!

Earlier Saturday I had a swim training at Lake Harriet from 10:30 to 12:00. I found out that I have not been breathing correctly in my swim stroke, so it was back to the drawing board.

Sunday it was an early rise to be back down at Harriet at 6:30am for an hour swim then a three hour bike. What a beautiful morning. We have been learning proper lake entry and exit. There is so much to learn about tri's it's great. You really don't need anything but shorts, shoes and a bike, and the wil to finish, yet there is always something to learn to make yourself faster if you choose. There is always smarter and always faster. This morning's swim revealed that I have more work to do on my breathing. I know that patience will pay off eventually. Distance swimming requires comfortable full breathing and I will eventually find it. The bike was fantastic. Not hard core but beautiful. Susan our coach lead us on a loop from Harriet on the Hiawatha trails to St. Paul and back on Summit Ave. What a great ride. There is a crazy hill coming out of St. Paul to get up on Summit. Coach thought it would be a fun idea to do it twice since I had never been on it before. Once was a challenge, twice was all most too much but I got to the top. It is a times like that, when you want to check out because you have nothing left. My mind immediately reflects to Adam. He didn't quit, he never wanted you to know how much pain he was in or how weak he was. The things he endured I will most likely never have to endure. Ever! Certainly not training for this race, nor during the race. So what is my threshold? how far will I go. I am thankful for Suzanne, our coach. She preaches efficiency, running your own race. No waste, all positive, all technique. I need that angle. I am emotional. I push. I want it all now. In tri's you need balance, technique before the push. Efficiency before the emotion.

Tuesday morning, mom dad and I leave for Canada. So the rest of my weekend was filled with preparation for the long drive. I will be bringing my bike and the rest of the gear so I don't loose any of what we have built up to. Did I mention that I miss my girls? We were going to do the drive in two days. Not so much anymore. I'll get us their in one! One thousand miles here we come!

Janet was able to see her mom in the hospital yesterday. Pray for all of the girls (Jennifer, Vanessa, Michelle) and her father (Victor). It is a difficult situation to see your mom in that position. Bernice is struggling to remember who everyone is and fades in and out of reality often. Her mental and physical condition has been turning for the worse for the last month and Janet was very taken back to find her in that condition. It will be difficult for me to be in that position again, yet I feel confident that God will allow me to draw upon my past experience and his strength in the situation.

Faith is the daring of the soul to go farther that it can see. - William Newton Clark

How far will you go today?

The Need To Run

Yesterday I took the day off for many reasons. We have seen better days. I am so thankful to be able to reflect back on all the positive things that I have learned in the past nine months and pray that the current struggles will only help us all to grow together. All details aside the evening ended in the hospital with my mother and that is never a fun experience. All is well, just a bad combination of food, heat, and emotions. It was hard to re-live a medical experience so close to the family so soon, yet another reminder of how little control we have over things. It could have been serious. God gives each of us the strength to handle anything we encounter. I needed to claim that promise yesterday, it was a rough one.

So today, I needed to run. That is my first reaction when I am emotionally overloaded. Today I ran. I was excited to see the where I was in terms of my conditioning. I have not consistently ran since I was twenty-three. I have this fancy little gadget that I can use to track my bike stats. It also records the breakdown of the run in terms of speed, distance time and the averages of all those things. I was able to shave thirty seconds off my average minute miles over the four mile loop that I have been running. It felt good to see the progress and it really helped me to refocus after yesterdays train wreck.

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others- Mahatma Gandhi

I pray that we find the truth in that wisedom.

Hot Hot Hot

As if working outside all day in 95 degree heat is not enough. Why not go for a twenty-eight mile bike after. Surprisingly it was not all that bad. John and I meet at his parents in Coon Rapids and biked across the dam over to Elm Creek and did the north loop and back. We did this ride over a month ago and today's ride definitely reflected our hard work. The hills were easier and the flats were faster. Now we just have to start putting a little run into the end of these bikes and we will really start conditioning. That is the hardest part of a Tri for me and most other racers. The transition from the bike to the run. Pushing yourself on the fastest part of the race (the bike) and then attempting to jump off and get right into your running stride when your heart is pumping like crazy and your legs feel like jelly.

Thank you to all those who have been so generous in supporting my race with your donations. I am so close to goal and it continues to inspire me to push harder. Another thing that surfaced in life that gives me a reason to run is the news that Janet's mom Bernice has just recently been diagnosed with Leukemia and has been struggling for some time now. Janet is leaving this Friday to be with her and my parents are going to make the long drive with me to Prince Albert, Sask. this coming Tuesday. The trip has been planned, but the unfortunate news is new. Life's tragedies certainly do not discriminate.
That is why it is so important to take advantage of every day. What problems do we really have? I am certainly finding it more important to focus on life's blessing not it's problems. God continues to bless us (like it or not) with so many blessings yet we find it easier to focus on the problems. Even in the midst of our sorrow there is joy. Choose it today.

Success is living up to your potential. That is all. Wake up with a smile and go after life.
Live it, enjoy it, taste it, smell it, feel it. (joe kapp)

Choose it today!