Versatile Blogger Award… Thank You!

Sandra, over at A Promise To Dad, a fellow fittie and child of a father with Alzheimer’s, conferred on me the Versatile Blogger award.  I am deeply grateful.  I lucked out in meeting Sandra over the ether – in fact, she bumped into me… she read and commented on a post I wrote when I was struggling with my father’s losing battle with Alzheimer’s.  I read many of her posts about her struggles with her dad’s disease and they really helped me through a tough time.  I ran into problems when he started losing control of his speech and other normal functions –  I even had to start prepping his food for him when we took him out to eat.  It’s since gotten a lot worse and had I not read one simple line, one simple thought, I don’t know how I’d have gotten through this as well:  He’ll never again be as good as he is right now.  Understanding this allowed me to stay in the moment rather than confusing the past with the present or worse, the future.  Every once in a while you hear (or read) something exactly at the right time that changes everything – that’s what Sandra did for me.

So thank you Sandra, it is much appreciated.

     So, according to the rules, in addition to linking to Sandra’s post, I’m also supposed to list seven things about myself and “Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly (I would add, pick blogs or bloggers that are excellent!)”.

In no particular order:

iswimbikerunstrong:  Very cool blogger.

Canadian Hiking Photography:  Unbelievable Photographs and a wonderful blog.

Beech Creek Project:  This guy is a brother from another mother that I’ve never met…  He’s been on hiatus for a bit, but his posts and the photos that go with them are incredible.

The Power of Run:  Kimberly is quite quirky and completely awesome.  Her fitness transformation makes an incredible story.

Jesus Was A Road Runner:  The blog name says it all.

All Seasons Cyclist:  He isn’t kidding – he rides in weather that makes me think twice about running in – and I run in weather so cold that I have to worry about my eyes freezing shut (technically it’s the eyelashes that collect moisture from the eyes running from the cold – happened last year).

Springfield Cyclist:  Every once in a while you bump into someone who you can tell is “good people”.  Tracey is one of those guys.

Elisariva:  Elisa’s posts are always thought-provoking and sweet enough to make honey bees stop and scratch their heads.  She’s a training animal.  Very inspiring blog.  In fact, she deserves the Beautiful Blogger Award (that came with the Versatile Blogger Award) a lot more than I do.

Sip, Clip and Go:   I can still remember the first post of Karen’s that I read…  I was surfing the WordPress reader under the search “cycling”.  What do I see but a bright red high heel with a mountain bike cleat attached to the bottom…  She’s just started getting into cyclocross racing.  Great blog.

Bike v Car:  Hands down my favorite blogger – evah.  The man is hilarious.

Velo Quips:  Hands down my other favorite blogger – evah.  If you want to learn about racing, this is (and isn’t) a good place to start – you’ll see..

Seven things about me:

1.  I love winning blog awards, but I hate coming up with seven new things about me every time I win one.

2.  I hate coming up with seven new things because while I have great self-esteem, my ego is quite in check and coming up with new things is sometimes tough.  This may seem odd, or slightly hypocritical, considering item number one but it works in my melon.

3.  I started reading “Finding Ultra” at the urging of a buddy of mine – and as sexy as vegetarians can make the lifestyle sound, I don’t care how good you think it can make you feel, there. ain’t. no. way.  I don’t think I’ll ever understand why someone would choose a vegetarian lifestyle.  I’ve always viewed vegetarianism as a “as long as you’re happy and don’t try to push it on me, we’re good” kind of thing.

4.  As much of a big deal as I make about speed and average speeds in cycling, I really don’t care how fast I am – just as long as I’m going as fast as I can and I’m able to smile while I’m doing it.

5.  I don’t race very much.  First of all, I don’t have to pay someone to know I can ride a bike a butt-load of miles or run real fast…  I can find that out for myself right outside my front door.  Secondly, I do belong to a tight-knit group of friends, all of whom are fitness minded, so I have more fun running with them than running with a group of strangers…  Racing just isn’t as much fun.

6.  I swim like a fish – I’ve never worked out for a triathlon swim, I just show up day of and start swimming.

7.  Recovery didn’t come easy for me – I first got a toe wet at 18 years-old after a party that got just a little out of control…  Got a little too hammered and got so sick from it I burst a blood vessel in my throat.  My clothes were completely caked in dried blood and I almost died Jimi Hendrix Style.  It wasn’t until I was 22 that I really gave recovery a chance, and haven’t had a drop since.