Hasta Luego!

Well the chapter of working at the tree service company is over and I am attempting to reflect on what I learned, how fast the time went by, and just the craziness of it all. Some of you know my good friend Ryan Opganorth, well as O and I were passing through Texas and trying to figure out how I would provide financially for us, Ryan got me in touch with his uncle Jeff who owns Aesthetic Tree Service, a tree trimming, removal, and family business. I'll be completely honest. I had no desire whatsoever to do this job during my time in CO, but I guess God had other plans.

I do not think one can make a job description of what we do in this company but some helpful adjectives are: manual labor, dangerous, a black finger nail, new scars, cross cultural, and beer. I don't think I have to go in to great detail about how this job was full of labor but tasks such as: splitting logs, cleaning up branches from tree trimmings and putting them into a chipper machine, and then stump removal was by no means an easy task, not even mentioning that clean up job.

Dangerous. Never have I worked for a company that every day, every new job had a new set of potential harmful situations that you had to constantly be aware of. It was almost like living in Nairobi and having to be constantly turned on to your surroundings and what has happening. I definitely had some close calls with the chipper when I would get slammed to the ground by a branch, or not be aware of someone cutting something above me and almost getting hit by it. Thankfully I had some good colleagues who would look out for me.

So the black finger story is one that I will remember for awhile because I see it every day. So if you have ever worked with a wood splitter, you'll understand this story, if not, well just be glad you don't. So basically you get piece of wood, load it onto a tray, push the lever for the axe to split the wood for you rather than using a ton of wasted energy on an axe, even though "Duck Dynasty" did have a good episode on how that is a great workout. Now these machines are insanely powerful and this particular one could split wood with up to 35tons of pressure. That's a lot. So what happened. Well my finger got caught one day behind the log that I was splitting and there's all that pressure on my thumb! Thankfully I was able to stop the machine before it got really bad, but that thing hurt like nothing else. My aunt Mary Anne was extremely helpful as she encouraged me to ice my finger for 20min every hour otherwise I might lose my finger nail. So naturally with those odds I was religious about that ice. And what do you know, I still have the finger nail!

New scars are basically part of what the job entails because with all the limbs, trunks, equipment that you're using, something is guaranteed to get ya. Oh well at least I don't have anything like Scar from the Lion King and I am extremely grateful for that.

I guess I'm meant to work with every cultural group because I think I am getting pretty close of doing that. With this workforce we consisted of Americans, Mexican, and El Salvador. It was fun and I learned a lot about their home culture, what it's like to transition to the US and raise a family here, and lots of other things.

Beer! This was an interesting element of this job because so much of jobs like this consist of work and then drinking a cold one, or two, or three, or more for whatever reason. Whether its alcoholism, just wanting something cold, or because you like the taste, this was a huge motivational piece to our work. It's crazy what one can accomplish when that is used as a reward to the get the job done. This of course was my observation as I was an outsider to these guys and learned how they operate. And this was a big aspect for them.

So I'm done all of that. It was fun, adventurous, insightful, and I am so motivated to get back into the world of sports. Never have I missed being in that industry so much. But in hindsight, sometimes to get somewhere you have to make sacrifices and even though this job was very demanding, taxing, and draining I am extremely grateful for those guys  at Aesthetic and for their openness to teach me on the fly.

So let the new journey begin. Here's to those stories and lessons, but here's to a new mission, a new setting that I cannot wait to dive into! Cheers.

Run for Boston

So this past weekend Michelle Moore (also known as Miche), O, and yours truly hit the trails at the Boulder Reservoir for the Boulder Distance Classic 15k and 5k races. When arrived early for registration, we were pleasantly surprised to find that our runners packet came with this logo on our race tshirts! The director of the race was actually in Boston and had finished the race an hour before the bombings went off. Before the race he shared his story and gave a short devotional about how the running community would not be shaken by such heinous acts. It was really cool to be in this sweet community that dedicated this race and day to people we didn't even know.

After a moment of silence and the national anthem it was on and let me tell you, Miche and I owned the 15k! This was one of the hardest races that I had ever competed in, not because of the terrain, although that had a few challenges, but because the athletes were dominated by the Boulder community and all of their running groups. There was only 255 15k competitors, but each of these competitors had something to prove on their turf. With it being a small race, it was easy for us to get a good start. After the first mile Michelle and I both found ourselves in the top 10% of the pack after with times of 7min and 30 sec and 6min and 30 sec!

When I heard my female British accent Endomondo app tell me my first mile time, my response was, "Oh $#*^!" Later I found out that Miche experienced the same thoughts as we were way ahead of our projected targets. She was shooting for an average 8.30min/mile pace while I was hoping for an 8min/mile. So getting that far ahead naturally brought on a few mental obstacles that scared us that we were not going to have enough gas to finish.

As I said, this was a tough race not just because of our pace, but because we were running on trails, which weren't very stable. The lanes were usually only one person wide and it would cost a lot of energy to get past another runner. Runner's etiquette definitely had to be followed and thankfully that was not an issue.

In the midst of my run, I found that the only people I could get in a good rhythm with was females. The men would either pass me at a much faster pace or they were behind me by a good margin. There was no in between. So the first half I was paced by these two ladies who obviously train together. After that I tried to keep up with an all Lululemon clad female who smoked me the last mile and a half.

Besides having to get over those comparisons, I finished with a PR of 1hour 9min and 39seconds! An average pace of 7.29min/mile! I was definitely pleased with that and couldn't ask for a better time. After the race, I found those women who helped keep my pace and thanked them. It was cool to see their expression because I am sure that was the last thing they expected.

Miche was just behind me with her PR at 1hour 19min! Seeing the shock on her face when she crossed the finish line was epic! There really is something about seeing a friend train so hard and then be rewarded for their hard work! This was her last run before her 1/2 marathon next week in Fort Collins, CO and she has so much confidence going into. We are wishing her the best and know that she is going to crush it!

Unfortunately for O, she was forced to power walk her 5k rather than attack it with her ferocity. O has started seeing the chiropractors at Body In Balance, in Golden, CO. They have been a great fit for her back as she suffers from scoliosis. After two weeks of therapy, she has already begun to see a huge improvement in her posture and stance. After discussing the race with them, they advised her to take a break from running for a while so as to not lose any of the progress that she's made. It was a tough request and being forced to walk is a humbling process. But she not only endured it, but excelled in it! With a goal of one hour she clocked in at 38min and 36seconds! She will admit that it was a tough workout and it was really cool to see her put on her game face and do her best. Even when it wasn't what she wanted to do. I couldn't be more proud of her.

 

All in all, it was a good result that consisted of PR's, getting "Run for Boston" Brooks gear, and making new memories with a close friend. So glad that it's over and now it's on to a new event! Not sure what will be next, but O and I are definitely getting stronger and loving this journey to the be fittest athlete we can be!

For all you running married couples out there, here's a pic I found on one of my Crossfit athlete's twitter that made me laugh a lot!