Yesterday by the time I got home from work I was seething. I had discussed an issue with my boss and about an hour or so later that exact issue came up and, once again, I received no backup. I now have zero power when it comes to disciplining a certain segment of the students I work with. When I got I knew what I had to do...go for a bike ride. I geared up and hit the road. It was under a leaden sky with temps about 43 and misting...oh and the usual wind. About five minutes into my ride I had decided to quit as of the end of the day Thursday. Another ten minutes and I was going to think about it over the weekend but spend Thursday after school looking for another job. By the time I turned around to head home, thirty-five minutes into the ride, I had decided to stick with it and just do the job the best I can and if 11.12 and 13 year olds laugh at me because they know I have no power and that nothing will happen if I write them up, then so be it. It was funny because I was so angry the first half of the ride that I was on auto pilot and on the way back kept thinking "I don't remember riding past that house" or farm or truck, etc.!
I learned the power of a ride or a run at a young age. There is nothing better then a ride or run when you are angry or frustrated. I have always told the teams I have coached that we, as athletes, have a gift in that for an hour, 30 minutes, two hours, whatever, can put everything aside and just focus on pushing ourselves. We can take out that anger in a productive and healthy way. I don't ever remember seeing that one of these people who shot up a school or a McDonalds or a mall, etc. where athletes. Now, don't get me wrong, athletes do bad things I just think we have a chance to get our anger out in healthy ways. I can't tell you how often I have been mad at my dad,brother, friends,girlfriend, wife, boss, teacher, etc. and went for a run or a ride and felt 100 times better afterward. I think it's a combination of the endorphins released during exercise and the time you get to think about things. I have also solved many a problem during a run or ride. I think the world would be a better place if everyone ran or rode.
Craft base layers are great! I have some money put aside for cycling this season and, with two races canceled I decided to use some of that money to get some new base layers. I found some great deals on products by Craft and went for it. I got two, one for warm weather and one for cold weather. The warm weather one is the Craft Pro Cool Sleeveless. The pros use base layers like this in the summer for three reasons: 1) Wicking sweat 2) The way the fibers are stitched it is supposed to help air flow around your body and keep you cool 3) The extra layer give the jersey something to slide against in a crash rather then against your skin. It is very comfortable and felt good on a relatively warm ride. The cold weather on is the Craft Zero Extreme Windstopper. This one has a nice warm fiber that wicks sweat, is long sleeved and has a windstopper layer on the chest and shoulders. I wore it yesterday in 43 degree, windy and misty weather with just a light long sleeved jersey and a light rain jacket and it was perfect. I highly recommend Craft baselayers. (Craft should be sending me all kinds of free gear after that endorsement!)
On my way in to school today I was listening to "First Wave" the 80's alternative station on XM. They played Howard Jones "No One Is To Blame" and it got me thinking about how many 80's songs had backing vocals by stars. Phil Collins did the backing vocals on that song, the guys from The Hooters did backing vocals on "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper, Don Henley on Bob Seger's "Like A Rock" to name a few. The only credit they got was in the liner notes and they just did the background stuff. Today if another star is on a song, they have to have a solo spot and must get credit such as "Band Name featuring, Solo Singer." I thought the 80's were the decade of greed?!?!?!
No comments:
Post a Comment