I’ve been meaning to write something here for a while now. More times than I care to admit, I’ve had a great blog post idea and then decided I just didn’t feel like writing or putting myself on the page.

But, I kinda sorta miss writing here. So I’m going to try to make this a regular habit again. Emphasis on the try.

I suppose lately, I’ve felt like there isn’t much worth writing about. The summer is over. I didn’t do anything spectacular. I didn’t set or accomplish any big goals. I had a normal person summer.

I had decided at the start of 2023 that I didn’t want to participate in any events. I found last year I became quite consumed and anxious with being as prepared as possible for the events I did. I spent a lot of time stressing and being anxious.

I told myself in January 2023 that I would have more fun if I just did things like ride my bike or swim without a tangible goal attached to these activities.

But now as I sit here in September I think this might of just been an excuse to not do hard things.

And now I realize that I need to be doing the hard things. I need to be setting big audacious goals. I need to channel my brain and body into goals.

This is how I stay motivated. This is how I stay balanced. This is how I stay happy. This is how I keep myself from slipping into the “I’ll do that tomorrow”.

So yeah, I guess I learned some important things about myself.

The question now is – what to shoot for? Vague goals like – lift weights or ride the trainer or go to swim practice are too soft for me. Sweating and moving is part of me.

Instead I need some real goals. Big ones. Similar to what I set way back in 2008 or in 2001.

So yeah, this is where I’m at. I wrote this so that I can be accountable.

I’ve watched the women in the Ottawa Women’s Cycling Club tick off huge cycling accomplishments this summer, I’ve watched my swim gang achieve big things, I’ve watched Marc continually putting in the time on the bike and believing in himself, I’ve watched my little (13 is still little right?) nephew consistently pick himself up and trying until he nails his latest bike trick, and I’ve read your updates on Facebook, Instagram, and blogs about what you’re doing and achieving.

Thank you for this. Because of you I want to do the same. I guess the next step is up to me.

(And because the algorithms like blogs with photos, here are a couple of photos…)