"IF"

If only I were younger...
If only I never got sick...
If only I had more money...
If only I were a better parent...
If only I were a better spouse...
If only I had different parents...
If only I had made different decisions...

Well then I wouldn't be me would I? So too bad I suppose. I am what I am.


What a great day to ride my bike....indoors that is!! What a godsend "Run For Your Life" has been. That's the little running store in downtown St Thomas where I go to ride their computrainer. We had a bit of a snow storm in St Thomas today and since I was in no shape to run yet I would have been screwd without the indoor option. I rode the last 60 kms of the Ironman course in 2 hours and 10 minutes for an average speed of 28 km/hr. I was generally happy with that

For the first time however I have a little nervousness about potential injury. My left knee which has always been a little gravelly is starting to bug me. I will have to be very careful over the next week. The challenge of course is to force myself to rest. Tomorrow I will probably swim only.

I wish to dedicate day 80 to brother Davids 17 year old stepson Michael who is trying to figure out life, just like the rest of us.

And...IF....I've posted this poem before I apologize but it remains one of my favorites. especially the first 2 lines and the last. If I could write like this I wouldn't have to work for a living.

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!---Rudyard Kipling

love
peter