The clock keeps spinning...

 It is nearly the end of January. It has zipped past so quickly. I feel like I am rushed all the time and forgetting things that I should be doing. But when I stop and catch my breath and think about what I might be forgetting, I can't think of what it could be. Is this just old age? 

My workouts have been going well, just not as frequent as I would like them to be. I am making progress though. I am back up to 1000 steps on the stair-master and on the treadmill I did 1:05 with 45 minutes of that at 15% incline. The inclines are getting easier. It doesn't seem long ago that I struggled to last 10 to 15 minutes at 15%. 

My camping trip to Big Bend is getting closer. I have started to organize the camping gear and buying the few items that I will need. Meals will be mostly soup and sandwiches, Coffee and Belvita Biscuits for brekkies, PB&J and fruit for lunches on the trail and of course lots of Kind Bars. I have my hiking trails all picked out - Day 1.The Window Trail 5.5 miles. Day 2. Lost Mine Trail 4.8 miles & Santa Elena Canyon 1.6 miles. Day 3. Balanced Rock via Grapevine Hills Trail 1.9 miles and Boquillas Canyon 1.4 miles. My final day of hiking on day 4 will be Pinnacles Trail 9.0 miles it will be the true test of my fitness as it is 4.5 miles uphill to the base of Emory Peak. The average hiker take 5 hours to complete. I am hoping to do it in 6. But I may take longer as I will be stopping and taking frequent photos and hope to get use of my new tri-pod so that will add to the time to set up a shot. I am going to tackle it the same way I did the Manitou Incline... one step at a time. Failure is not an option even if it takes all day. 

I have also changed my plans for my Autumn hiking trip as I found a really nice apartment rental in downtown Manitou Springs. So instead of going to Rocky Mountain National Park I am spending the week on the incline with daily hikes (hopefully a few doubles up the incline) and a few additional hikes in the Colorado Springs area. I think I will fly in and rent a car since I won't be bringing all my camping gear with me. Treating myself a bit before I retire. My daughter will most likely be joining me again. After researching the trails at RMNP I realized that the best training hikes I can do to prepare for the Inca Trail is to do the Incline multiple times in a week. I'll save RRNP for one of my post-retirement road trips. I won't be so rushed then and can just really enjoy the mountains. 

So that brings me up-to-date on here. Hoping that life slows down soon, but I really doubt that will happen as Spring is just around the corner and my yard is quite the mess.

Today I smile

 It's Monday, so why am I happy and smiling? I know that each Monday is another week closer to retirement, so I smile. The boss called out sick today and the other two managers are out, so I have the office to myself so I smile. I also had a really good weekend. The Texans won. That made me smile.

I also reflected back on what I wrote in my last post about looking for excuses to not go to the gym and workout. I needed to get motivated. So I researched how I should be working out and to what level to be fit enough to succeed at trekking the Inca trail. Basically an hour on the stair master or a combination of it and the treadmill at 15% incline. Okay I can do this. I have fourteen months or so before I go to Peru. 

So on Saturday I head up to the gym at my usual time of 12:30 pm. I pull into the parking lot and it has way more cars there than normal. I go in and all the treadmills are all in use as are the stair masters. Damn you January and your fitness resolutions! So my only option was the stationary bike while I waited for a treadmill. After about twenty minutes one became available so I nabbed it. Since I wasn't going to get on the stair master I knew I needed to complete an hour on the treadmill and aim to do thirty minutes straight at 15%. I did it plus a few minutes more. I felt great! By the time I finished the gym had cleared out a bit, so I may head in a bit later next Saturday. But I am also thinking that people showed up later that day as the morning had been quite cold and they probably just didn't want to get out until after it had warmed up a bit. 

On Sundays I am always at the gym when they open the doors at 1:00 pm. I hopped on the stair master first and did 700 steps and then on to the treadmill for an hour with forty minutes at 15%. I had debated going a bit longer but I don't want to overdo it too much too quick. The gym started to fill by 1:30, but it was never as bad as it was on Saturday.  I spoke to one of the staff about how busy it is on weeknights. I had tried in the past going after work but there were too many people and too many kids running around. It just left me stressed. She said that of course right now it being January it is much busier but it does start to quiet down after 7:30 pm. So I am thinking I may try to add a Wednesday night workout and plan on being there about 7:45 - 8:45pm. I can get home from work, have a light dinner, watch one episode of whatever I am streaming, then head over, complete my workout, come home, shower and then go straight to bed. All I can do is see if it will work out for me. I hope that for the next month I can concentrate on the treadmill on Wednesdays and then after my Big Bend hiking trip I'll start getting serious on the stair master again. 

So my goal before I go to Peru is to after retirement go to the gym every day. Then at least twice a week do an hour on the stair master followed by an hour on the treadmill (15%) . If I can get to that level, The Inca trail will be a walk in the park! LOL!

So today I smile because I am motivated! 

happiness

 Happy? It is something we all strive to have in our lives. Is it a goal or is it just present in your everyday life. Do  you find happiness in the small things or do you overlook those in search of a larger emotional impact?

My daily Buddhist teaching today was on this topic. Do we focus so much on a goal that we think will make us happy that we forget to find happiness in the present moment. Be mindful and in the present moment and feel the joy that is there. For me as I read that, I had just finished my Yoga and short meditation. I was feeling peaceful, relaxed and happy in a calm reflective way. Most days and at most times I am happy. It might be a subdued happy emotion, but it is joyful. 

Happiness takes many forms. There have been times where I feel like I am walking on clouds. My face reflects the elation I feel. A big smile, easy laughter, a joyful heart. The feeling that all is perfect in that moment. Happiness comes when you are enjoying a social interaction, playtime with a pet, a wonderful meal. Achieving a goal brings a sense of elation. I will never forgot the feeling I had when I reached the top of the Manitou Incline. I had doubts going up of my ability to complete it. Oh but when I stood at the top and looked out I felt like I was flying. 

Finding happiness in the everyday can at times be more challenging. Loneliness, work, boredom, stress can often overpower all else. I find if I just pause and think about the breath I take, how wonderful I feel, the life I am in at that moment, how can I not but find joy. 

The weekend is nearly here and with it comes the commitment I have made with myself to go to the gym on Saturday and Sunday. I often find that I am negotiating with my self trying to find excuses not to go. Why I do this I am not sure. I think it is just that I love being home and not getting out having to drive somewhere. I also dread the first 10 - 15 minutes of my workout, it is always the most difficult. But every time when my workout is complete and I have gone further than the previous workout I leave the gym with a smile on my face feeling wonderful both physically and emotionally. I think about how the difficulty and challenges I face as I push myself harder on my workouts will pay off when I go hiking on event more difficult trails. I know that I have to push myself harder to achieve the trekking goals I have to do the Inca Trail and EBC. It is with the dreams I have to accomplish those that brings me happiness as I work out. Recently I have been challenging myself on the treadmill to do longer segments at 15% incline. I have gone from a start of five minutes and am now up to thirty minutes. My goal is to do a full 60 minutes at 15%. I am currently only doing 500  steps on the stair master once a week prior to my treadmill workout. I will increase it over the summer as I prepare to take on the Manitou Incline again in the Autumn. I will continue then to get up to an hour on the stair master and an hour on the treadmill before I go to Peru. 

We each have our own definition of happiness and what makes us happy. I am so grateful to be at a place in my life where just being present brings me joy. Age has brought wisdom and patience that guides me a mindset to not let life's stresses and challenges bring me down. This is not to say that I don't get sad, stressed or angry. I have just learned to let it go much quicker. 

Life is so good. Live it in joy. Live it in peace. Live it in the present moment. Live happy.

Next in line

 You know that feeling when you are next in line? You kinda smile and think to yourself - I'm next! I waited and now I'm next! It's a good feeling isn't it. I'll bet you are smiling now just thinking about it. :)  Well that is how I feel today, January 9th, 2025. In exactly one year on January 9th, 2026 I will work my last day and be officially retired. Tomorrow I can say I have less than a year left to work. It sounds silly I know, but for me I have been counting it down for the past five years. I had to make a decision five and a half years ago to either stay in a bad marriage and hope I could retire early or walk away and know that I would have to work until I was 67. Well here I am having just turned 66 with one year left so I guess that tells you my decision and just how bad my marriage had become. The time has flown and I know that this final year will pass very quickly. 

Working at a Convention Center we have a lot of annual events. It's a great feeling knowing that each of these will be my last. There are a few I will miss, but for most I will be so glad to be gone. The next twelve months will be busy. We are switching over to a new event software system that I will be heavily involved in the implementation of. In my spare time I will immerse myself in learning more Nepalese and also some Spanish for my trips in 2026. I will also start my TEFL course later this year. I of course have my camping and hiking trips planned and possibly a quick trip to Fairbanks for an Northern light excursion if the conditions align perfectly. 

One Year.... I got this!

 

Another trip around the Sun...

I let time slip away from me this past month. I'll just use the holidays as an excuse for not posting anything. The reality of it though was there just wasn't anything new to write. Life has become pretty mundane. I even missed a few workouts right before Christmas. I had meant to go, but between baking cookies for gifts and having friends over for dinner I was just too tired to go. I did get back on my little stair stepper a home for brief workouts after my yoga. I had hoped to go hiking on Christmas Eve, but that ended up not happening. I did get to the gym on the 28th. I did 600 steps on the stair master and 50 minutes on the treadmill of which 30 minutes was at the full 15% incline. I am finding it easier to do and am spending longer on that challenge. I hope to get it up to 50 - 60 minutes by Spring. I might even push it to get there before my trip to Big Bend in February. 

I celebrated my 66th birthday with my 2nd annual hike up tot he summit of Enchanted Rock. My two youngest went with me. After summiting we had planned a four mile hike there but it was unseasonable hot that day and cut it to a less than 2 mile hike as I easily get overheated when hiking in temps above 75. It was in the mid-80's by 1:00 pm. We instead headed on down to Kerrville for the night and then got an early start on our hike at Lost Maples State park. we arrived there before 8:00 am with the temperature in the mid-30's. For me that is perfect hiking weather. We did a 6 mile loop in just over 2.5 hours. We did stop often for pictures. It was a perfect morning hike and we finished just as the thermometer was hitting 75f. We hiked the West trail this year and I think I prefer it to the East Trail. It was about equally as challenging, but was better marked and had less loose rock on the decent. Weather permitting next year we are planning on spending a full ay there hiking and exploring a bit more of the park. 

2025... My last full year working full time. I will only work 5 days in 2026 before I hit my final day, January 9th, 2027. I will soon start saying good-bye to each of the customers that I have worked with on their annual events the past fifteen years. There are some that I will miss and others I will be glad to part ways with. As this year moves forward I will begin to plan my trip to Peru. I will start early preparations for Nepal, but most of the big details will not come until 2026. I also hope to go camping and Hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park this Autumn. With retirement also comes filing for Social Security. I am a bit stressed about it, but a recent change in how benefits are calculated will positively impact mu monthly income. That has been a huge weight lifted as I should be able to live a fairly comfortable retirement.

Happy 2026 everyone. I hope it brings you all peace and prosperity.

A few pics of my birthday hikes.