Living to the Plus- Thoughts of the Day

My first thought about ending the year and the decade is it went too fast! Where does the time go? In 2009 Mathis was 2 and River was 5 now they are so big and smart. I miss my little guys but love my big boys. I was still married in 2009. Still had Seidel Productions- River Road Run, TXTri, San Marcos River Ranch Tri... All that has change and major life lessons learned. This past year was the first full year back at H-E-B and I am grateful for that. It has been a year of thinking, discovery and choices. Since losing my events all but still working with Texas State, where my career started and it has come full circle. It has been a year of trying to decide where I want to go with my career as an event promoter. Do I just sit back be lazy, earn my pay check from HEB and just be normal and boring?  Do I continue to pursue and re-create traditional events like runs and tris?  Do I pursue ideas I have about non-traditional events?  Do I create an entirely differe...

This is a picture of my son River. River was running in the Texas State Triathlon, which I have directed over the past 20 years, wearing my Team USA Tri Suit. River and his brother were born because of this event, where I met their mom, so it's their existence event. I was very proud and it brought much joy to see him participating in this event. River is not a runner most of the time. He is an accomplished violinist at McCallum High School in the Performing Arts program. Yet River can still run, not as good as his old man at his age, he doesn't like it as much as his old man or as much as playing the violin but he runs. His soul has found music in the heart. But he was also born to run, like all of us. Running connects the soul, have you found that? Yes, we were born to run. The book Born to Run  by Christopher McDougall does a much better job than I can to explain all of the background and evolution, so I highly recommend reading this book. This book totally changed my ...

What to eat, how to move, how to get more energy, how to sleep better... the list goes on. AND there is sooooo much information out there and much of it is conflicting! What to do, what to do? Keep it simple like Nick to the Plus! Complicating and arguing over this and that with "other camps" is a waste of time and energy. Why? Because most "camps" agree on most things. Eat more whole food (things that don't come in a package or a box) Eat less processed food (thing that come in a package or a box) Eat more colors of the rainbow. Look at your plate, how many colors do you see. Try to eat all five colors at least twice a day or 7-14 servings a day or 20+ for athletes to reduce oxidative stress- Red (Lycopene)  Purple/ Blue (anthocynin) Orange/Yellow (Carotenoids) Green (Carotenoids, Indoles and Saponins) Brown/White (Allicin, Potassium) There are 10s of 100s of phytonutrients in these colors that are NOT found in animal products Want and...

I love the river, I love swimming in the river, and I love doing river things with my boys. I am pretty sure if I had my own heaven, it would be swimming in the river with my boys forever. If I had a second choice it would be swimming, bike, and running in the Texas Hill Country forever with some r&r. So I was thinking right now, even though I love to swim in the river, you know what? I hate getting in the river. The cold every time, the chill, the discomfort. I am used to it, but I also don't like the weeds. I have not seen many snakes but I am always thinking about them, or if I will ever encounter one. I also don't like sharing. This afternoon when Mathis and I went swimming we saw three other people in the hour we were there. In the middle of summer, there are thousands if not millions that visit the river. They trash it, disrespect it, cloudy it up. I understand tubing is fun, relaxing and a great way to spend time with friends and family. But the river is a 3...

October 1st, 2019

October 1st, 2019

We found Bolt at a race I was timing in Helotes that was benefiting a rescue shelter. I would often take the boys to timing jobs but this one was extra special because they had all the dogs out for people to run with if they wanted. River ran the 5k with Bolt and instantly fell in love with him. Bolt was already named because the movie had come out recently and he looked a lot like the cartoon. He lived up to his name because he was notorious for bolting in various forms and in the end, was his tragic demise. When we went to sign the papers for Bolt at the shelter they actually had diapers on him because I guess they thought he had a peeing problem there. I thought it was the silliest thing to have a dog in diapers. When we got home, we ripped those suckers off but he was always my baby dog. He only had accidents when other dogs had been around to mark his territory. Like I said Bolt lived up to his name, he was a free spirit and loved to run and sniff and mark around the neigh...