Yesterday's weather in DC was perfect (75 and sunny), so I decided to take full advantage of it by going on a bike ride at the National Mall. Even though parking is at a premium, it was well worth it to see the sites (note that the following pictures were taken on previous dates, for I did not have my camera on me; I did, however, see these sites yesterday).
First, it's cherry blossom season. This is what I saw on the Tidal Basin:
I then continued my trek onto the National Mall, seeing my favorite view in all of DC:
I also made it down to the Lincoln Memorial, giving me this almost as splendid view:
I also made it to the home of America's least qualified government employee (I can safely say this now that Rumsfeld is no longer Secretary of Defense):
Unfortunately, I do not have pictures regarding the next part. Alluding to this post's title, during my bike ride I ran into a trucker protest. There were easily 100+ dump trucks (the type that haul stone) blaring their air horns around the National Mall. Every 10 or so trucks would have a sign hanging off of the bed with one of three messages: lower fuel prices, lower insurance rates, and lower operational safety costs. I think we can all relate to the first one (and, in fact, diesel prices have gone up by about 35% in the last 12 months), but the last two I had no idea. Anyways, that was the first official protest that I witnessed on the National Mall. I do not know if it altered my opinion on anything, but it is certainly something that I will remember.
Inspiration
There was a very inspirational segment on Dateline Wednesday night. Randy Pausch is a former Carnegie Mellon professor who, at the age of 46, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. This form of cancer has the lowest survival rate of any (according to CancerHelp.org, the 5 year survival rate is 15%, even if caught in the early stages). After aggressive treatment, Randy was told that tumors had spread to his liver, giving him 3-6 months of remaining healthy life. Rather than rolling over and waiting to die, he and his wife decided it would be best for the two of them and three children (all 5 years or younger) for him to live every day.
Since being told that he has no more than 6 months of living, he has made the absolute most of every single day. He makes it a point to play with his kids for as long as they can keep up with him. He makes his wife feel special by doing the little things that we should all do for our partners. Most impressively, he even managed to write a book.
The Last Lecture was written by Randy with the help of Jeffrey Zaslow. While taking his morning bike ride, Randy would actually dictate his thoughts to Jeffrey via cell phone. I am only 30 pages into this very powerful text, and it is quite apparent this book is his legacy left to his children. Despite the intended focus on his children, the inspiration will spread to many others.
After only a half hour of reading and 1 hour of interview, there is no way that I will allow myself continue to be out of shape. I can not help but think of the things that it has caused me to miss out on. I have lived in Denver for a total of 6 months but yet I have never skied or climbed a 14er. Up until a week ago, I have not been a part of a recreational sports league. Most scarily, I barely made it through my last gig as drummer. All of these were due to the fact that I was fat and out of shape.
We all have limited time in this life, and whether we have 60 years or 6 months remaining, it is way too wasteful to to let ones actions (or inaction) dictate what you can or can not do. Life is nothing more than a series of moments and decisions. I have decided to be this guy (Buddy Rich playing hard into his 60's):
Success at the Gym
A couple of days ago I said that I wanted to complete 3 miles on the elliptical in 27 minutes 40 seconds. That very day I blew that target out of the water by completing the feat in 25 minutes 50 seconds. Hitting these milestones make it a lot easier to go to the gym, even when your legs are so sore you can barely get out of bed in the morning. My next goal is 3.5 miles in 28 minutes (that's 7.5 miles per hour). I will shoot for this on Monday and focus on interval training today and tomorrow (Sunday will be an off day).
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