One month 2 weeks out: Starting in May the weekends filled up quickly. The Heroes in Transition Annual Gala was held. This is such a great night. In the high rent district of NYC at the Mandarin Oriental hotel overlooking Central Park the event kicked off. They had some of the Patriot Rovers service dogs there one of the NY Giants and multiple service individuals. The formal part of the event kicked of with showing us some of the things and some of the people who have been helped via HIT. Including some of the heroism that these individual,s who now need help, have displayed. CFC was able to contribute $5,000 to HIT this year. That's thanks to all the supporters who bought CFC apparel over the year. Got two workouts in and a short ruck this week, niot great but worthwhile.
One month to GRCLV: Another charity ball for a local hospital to follow that weekend. That was more like an ass kissing festival to be honest, but it went to a good cause. I started to fell the pressure of some of the events to come as time became tighter and tighter. Diet was pretty much out the window at this point and I was getting 1-2 workouts in a week.
4 weeks to GRCLV: I was part of a wedding and got to see a friend get Married to his long time Girlfriend on a beautiful day in May. I helping out with the bestman's speech which involved an actual antique Ball and Chain. I'd call this a blow up weekend diet and training wise. Little restraint was taken into account.
3 weeks to GRCLV: With a weekend off and Facing the reality that I only had three weeks left I started to panic a bit about the shape I was actually in. A short ruck with some of the other participants helped with that a bit is I felt better, even if it was only mentally that I wasn't an piece of physical crap.
2 weeks to GRCLV: Then came the 41st Annual Lehigh Valley Rugby Tournament, a particularly important event for me and the Club as it is the majopr fundraiser for the year for LVRFC. As president I feel I need to take a lot of the weight on my shoulders to make this Tradition a great tournament. With a lot of help from a select few of club members and after a mediocre year last year due to circumstances beyond our control, we ended up having the largest tournament in club history. 38 teams (28 men/ 10 women) from all over the Mid-Atlantic played 77 matches on four fields of action. It all went flawlessly. This is no easy task, and it gave me a great sense of accomplishment that everyone had such a great time. Again not a weekend for working out. I was exhausted mentally and physically from the planning and setup and breakdown of the tournament. It was all worth it in the end.
1 week to GRCLV: The next week came my turn to Host my wine groups "Ladies Night". I've always loved wine and food and I've been apart of this very unpretentious group for 7-8 years now. Twice a year we hold "Ladies Night" which aside from our regular, men only monthly meetings, is more of a party where you can bring your wives and/or significant others. I held it under the banquet tent at the Clubhouse Grill at the Bethlehem Municipal golf course. Work with Chef Matt on a menu I paired some wines and collectively put together a great "Summer Cookout" themed wine dinner. With a week to go, another GRCLV member was planning a monster ruck of 17+ mis with hills, water crossings stadium stair running etc. I decided to take him up on it the morning of "Ladies Night" While a bit fatigued I'm very glad I did it. I really felt good about how I felt and that I was able to accomplish it.
1 day to GRCLV: I'm sitting here writing, feeling good, got a few workouts in and now in rest /hydrate mode. I feel more then ready for Tomorrow night. The group seems excited as the Facebook traffic has picked up on the page with excited comments and questions from some of the nervous folk who haven't done this before.
I look back now at the last Month and at all the time when I was stressed, angry, tired, etc and it all seems so petty. It could always be worse. In those cases it was mostly for fun anyway. First world problems are a good thing to have, but only if you don't act as if they are third world problems. I'm sure I will feel this sentiment even more so after the event tomorrow night as these events have that effect about what problems are. Perspective is everything. I'm glad I took the time to do this today even if no one ends up reading it. Becoming a better American takes practice and sometimes a reset is in order.
If you see 30 weirdos running around Bethlehem with Bricks in a bag and carrying logs and I-beams that's us tomorrow night. See you on the other side with a recap of the event.
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