A back and a bike tire

Less than a week to go until my first tri and I've had to deal with the first obstacles of actually seeing my goal to the end.

First I was riding my bike on Saturday when I heard a POP. Not exactly the kind of sound you want to hear. I immediately thought it was a popped tire, but realized that my tire was still full of air, but my rim wasn't spinning true. My neighbor, a bike expert, took a look and realized that I broke a spoke. So 20 bucks later and my bike is now better than new.

Second, on Monday my back decided to "twinge" when I got out of my car at work Monday morning. I've had a long standing experience with back spasms dating way back to an incident in a silo with a silo unloader. Now my back decides to spasm about once a year, and usually at the worst times. This time it's going through spasms, but they aren't bad and usually go away after stretching. I should be okay by Sunday, but it's just another bump in the road.

It's sort of like life - just when you really can see your dreams and goals in sight a challenge comes along that forces you to refocus. I guess that which challenges us just makes us stronger.

Or as a good friend of mine would say, "No Place But Up!"