Good Day.  I hope this, second entry is something you look at, after the first, and say.. hey I wonder when this guy is going to post again, and maybe I'll read what he has to say.  His thoughts and ideas seem worth following, and maybe, just maybe I'll learn something useful I didn't know about the greater world of cycling.
I was making dinner this evening and actually enjoying using real cutlery, plates and a frosted pint glass.  We can talk about my enjoyment of dark beer later, maybe I'll even share my beer list later.
I thought about two things, that being (1) nutrition, and (2) family and friends.
You might ask where those all come together, but in fact in the cycling world they do, and are actually very much intertwined.
Food, food that can keep you sustained over your training days and afterward to build and rebuild the body and in particular the muscle groups used and strained by the cycling is a comer stone of the cycling and training regime.  It is at this point that I have to add the caveat that I don't know a lot about the proper use of carbs/proteins/fats etc.  I know what I like and what I don't like, I know what tastes good and what I should eat and what I shouldn't.  Having said all that there have been times when my training has taken me past and around places that are not on the diet and are better left far, far behind.
Over the years of shift work I have been known to live on coffee, coke ( the drink able kind), and candy bars.
I CAN EXPLAIN THE COKE( liquid) COMMENT VERY EASILY - DRUGS HAVE NO PLACE IN CYCLING AND COMPETITION.   IF YOU HAVE TO USE DRUGS TO GAIN THE ADVANTAGE, THEN YOU ARE IN THE WRONG PLACE AND YOU NEED TO REVIEW THE RULES AND YOUR MORALS.
As my friend Dan says, nothing good can come of this, and he is very much correct.  Just ask Ben JOHNSON years ago.  He was on top of the world and chatting with the Canadian Prime Minister, then the drug test came back and he lost everything.  The following enquiry caused  a major re-think in Canadian competitive sport.  CANADA lead the way for the world, we just didn't know it at the time.  Dick POUND from the IOC lead that charge and it has lead to an overall cleaning up, to an extent of Olympic sport. Do your best, be your best and you can hold your head high, and your family can be proud of you !!  They earned your respect, and they worked as hard as you did to get you where you are.  You just got to stand before the others and get the accolades.
I have seen the aspect of the comment - winning isn't everything, it's the only thing.  Those people are not happy people, they are driven by a set of rules that are not what the mainstream society work from.  Don't get me wrong, everyone wants to win, but if you have done your very best and left everything you have on the race courses or track or where ever you have done your best, then that is what you should feel good about, and should be proud of.  If you have done your very best and the middle of the pack is where you finished, then be proud of that finish, you did your best and you earned it, BUT if you left something out on the course and had something left at the end, then you did not compete hard enough  !!

That brings me to the family and friend part of this entry.  Family and friends are the ones that are there with you, and watching you practise and listen to you analyse, and re-analyse what you did, what you didn't do, and what you think or thought you should've done.  They are the unpaid slaves we at times, and more often than not take for granted.  They are the ones that are standing at the finish line or at the side of the course, or waiting at home for the vehicle.  They have endured as much, and at times more than you to make your goal happen.
Family and friends are even more important to those that achieve great things. Family and friends will give you the place to be yourself and relax.  They will assist you to take the sanity break that becomes all to rare, and a place to have that emotional moment when you need it.
I remember seeing a verse about a true friend.
 A friend will be there you bail you out of jail when you call, A true friend will be in the cell next to you saying man wasn't that a party.
  In coaching knowing "who's who in the zoo" is an ability that is also a learned thing.  Just like the coaching.  You have to learn to recognise the people for who they are, what they are, and what they want from the courses you are teaching.  You need to know how to recognise what has gotten through to those you are teaching.  You can tell when the light comes on for students.  It is that moment that you can see they "get it", and the corner has been turned.
You can also see when they don't have a clue of what you are trying to say - that 1000 yard stare, right past you into the wilderness.
You know when you mark exams when everyone gets the same question wrong, and you realise that you screwed up in your teaching of that particular point.
Teaching is again a learned thing.  My dear wife has taught me that teaching isn't easy, and being a good teacher, as is she, is a gift.  I can only hope to reach the goals she has set, but I learn from her each and every day what is the ways to follow.  I guess 35 years of marriage can do that to someone, and I love her dearly for it.
   I said that I would speak of nutrition.  I have gone on far longer than I thought about the value of  family and friends, but never sell them short.  They are the corner stone on which we build, even if we don't realise it at the time. VALUE THEM, and Thank them when ever you can.  A simple heart felt Thank-you can go so much farther than you realise.

We'll talk about nutrition next time.  By the way, Val said the five basic food groups - onions, mushrooms, green pepper, garlic and chocolate are not part of the Canadian food guide.  Okay, but I still think Guinness is more than a breakfast drink.
     Remember-  drink before you are thirsty and eat before you are hungry.
Those are good words to live by and a good guide line to work within.  Oh yea, Friday is desert day.  I am allowed a desert once a week, and I choose Fridays.  That way I have something to look forward to and I know treat day isn't far away, so I don't have to cheat the proper food protocol's.

Have a good evening,
        and
             Safe Ride Home.

Chuck