What? Enter a race to gain confidence in my ability? No way I’ll get crushed. "I’m too old, I’m not good enough and I’ll look foolish." That's what I thought when my buddy talked me into joining them last weekend at the “12 hours of Mesa Verde” race in Cortez, Colorado.

There were 750 riders signed up for the race. Riders could either compete solo or in teams of up to four riders per team. The race started at 7:00 am. The goal is to try to get as many laps in as possible in a 12 hour period. Each lap was 16 miles long.

As I was registering for the event, I took a look around it seemed as though I was woefully outclassed by elite athletes. I was convinced that my predictions of personal humiliation would come true. But I was committed to my team and determined to see this thing through.

An unexpected thing happened from the time of registration to the starting line, my perspective changed. It surprised me. As I looked around a little closer I began to observe something completely different from my unfounded fears of inadequacy. I experienced families, friends, and complete strangers all sharing in the joy of the sport and the day. Smiles everywhere, the good vibe was contagious. So, my fear was replaced by excitement. I couldn’t wait for my turn on the course.

When my turn came I peddled my ass off, I gasped for air, my legs burned, adrenaline flowed through my fingertips. I was only five miles into what would ultimately be 32 miles of riding for my two laps. But something happened along the way that inspired me. Instead of feeling humiliated by superior riders, I received nothing but support and encouragement from others and the crowd gathered along the trail. With every rider that passed me, I admired their skills at handling a bike and understood the commitment it takes to ride at a competitive level.

My team ended up with a respectable finish. But more importantly, a sense of accomplishment. I was able to learn from other riders. The experience has inspired me to ride more and improve my skills this summer. Will I be back next year? Definitely and with a completely different attitude. I will be looking forward to reconnecting with new friends I met this year and introducing more of my friends to the race.

Have a great spring no matter how you choose to get outside and enjoy being active.

“Live now. Live well.” If you’ve been following Keola you’re probably familiar with our tagline and what it means to us. We believe in experiencing life one moment at a time. To be mindful of what we do today affects all of our tomorrows.

Although it may go without saying that the ability to be in the moment allows one to be present and in a better state of appreciation. This in turn can reveal opportunities we may not have otherwise seen. But in reality, it’s often much harder to put into practice day-to-day. When we are entrenched in life’s daily grind with demands and distractions coming from everywhere, it can be easy to lose focus on what inspires us.

Sure, we would all like to stay active and healthy. We already know it’s great for our physical and mental well being. But let’s face it, sometimes finding the motivation can be a real challenge. I’m 53 years old (at least in years) — Wow! That looks like a big number seeing it in type. I have a 15-year-old son who I try to keep up with and plan on doing so for quite a while.

So, last week I managed to get up to Winter Park Colorado to make some last turns of the season. Being a Thursday morning in mid-May the place was nearly empty save for the abundant amounts of snow we’ve been blessed with this season still hanging to the branches and leaving every run still beautiful to rip.

Spending the morning on the chairlift solo, gives one lots of time to reflect. To feel a tremendous sense of gratitude and appreciation for the mountains and the many experiences skiing has made possible over the years.

Why do you love skiing or boarding? I guess the answer is as varied as the people who do it. For me, the more I thought about it riding up the chair, the more ways I realized just how much I’ve been impacted by it and how important is to make time to spend outside.

As a kid, I remember the very first time I clicked into an old pair of hand-me-down skis. Even at the time they were still considered relics. It didn’t matter. Nor did it matter that my friends and I learned to ski on a 300 vertical foot hill of bullet proof ice serviced by 3 rope tows and a T-bar that sometimes worked. To us that hill was a mountain! Just like the pictures we’d rip out of ski magazines from our school library and hang in our lockers at school. — It’s all we knew. Our parents would drop us off every weekend at our local ski hill. Friday night, Saturday, Saturday night and Sunday. Skiing was the bright spot in our otherwise cold, dark winters. While most people dreaded the coming of winter in the mid-west, we saw it as a time to play every weekend.

I left skiing behind when I went off to college as I could not afford the price of a lift ticket. The passion that burned in me as a kid for the sport started to fade.

Several years later after I had saved enough money to take a trip out West for the first time with some buddies. It was then that I was reunited with my old passion. I was introduced to the mountains that I used to stare at in pictures of as a kid for the first time. We all were immediately transported back in time to when we were kids at our local hill. Not because skiing in mountains compared to our little hill back home, but because we felt like 12-year old kids again! Not a care in the world save for which line we were going to take.

And that was it, we were all hooked again. So much so that we spent the next decade traveling as a group of buddies every year to new destinations in the US and abroad. Through skiing friendships deepened, we experienced new cultures and made new friends. We never again forgot how important it was to make time to get outside and play. To be in nature, to feel the weather, to get scared on line that pushed us to the limits of our ability.

I’m now 52 years old and largely because of skiing I still feel like a kid every time I click into my bindings. So I guess skiing to me still means spending quality time with my friends who are now spread all over the country. Hanging with my son and no screens. And making new friends every season.

The feeling of freedom and escape remain with me several days after being in the mountains… just long enough until the next time I’m able to ride a wide open snow filled bowl, chute or run through the trees.

Soon the fields will be pungent with the fresh aromas of cannabis ... and hope. Hope for a brighter future ... a future filled with humanitarian resilience. We as Americans are remembering our brilliant past. We once helped each other with immune system supportive methods, with the building blocks for healthy homes and healthy living. New answers for our future greatness have come recently from inspiration, creativity and social disapproval of status quo.

As Washington's beloved Mt. Vernon prepares for this great national hemp harvest, we are all re-united with our history, vast with hemp farming, manufacturing of the 50,000 uses, and ancient healing methods.

My personal experience with phyto-cannabinoid rich full-spectrum hemp (FSH) products led me to being a hemp focused physician. It has become increasingly obvious how critical hemp nutrition is critical to the entire inflammation process, to endocrine health, bone health, neurotransmitter health, liver health and true cellular health.

Whether a health participant is experiencing great inflammation, pain, mood disruption or cellular metabolism weakness, they have been supported with FSH products. The time has come for humanity to be uplifted and reunited with this exemplary method for self care and maintenance. As an active amputee since the age of 5, I find the support of full spectrum hemp and its many cannabinoids including CBD to be so helpful. (By the way, the best, most effective and life-enriching topical I have found in my 5 years of research for topical pain assistance for quick recovery and healing has been the Keola Balm.

This line has been key to my homeostasis and the well being of my clients.) Life is too short to wallow in the past pain of injury ... so if you have an active lifestyle and want to maintain your edge or if you're someone who just really wants to get active --- think full spectrum hemp and choose to rise above your weaknesses and live your life fully in the spirit of your God-given potential. Some have grown to call me "The Hemp Doctor" because of my passion on this topic. I do believe we have all been kept from developing true health in our endocannabinoid system for at least four generations. This injustice lights a burning urge within to make sure this supportive measure is once again in the hands of ALL people.

With the upcoming vote in Congress to pass cannabis legality throughout our nation, there has never been a time like now for the greatness of possibility to truly flourish with legal integrity that supports American farmers, factories and families. As tariffs abroad continue to tighten, now is the time to invest in the health of our own agriculture, manufacturing, production and American hope.

How many more excellent people need to die from the opioid crisis? How many more lives need to be ignored and forgotten? When is the medical establishment as a whole is going to stop contributing to this addiction that grabs our ability to choose better before it's too late? I recently spent a few moments with this local North Carolina artist, Catherine Miller, who paints the faces of those who lost their lives at the hands of opioids. Her paintings are both beautiful and haunting and her artist portrayal of the 116 people who are dying every day causes a deep visceral reaction inside yourself.

North Carolina is experiencing an actual Opioid Epidemic by all accounts and I am so encouraged by increase awareness and social change of our medical professionals locally. Take a moment to learn how NC care providers are uniting against the opioid epidemic.

Because of my personal and professional experience with patients with chronic pain other doctors and health professionals have begun to consult with me on the most effective and cutting edge products clinically. If you are a professional who would like to help people at a deeper level, please contact me at www.wellcenteredwellness.com.

Dr. Puja Wentworth, DC: "The Hemp Doctor" assists her clients both in person and virtually with her integrative approach to building self resilience with the best tools available. Her integration of botanical-based functional nutrition, frequency healing, chiropractic, neurofeedback, cellular detoxification and epigenetic-focused lifestyle coaching prepares the client for permanent ease in their health.