Every decision you make today will become a story in the future.  Don’t let decisions you make today, make you a liar in the future.  Are you proud of your decisions?  This statement has stayed on my mind the last 24 hours.

I have a running example that I don’t even have to search for.  It was almost two years ago in Philadelphia for the Lone Ranger 24 hour race.  I woke up that morning with stomach issues and I would battle those for the next 16 hours.  I did run 50 miles that day even with those challenges.  Looking back in sound mind I think I did make the right decision about stopping at 2am.  I could not keep fluids down or food.  I was lightheaded and was really struggling.  So I quit and went back to the hotel.

I have not stopped thinking about the decision since then.  Am I proud of that decision?  I really don’t know.  I do tell the story.  It was a great lesson learned. 

That being said, from the moment I woke up the next morning I kept wondering if I would have just laid down for an hour or two could I have kept going?  Would I have felt better?  I did have 8 hours left, so did I truly give it all that day.

Next summer I plan to get some redemption and try this race again.  When I think about that race I do believe that I made the right call to stop but not sure I should have quit.  There is a difference between stopping and quitting.  That day I quit.  I don’t constantly think about it but I think about it during some of my tougher runs now.

Would I have done something different?  I don’t know.  But I do have a story to tell and a lesson to remember.  Just remember, are you good with telling your story later.  Just something to think about when making your next decision.

Happy running….

He was the 21st President of the United States of America. 

How about Millard Fillmore?  Well he was the 15th President.

I assume we all know a lot more about Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt.  Too bad for Presidents Arthur and Fillmore.  Or is it?  Were they good Presidents or bad? 

Don’t worry this is not becoming a history blog, so go with me here.  I was at a race in Tybee back in February when I met a fellow runner who told me he lives in Atlanta but does not race in Atlanta because of the hills.  He also told me he finds a place to train with limited hills.  I was really taken back by this.

Why do we know Lincoln and Roosevelt?  This is an easy question, they were Presidents who had to go through the trials and the difficult times.  Were they better Presidents or better people?  The fact is that they found themselves in times of trouble.

Someone looked at me crazy the other day as they knew some of the stress and pressure I had been dealing with at work and I told them I relish those moments.  I don’t look for them but I don’t run from them.  Why do people need a leader in the good times?  It is in the tough moments where we are formed.

So back to Tybee.  I actually trained for one marathon just like that.  I found flat places to run throughout my training thinking I was taking care of my body.  It was probably the worst performing marathon I have run to date.  I never really put my body through the stress it needed.  Don’t get me wrong, running 20 miles in training is never easy but you can make it easier than it needs to be.  After that marathon, I changed the way I train.  I do hill training on a regular basis but I also seek hills in most every run I do.

The way to teach your body how to handle stress, is to stress it.  It is why we practice.  You practice and train in the difficult so your body will not be surprised on the day of the event. 

If you run from stress at work, at home and in training will you ever know how to handle it?  Will you ever grow?  Will you ever have stories to tell?  To this day, the stories I talk about the most are the races that left their mark on me.  It is not the race where I got my PR.  It is the race that put me to the test.  It was in those races I was able to find out what I was made of.  Now go find some hills!

Happy running….

That being said I did a pretty good amount of training this year leading up to the event.  Things will begin to get back to normal in the next few weeks.  One of the things I was glad to hear from the foot doctor was to start training, even some speedwork.  This means not only is New York in sight but also the Peachtree.

This is the week where I really will begin to get it started.  Building up the mileage and the intensity will start right now.  I am not pain free, and the forecast does not sound like I will be for a while, but that should not stop me, is what I have been told.

It is time to train and the rest of my body is ready.  It has been a long time since I was able to push the pace for anything.

I have to keep reminded myself of how far I have come.  Two to three months ago I could hardly run.  Right now I am consistent with about 20 miles per week.  It might not be what I want, but it is where I am.  It is not where I want to be, but it is not where I was.  It is progress!  Progress is a good thing.

Happy running….and it is good to be back.

It is a race I have wanted to run since before I ran my first marathon.  The start has not been ideal with my foot status but we are getting there.  I heard a great thought the other day in regards to something not running related that I plan to borrow.  Success depends on how good you can execute Plan B.  Back in January I new what Plan A was for New York.  I wanted to run a specific time and qualify for Boston.

Is that still possible?  Currently, my left foot says no but we have a long way to go.  I am not giving up quite yet on that, but I also need to have Plan B as a backup. 

In reality this is a marathon I am excited to run, period.  I have been working on all sorts of different training plans.  It will probably be a hydrid of many training plans that I will just have to make work for me until I can get my foot where I want it.

Each and every marathon journey I have taken has presented a unique challenge and this one will be no different.  I guess one thing about this one is that my challenge starts so early on in my training.

Would the marathon be so rewarding at the end if it was easy?

Happy running….

Update- It is still there and attached!  It is really hard to say and it depends on the day.  The good news is this.  Last week I accomplished three things I have not done in over two months.  I ran my longest run of 7 miles, and I ran three days in a row.  In the process my foot did not get worse.  The doctor said it might be uncomfortable and that is probably the best way to describe it.  I can feel that all is not 100% but I am not in horrible pain either.

Since I am running more I can honestly say I do think I am getting better because it is not getting worse by doing so.

I heard something on a podcast the other day that I loved and it will be my mantra for a while.  On the Ultrarunner podcast, Bev Adams said she tells herself to get comfortable being uncomfortable.  It sounds simple but was very helpful to me.  It was very helpful also from a running standpoint.  I think I have been waiting for that ultramarathon where I feel good during the race.  I don’t think I am supposed to.  That is the point.

I have to run despite that.  I think in the back of my mind I have tried to slow the pace or walk more because I thought I was supposed to feel better than I did while racing.  It is not exactly a flippin’ easy run!

Thinking about this has been a real help for me.  If we are comfortable what great things are we asking our bodies to do?

Are you comfortable at work or are you pushing discomfort?

Are you comfortable in your training?

Are you comfortable with stagnation in life?

Are you pushing yourself into the uncomfortable?

Happy running….(Training for NYC is just around the corner!)

I feel like one of the biggest struggles I deal with day in and day out is how to say no to the impulse area.  Not in the retail business but just in general.  The power of No.

I am a big impulse shopper, not at the cash register but when something hits me at the moment I want to go ahead and get it.  If I can convince myself to wait 24 hours the motivation is usually gone and I have no interest.  I find I can be the same way with my training, especially with nutrition.  I get a craving and right that moment I need it.  If I wait an hour or so I am always fine and it passes.

It all goes back to one thing, the ability to say No.  For me it is not natural and it is an activity that has to be practiced, everyday.  I have to find small ways to say no.  The small ones give me the confidence to tackle the larger ones. 

A tough one for a long time was not getting up early to get in my workout.  How do you say “no” to staying in bed.  I created a system.  I would get up and walk to the bathroom when the alarm went off, turn on the lights and stand up for at least two minutes.  Usually after two minutes I was ready to get going and not go back to bed.  Well, it worked for me and though I don’t enjoy a 4:15 am wake up call for the most part it has seemed to work.

The whole impulse struggle never gets easy.  That is why I hesitate to say with any confidence that I have things going in the right direction.  At the moment it has been working.  I will leave it at that.

As I have heard John Maxwell say “Discipline develops daily, not in a day.”

Happy running….

Being a runner I have experienced my fair share of facials.  (I don’t mean the facials you pay for with money, but the ones you pay for with pain!)  I have had quite a number of falls on the trail and even a few on a sidewalk.  Here is what you learn about it, there is a skill involved with falling.  You don’t fight it and you don’t go against it, you just go with it and roll.  The idea is to protect your face and try to roll as you fall.  Don’t use your hands if you don’t have to.  I can assure you that I did not know this before my first fall or two.  This was all on the job training!  After a few tough falls you learn the right way and wrong way to fall. 

The wrong way to fall will for certain put a hurtin’ on you!  The right way to fall is not fun while done on a sidewalk with other runners and a lot of traffic but it is not as painful.

I think you can look at an athlete like Tiger and stay it is a shame that he was cheated and not taught how to fall and was never forced to learn those lessons early in life.  One of my favorite saying from Walt Disney is that he said, everyone needs a good failure to two early in life.  Walt Disney is a man who learned how to fall.  I am sure he learned from his families struggles early in life and then he had his own lessons early in life.

The longer it takes you to learn how to fall, the harder the lesson.

I still hate to fall.  It still hurts, it leaves me bruised, cut and sometimes bleeding.  It makes me feel silly when everybody can see me.  However, a fall is not fatal.  (If you know how to fall)

Happy running….(or falling)