Every Day is the Best Day of the Year

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year."
— Ralph Waldo Emerson.

I've told you guys a hundred times, I'm a sucker for inspirational quotes. Even in these days of jaded pessimism, I find it inspiring whenever I get my daily dose of optimism. They are like little Easter eggs of hope that just seem to appear in my email in-basket.

So today is going to be rainy, but that's OK, a run in the rain is better than any day you ever spent piloting a desk or pushing a broom. As long as it's not the kind of rain that chills you to the bone, or is mixed with deadly lightning, there's no reason not to get out and enjoy the day.

I suppose you don't get to be a quotable writer if you have nothing of worth to say. So it is that I differ to Emerson and today's inspirational quote.

Every day is the best day, reminds me of the old Joe Namath quote about not being able to wait until tomorrow because, as he said it, he gets better looking every day.

There are days when we all just want to curl up and read a book or watch TV instead of lacing up our running shoes. There are days when it's easier to say, tomorrow or next week. That's called being human.

While my running ability is questionable at best, I know that my body needs to get out and move. I know that my mind needs the time to ramble and wander, so that I can come back refreshed and ready to tackle the important tasks of the day.

You never know when injury or illness might keep you from running, walking or whatever your chosen form of exercise might be. So you need to make every day the best day of the year. Embrace the little voice that tells you to go out and play in the rain, and shun the devil who sits on your shoulder and tells you it's too wet, or cold, or hot, or whatever.

Every day you can get up and move about is the best day in the year!

Good Day To Call It A Career

Day 62ish, Oct. 16, 2012

Today I am 191.8 pounds of squishy rolling thunder.

Yesterday I skipped my blog and barely got in a 60-minute jog. I yielded much of my day to go to the last cross country meet of the year. A rain delay over the weekend pushed the event to Monday afternoon, which meant 80-degree weather and gusty winds. But still a good day to get out and run.

This was the grand culmination of not just a season of racing but the four-year cross country racing career for our oldest son.

It probably won't sink in that this was his last race in high school, and other than the occasional fun run this might be the end of his cross country competing days. But there's still track season ahead in the spring, so we'll get to see him run again and listen to him gripe about having to run in circles on the track.

In yesterday's race he finished in 43rd place out of 96 racers. He was second on the jayvee squad of his team and interestingly just 13 seconds away from securing a spot on the varsity roster for the district meet.

It seems like a long time ago when we went to our first cross country meet where the lad ran and walked his way around the 5K loop with iPod ear buds tucked neatly into his ears -- a violation of team rules. His time that day was well north of 30 minutes.

There were two things we came away with from that day. He needed to get into better shape. And second, his gains the first year would be significant.

Over the course of four seasons he inched under 30 minutes and then below 25. Finally, last season he made it to the 20-minute marker and this year he went well below that.

He progressed from being a back of the pack run/walker to top 20 runner on a team of more than 100 or so runners. He pushed his way from the back of the "C" team to the front of the JV squad. 

This final performance wasn't exactly what he wanted. He'd set his sights on a personal best at the meet but the heat, hills and wind put that goal out of reach.

To his credit, however, he battled to the end and had nothing left in the tank at the finish. I'd say it was a good career when you consider where he started from.

Me? I ran like a rock but did not walk. Today was better when I went out for my 5.5-mile loop. I'm still the world's slowest human, but it was a good day on the road nonetheless. 

You've Got To Put Something Out There ...

Day 43, Sept. 21, 2012

Today, I'm 191.2 pounds of rolling thunder.

A not-so-famous philosopher once said, "You've got to put something out there, if you expect to get something back."

For the past 14-plus months, I've been a part-time runner, full-time contract writer/editor and an avid job seeker.

During that time, I've seen my weight go up and down. My endurance ebb and flow. And my focus to get healthier take three steps forward along with the occasional two steps back.

And during that time I've worked for a network of news websites under one ownership group. I've worked as an editor for three specific television station news websites and led all three to 30-day page view highs. I helped one site nearly double its monthly page views and assisted in their redesign and migration to a new content management system.

During that time, I've seen the ups and downs of most job seekers in today's economy. I've interviewed with small companies and mega-companies. I've been in talks with folks from the public and private sector. All told, I've interviewed with more than 20 companies, which I take as a good sign. 

The one thought I come away with is that any candidate that tells you the economy is recovering is not looking for a job. 

So I keep pushing, both out on the road and on the job seeking front. Each has its own rewards. I've met a lot of neat people while looking for jobs in industries I'd never really thought much about. And I've surprised myself with the improvements I've made in my running.

Besides, it was our younger son who offered that sage wisdom beyond his years when he said, "You've got to put something out there, if you expect to get something back."

Today, I'm going to put something out there when I go for my run and as I look for a full-time job. How else will I ever get something back?

Any Movement Is Good Movement

Day 42, Sept. 19, 2012

 

Today, I'm 188.8 pounds of rolling thunder.

I say, if you can't run, at least walk. 

Several of you have sent me notes telling me they're inspired by this blog but can't run for medical reasons -- knees, hips, shins, etc. All legit reasons, I say. No need to take the needle like a certain football coach in our area might suggest.

My feeling is any moving is good moving, especially if it lifts your heart rate for at least 20 to 30 minutes. And remember, you won't always be able to measure your improvement on a weight scale, sometimes it will come in improved range of motion, clothes fitting better, or just a general feeling of being more fit and having more energy.

Yesterday was another good biorhythm day for me. My breathing and circulation were in sync, and so I ran my entire short route with weights on my hands.

Now a lot of running experts will tell you not to run with weights, and if you try it, you need to listen to your body. Even light weights (1-3) pounds in each hand can throw off your balance; change your stride; affect the muscles in you back, shoulders and arms and a variety of other things.

So just be warned, if you try running or walking with weights, be careful. Start with light weights and work your way up in time, distance and/or weight.

Back in the day, we used to run with ankle weights trapped to our legs to improve our jumping ability, or so the theory goes. I pretty much remained Earth-bound, but you never know, I could touch the rim of a basketball goal and now I'd struggle to reach the net.

Oh, to have those young legs again.

With the temperature dipping as we head into autumn on Saturday the air has become less humid and the running more enjoyable. Whereas a month ago, slogging through 100-degree heat was a labor of running love, today it's enjoyable to get out and enjoy the weather.

My only run/walk/run for the day yesterday was on the first hill, which is more of a warm-up and barometer for how the rest of the day will go. My secret now is to not limit the walking but to limit the duration of the walks so that my overall walk time is lessened.

So today looks like another good day to hit the bricks -- weights or no weights. It's my long day on the streets, so you'll have even more time to wave at the world's slowest human.

Somewhere Babe Ruth Is Smiling

Day 39, Sept. 15-16, 2012

 

Today I'm 192 pounds of rolling thunder.

Baseball legend has it that in the third game of the 1932 World Series, slugger Babe Ruth was at bat in the fifth inning when he pointed his bat at the center field fence and called his shot. On the next pitch, Ruth hit the ball out of the park in the center field area where he had just pointed.

It's the stuff baseball lore is made of. Part truth. Part fabrication. Part magic.

On Saturday, our younger son took on the role of Ruth in his cross country meet. The lad pointed his bat and told us he was going to run a 27-minute 5K.

This is the same youth that wanted to quit three weeks ago. And the same one who came within a whisker of breaking 30 minutes for the 5K a week earlier.

But a jump of nearly three minutes. Not so fast.

Now historians agree that the legend of Ruth's called shot is politely referred to as ambiguous. While the event is caught on film, it remains unclear if Ruth was pointing at center field, the pitcher or a bunch of hecklers on the opposing team's bench.

The result, however, is indisputable. 

Now granted this was going to be the flattest and fastest course of the year, but to make a two to three-minute jump in one meet's time seemed beyond probable.

The day broke cool and overcast, and the racers toed the line at about 9:30 in the morning. The course loops through the grounds several times so we would be able to see the lad's progress as he tried to keep pace.

By the first loop he had fallen back, but was still in reach of the end of the pack. He had gone out faster than normal trying to stay in the slipstream of the pack. 

By the second loop through, he was still within reach of the last of the pack. I looked over at the timer and the pace was indeed fast. But would it be fast enough?

The leaders streamed over the hill and through the crowds to a downhill finish. The crowds formed a chute that resembled a scene out of the Tour de France. Runners had to snake their way through the maze of humanity to find the finish. 

Runners poured over the finish. We had become accustomed to waiting for our lad to plow through, so when the clock ticked 27 minutes I turned a hopeful eye up the hill to see if by some miracle he was defying logic and living up to his pre-race prediction.

Twenty-seven minutes came and went and I resigned myself to the hope that he would go sub-30, which would be a personal best and worth the price of admission.

At 28 minutes, a fluffy-tuft of hair poked up above the crest of the hill and then a familiar gait of a runner started making its way toward the finish. He paused, holding back the urge to vomit (well, sort of). 

I don't know if it was the crowd yelling, or catching a glance at the timer at the finish line, but the lad rolled down to a 28:15 finish. He had called his shot. He had come within an eyelash of hitting that home run and going under 28 minutes.

What started out as a sucker bet had come very close to becoming a reality.

And while the newspapers and websites will talk about the winners of the varsity races and all the personal bests, this was the stuff of cross country legends. Somewhere, Babe Ruth is smiling.

Cool Rain Means Autumn Is Near

Day 37 -- Sept. 13, 2012

Today, I am 190.6 pounds of rolling thunder.

And welcome back autumn.

While the calendar might say we're a week away, somebody forgot to tell the weather man, or Mother Nature, or both.

Just 24 hours ago my rolling mass of middle-aged thunder was running shirtless through the streets in 90-plus degree weather. Not so much today. 

I had to dig out my running tights (OK, I'm a bit of a wimp) and my jacket for today's run. The skies were gray all day and a cool wind whipped the leaves around the street. All morning the clouds threatened to bring rain, but nothing.

As I walked out the door, I saw a humming bird floating around in our front yard. I'm not sure if that's an omen, but between that and finding a dime yesterday out on my run, I figure there's got to be some good luck in there somewhere.

Today was one of those days when you dress for the first few steps out of the door of the house and find yourself sweating like a fiend by the 2-miles stop light. 

It was a good day to run, though. The rain held off and the air was clean with a bit of a snap to it. It was a sharp contrast to recent days when the air has been thick and ozone alerts prevailed.

I did my normal run/walk/run thing without much fanfare. Yesterday, just as I stopped my run the strap on my hand weights snapped. Two weeks old and snap. Guess there's a trip to the sporting goods store in my near future. Just hoping I don't need a receipt.

But I digress. Today was a good run, followed by 10 minutes on the bike to get things loosened up.

Finally, the rain came in the afternoon, and I was glad to be off the street. It started as a sprinkle I noticed on the skylight in the shower and by the time I ran an errand it was a steady rain on a cool day.

Autumn can't be far away now.

So give me a wave the next time you see the world's slowest man out on the streets.

It's Not Easy Being Green

Day 34 -- Sept. 10, 2012

Today I'm 194-plus pounds of rolling thunder.

Yes, plus because I forgot what my decimal number was today, so I'll let you fill in the blank yourself.

Today was a brilliant day to be out on the road gathering in miles and enjoying the mild breeze and clear, blue sky. No ozone alerts today. No boiling sun beating down. Just a great Indian Summer day.

I hate when I paint myself into a time corner when it comes to running, but that's exactly what I did today. I can find a million ways to spend the hours, including looking for gigantic sock monkey backpacks -- and yes, such a thing does exist.

I'd like to think my dawdle time is fairly productive. Today I washed and waxed the car, and all our vehicles got new windshield wiper blades.

So by the time I got my running shoes on and hit the road, my window was a bit limited. But today being my long run day and the weather being so nice, I launched on my 6.5-mile trek, throwing caution to the wind and set sail at my normal run/walk/run clip.

Funny thing about launching yourself on a long run when the lining of your running shorts are just a little damp from the day before. I'm not one to complain about the nagging aches and pains of running. In fact, there's something life-affirming to having a little bit of that satisfying tired muscle feeling that sticks with you for the rest of the day after a run or workout.

I think it serves as a reminder that you've done something good for your body.

Today, however, I did something bad. It wasn't long before that little damp feeling began to rub. I could feel it coming on, but I wasn't turning back.

Now through more than 20 years of bike riding I've learned a lot about managing pain and discomfort. And rule No. 1 is prevention is usually much easier than finding a cure.

But I wasn't listening to that voice today. Surely I could make it through an hour of running without chaffing or worse.

 

Somewhere in mile five or six, that belief changed. I knew the badness was coming but like in a horror movie there was nothing I could do to stop it. The inside of my thighs were on fire from the rubbing, but I had no choice but to soldier on to the finish.

When I hopped in the shower, an angry set of red marks stared at me from the inside of my thighs. "Why did you put those wet shorts on?" I could hear them say.

Many years ago, I had made a similar mistake on Bike Across Kansas. That's where I first became acquainted with the little green can from Vermont, which is a friend to both biker and runner alike.

When you've got severe chaffing, Bag Balm is your friend. They've been making the stuff since 1899. It works on cow udders and tender human parts as well. It's not expensive and a can will last you quite a while. 

If you're not acquainted with the little green can, you should be. It's good for saddle sores or treating backside before a long bike ride. It's also good to use as a pre-run lube for your legs or between your toes.

The Bag Balm website says Admiral Byrd took Bag Balm with him on his 1937 expedition to the North Pole to protect against the harsh climate.

So if it was good enough for the admiral, it's good enough for me. The one drawback is the odor. While it's not bad, it's not charming either. 

You can spend a lot more for similar products, but you won’t' get a lot more.

So today's lesson is don't run in damp shorts, but if you do, be sure to have a little green can handy.

That's it. You know the drill. If you see the world's slowest human out on the road, give me a wave.

Dad's Runnin' On Empty

 

Day 32-33 -- Sept. 8&9

Today, I'm 193.4 pounds of rolling thunder.

Probably more like rolling Jell-O. But rolling is the operative word.

Yesterday was a sandwich fun, meaning I had to sandwich 45 minutes on the road between two halves of my work day. 

The sandwich part was the difficult part. The hard part was getting going on about five hours of sleep. Nothing like having zero in the tank when you head out on the road.

So just how did I end up on the wrong end of the gas gauge before my run? Simple math. You add a work day that ended after midnight with an early morning drop-off for our ambitious cross country runners and the result is dad running on empty.

 But that's OK. It was a fantastic day for cross country racing. The day broke cool after a cold front pushed through the area and dropped some needed rain on Friday afternoon.

The skies were clear on race day and by starting time the temperatures were mild with a light breeze. The undulating hills of the Topeka West course would provide a nice challenge.

We came to the event with two thoughts in mind. One, how fast could our older son go? And second, could we coax a sub-30-minute 5K out our younger son who seemed to have a running resurgence after nearly quitting the team earlier in the week.

In the end, it was a good day all around. The older lad made his run in less than 20 minutes for the first time this season, and he earned a cross country medal for the first time in his career. It was a great effort. You can tell he's stronger than a year ago when such a feat would have left him nearly passing out at the finish line.

Perhaps our biggest concern on the day was how our younger son would fare after pulling out of his last race and nearly quitting the team. 

But our concerns, at least on this day, were unfounded. He ran a personal best and came within six seconds of going under 30 seconds. In case anyone is wondering, that's a 9:41 mile pace, which may not be blistering, but as the world's slowest human I can greatly appreciate the effort and applaud him for getting back on his competitive horse and running the race.

Next week's race is on an even faster track where many people set their personal bests. With another week of good training and more fine weather for race day, who knows? Knowing it's a fast track and he's on the brink of a personal running milestone should give him some added motivation to do well.

As for me, I'm still the world's slowest human, just a little more fatigued than normal. So if you see me plodding along at an even slower than normal pace, give me a wave.