A running path to success

Day 15 - Aug. 21, 2012

Today I'm 192 pounds of rolling thunder.

My work week shifted yesterday, so I had the day off, which means an opportunity for a split workout.

I took a 45-minute lunch break and road my spin bike. It's good cross training and really loosens up m my legs and hips. Hopefully, pushing and pulling that 40-pound flywheel has an effect as well.

In the late afternoon I went for a long run. It was a good day both in temperature and accomplishment. The temps were mild with low humidity, and I covered 6.5 miles without a stop.

Even my nemesis long hill didn't have its normal bite. When I started the hill, I glanced over and saw a group of high school cross country runners waiting at the light across the street, so I had a little jump on them. In the past, with my stop-and-go style, I would have been fodder for the girls team as they raced past me.

This time, however, it was only three or four, so I crested the hill with a slight feeling of accomplishment, which was quickly dashed when a runner came from out of the blue and passed me on the downhill.

After racing home to take a shower and get ready to attend coaches night for the boys at their school, we wheeled into the meeting just in time for the handouts. The one that really stuck with me was titled, "ABC's of Success."

Back in the day, my high school basketball coach always posted a thought for the day along with the practice schedule. That may be where I found my love for inspirational thoughts, or at least a passion for coach-speak and the desire to mix sports metaphors into nearly every discussion.

I'm sure when I was 17 if someone would have handed me this list it would have been glanced at and the put into the permanent circular file in my bedroom. But now the words ring poignant and so simple that they might be reduced to pure platitudes

So here's a list of thoughts to live by. Hopefully, they'll inspire you, too. And, if you see the world's slowest human out on the road today, give me a wave.

ABC’s of Success

•     Avoid negative sources, things and habits.
•   Believe in yourself.
•   Consider things from every angle.
•   Don’t give up and don’t give in.
•   Enjoy life today.
•   Find the best in you.
•   Give more than you plan to give.
•   Hang onto your dreams.
•   Ignore those that try to discourage you.
•   Just do it!
•   Keep trying no matter how hard it seems. It will get better.
•   Live life.
•   Make it happen.
•   Never say never
•   Open you mind to new possibilities.
•   Practice makes perfect.
•   Quitters never win and winners never quit.
•    Read, study and learn about everything important in your life.
•    Stop procrastinating.
•    Take control of your own destiny.
•    Understand yourself in order to better understand others.
•    Visualize it.
•    Wait until it feels right.
•    X-celerate your efforts.
•    You are unique in all of God’s creation, nothing can replace you.
•    Zero in on your target, and go for it!!!        

                 

    

Amazing how much smarter your dad gets

Day 11 -- Aug. 17, 2012

Today I'm 192 pounds of rolling thunder.

And I'm a lot happier 192 pounds of rolling thunder than the past few days. Anytime I get bad news in my life I have to gauge just how much energy it's worth to sulk, pout or stomp around before I get over it.

Most instances, to my mind, deserve about a 30-minute to an hour sulk. I've found it's very cathartic to have your go-to friend who you can whine to. Usually it's a pre-agreed arrangement. That person can come to you when they're mad at their kids, or boss, or the electric company and get it all out.

Sometimes it just helps to say it out loud, so someone hears it. And then you move on.

Earlier this week, I had one that I let it in my craw for most of a day, and I know it affected my run.

But yesterday was a new day. I had time to do split workouts, so I spun at home for 45 minutes in the morning and then put in about an hour on the streets in the late afternoon.

It was a good run. I cleared all the hills on my medium route. The temperatures were down and my cycling seems to loosen my range of motion up.

When I got home, our boys were just back from cross country practice, so we were sharing our war stories for the day. And also all the aches and pains that are starting to come as the first week of practice wears on.

Fresh legs can be hard to come by sometimes. Our older son was complaining of sore legs. It seems the upper level workouts are longer and harder than he's been used to.

I was reminded of a couple of go-to tricks some old-timers taught me along the way. Both are cheap and effective. The first I learned on my first attempt at Biking Across Kansas, the eight-day, 500-mile death march across my home state.

Around the fourth day, my legs were sore, dead and achy -- in no particular order. Then some wise bikers took me in and showed me the way. The first thing was to elevate my legs against the wall to as close to 90 degrees as possible.

The second step involved taking baby oil and using it for self-massage starting at your ankle and working the blood in your legs toward your heart. It's an old biker's trick for getting the lactic acid out of your legs, and getting people to gawk at your absurd behavior all at the same time.

But I'll tell you, 10-15 minutes of this after a run or a long ride and the next day goes much easier.

The next lesson came from my dad, who has become extremely smarter over the past 30 years. I remember as a teen having my first really badly turned ankle, so he went to the bathroom cabinet and pulled out the Epson salts.

Athletes and folks with sore muscles have used Epson salts for years as a way to pull the ache out of tired muscles and ligaments. They aren't fancy, sexy or smell like a bottle of Ben-Gay. But they are cheap and effective and readily available.

So yesterday we tried the self-massage on the lad. Today maybe it will be the Epson salts. I just hope this is the start of me getting smarter in my child's mind, just like I know my dad has grown more intelligent through the years.

So, if you see the world's slowest human out there grinding the pavement today, give me a wave.