SMILES AND MILES: RUNNING REFLECTIONS/SUGGESTIONS
Are you looking for a little motivation to keep you going? A helpful tip to keep you healthy and heading down the highway? Feel free to peruse these reflections and suggestions:
Do The Right Thing - It's a phrase we've most likely heard so many times in our childhood. And it's a phrase we've most likely uttered on numerous occasions to our own children. It's a staple principle across all cultures and one that we learn at a very young age... and we will spend - if we a human being of substance - a good portion of our adult life evaluating our success in upholding that deeply held set of personal values, morals commandments, etc. ...
Heart Rest, The Lull - One-half second. Over and over and over again. An average of 2.5 billion one-half seconds over an average human life span. The duration of a human heart beat: one-half second. And in that one-half second, 5-6 liters of hemoglobin are circulated throughout the entire human body...
We Are What We Digest - Just as crucial as a distance runner's training regiment is his/her dietary regiment - the types and amounts of foods and vitamins needed to fuel, rejuvenate and rebuild the body after a series of taxing training miles...
Your Race, Your Pace - The runners are deep into their race (beyond Mile 15) and the crowd of spectators along the route remains strong. Words of support are being yelled and tourist runners are being welcomed to the marathon's home city. Signs and poster boards of support are everywhere. And then it occurs: There are those lively spectators along the route who honestly try to motivate you by yelling, "Come one, runner! You can catch and pass that runner in front of you!"...
Athletes Don't Exercise, They Train - For decades, scientists have scrambled to figure out what inspires us to move. They've linked certain regions of the brain to exercise motivation, decided having partners helps (but only if they aren't too talkative), and encouraged us to adopt a dog to walk more. But there are two simple changes you can make to keep yourself going that don't involve drugs or dogs: Make movement your lifestyle - and train, don't exercise...
Called to Faithfulness - When I was a young man, I witnessed my father giving money on several occasions to various individuals who appeared homeless and destitute. On one particular day, I inquired, "Dad, how do you know he won't use that money for alcohol and drugs?"...
Compassion and Passion Begin at Home - As those individuals who have set out to prepare for a marathon can attest, the seemingly endless miles of interval training, long runs and intermediate workouts almost take on a life of its own, a "second job" for so many of us. And through it all, there isn't a runner who has not awaken and been tempted to skip a training run... "Who would know?," we say to ourselves...
Eyes Up - Should you ever find yourself in a shorter road race or a lengthy marathon and are wondering if you have enough fuel in your tank to pass that runner just in front of you, here are a couple easy wasy to tell...
Just Breathe - The work week is a bustle, the holidays are fast approaching, your aches/injuries aren't healing as well or as fast as you would like and the Disney World Marathon Weekend extravaganza seems just around the corner... and so many questions still rolling around in your head...
Got Nalgene? - When you are prepping your luggage in the next couple of weeks for your Disney World race weekend, consider packing a standard Nalgene (or any straight sided) bottle with all of your other items...
Packing and Patience Go Hand in Hand - Whether you are a veteran or "newbie" Disney runner, by now you've probably been visiting and revisiting the runDisney homepage to reacquaint yourself with the Countdown Clock. And with each visit, you may subtlely notice your heart rate increase, your blood pressure rise just a little more and your overall anxiousness increase... Don't worry, friend. This is quite normal and you most likely will feel this way until you are at WDW and are walking to your starting corral...
Too Much, Too Soon... It's Time to Relax - Imagine that you are a boxer; a very passionate boxer that has had success in your sport. This year you have been training for a major bout in Las Vegas, but taking care of your children, personal issues, health-related issues and physical injuries/setbacks have plagued your training...
Your Recovery Window - After running a marathon or half-marathon, try to keep in mind the so-called “recovery window"...
Water? Please!- Whether you realize it or not, there is a very specific "etiquette" to nativigating water stations...
Nipple Guards and Garbage Bags - Can I be blunt for a moment? Thank you... there is probably nothing more painful than very irritated (even bleeding) nipples...
November Race Tips To Help You - This posting is to help you anticipate some of the aspects of the race weekend you might not have considered and some helpful tips to prepare you mentally and physically...
It's Time To Go The Distance - A moment of motivation: Walt Disney never ran an endurance race, but if he had, many of his memorable quotes would apply to the race and the pace...
Remember Why You Are Doing It - As I prepare to head out on my intermediate 10-mile run in the sleet/snow on this early Thanksgiving Day morning, I can't help but share this thought with you: "Remember why you are doing it..." It has been a thought I've carried with me through my career, my family life, my passions, my dreams and my adventures. As runners, we often can find ourselves saying comments like, "I would love to do better or get my miles in, but my family or work is getting the way..." This is a great time to literally stop and ask yourself, "What is my family or work getting in the way of?" Remember why you are doing it...
H2 Oh, My Goodness! The Benefits of Water - The human body is anywhere from 55% to 78% water depending on body size. A rule of thumb, 2/3 of body is consists of water, and it is the main component of human body...
Run For Another Day, Patience Through The Pain - The second half of the session was the task of my physical therapist to strenously massage my ego back to where it should be by reminding me, "You need to be listening to your body... patience through the pain... patience through the pain..."
There Is No Room For Fear - I will often hear from other runners, particularly as they prepare for their Disney World race experience that they are "afraid" they won't complete the training, "afraid" they will get injured before race day, "afraid" that they will not wake up in time to catch the shuttle to their Disney race, or "afraid" they will get picked up before finishing their race in the allotted timeline...
Is It Above or Below the Neck? - Trying to decide if you feel healthy enough to work out? Try this simple measure...
Focus on - and From - the Start, Not the Finish - It has been stated over and over again from veteran marathoners like myself, "75% of finishing a marathon is getting to the starting line injury-free." And it's my safe bet that you know of at least one fellow runner who recently has confided with you that he/she has an injury or has recently suffered an injury... and is still training. As Stephen Covey would state in Seven Habits for Highly Effective People, it makes no sense to be more effective by pushing the saw faster when your cutting wood; there comes a time when you need to stop and "sharpen the saw." From this week on, we will be focusing on sharpening and re-sharpening our proverbial "saw": it is our training habits, our body and our focus...
Top 10 Tips to Relieve Stress - Your body is hard-wired to respond to stress. Thanks to the “fight-or-flight” response system, when faced with a threat, you’ll be prepared to deal with it. Unlike our earliest ancestors, however modern man encounters a constant barrage of stressors, keeping most of us in a state of non-stop stress...
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes... and Breathing ! - A couple adjustments to your posture and a mental note to remind yourself as you are on the road...
It's Time to Give Up - Here is a list of 15 things, which if you give up on them, will make your life a lot easier and much, much happier...
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