Shallow voices

I had a tough run today.  10 miles and all of them hurt.  I got into a cold bath and even added ice.  I felt a lot better when I got cleaned up, dressed and ready for the day.  I felt good because I had done the 10 miles.  I stuck it out even when I really wanted to quit.  That's what marathon training has done for me.  


I was feeling good about the day, about myself.  And then.  And then it was brought to my attention that there had been some hurtful things said about me.  Some judgments made and careless thoughtless words spread about my life, my business, my intentions.  Ouch.  I know - it's business and it happens, right?  Don't take it personally.  When someone can show me exactly how this is done, I'll do it.  I haven't yet seen anyone accomplish this, really - not when your character is questioned.


This made me think how easy it is to hurt someone with a sweeping broad stroke that is neither thought out or checked out to see if it's true.  It seems that, often times, we expect the worst of people.  Why is that?  We expect the worst, we observe a situation and think we see it objectively, but we don't.  As Dr. Phil says, "No matter how flat you make a pancake, it still has two sides."  I just love that.  How often do we look at the other side?  How often do we give someone the benefit of the doubt?  Do we ever try to walk in their shoes?  When we make a statement about someone else, is it based on fact or feeling?  How many assumptions are made?


Words are powerful.  Words can hurt. Words can heal.  Words cannot be taken back.  Words turn into voices in our heads that direct our paths.  Jim Rohn said, "Don't spend most of your time on the voices that don't count. Tune out the shallow voices so that you will have more time to tune in the valuable ones."  People who spend their time, or any time at all, tearing down someone else do not have a voice worth listening to.  I will continue to work on listening to the valuable voices in my life.  I will work on my weak spots without beating myself up or tearing someone else down.


Maybe this isn't the most uplifting blog post, but it's what's on my mind and I think it's worth sharing because I know I am not alone in this experience.  I encourage you to tune out those shallow voices and turn up the valuable ones!

Do it

The question of the day, "How do I run faster?" The answer is...............you run faster.

I am asked this question A LOT. I have answered it many times and have blogged about it before. And, I am sure that I will blog about it again. The answer seems simple and frustrating. Yes, simple. Yes, frustrating. I like the simple. I do not like the frustrating. Why is the answer frustrating? I think it is because the only way to do something is to DO IT. The problem - we want something when we want it, how we want it and where we want it - and, we want to do it perfectly the first time.

Working hard and having patience are not up there on the "want to" list. Sure, we all want to have patience and we want to benefit from hard work, but do we want to do what it takes to get either? I'll take the hard work over the patience exercises any day. Both take consistency, commitment and an acceptance of delayed gratification.

I started out my marathoning by walking. No running. Walking. I have very slowly gained speed for the last 7 years. This morning, as on most Tuesday mornings, I went out for my "speed" run. Now, understand, I am a threat to no one out there. I race against myself - no one else. When someone sees me trotting (slogging) down the road, the last word they would use to describe me is "fast". Even so, I go out each week to work on my speed, so that I become a faster runner. Some days, I am slower than the week before, some days I am about the same and then there are days like today when I finally see some progress. How exciting! I see that the hard work I am putting in is paying off. If I am patient and I work hard, I will reap the benefits.

Aren't there many other things in life that work the same way? How many times do we want to improve in a certain area, but are unwilling to put in the work and patience necessary to reap the benefits? It is too easy to give up and move on to the next thing. Is there something you want? Something that is going to take hard work and patience? The only way to achieve it is to start working on it today, right now. Do what you can today to move closer to your goal. Tomorrow, do the same thing - take another step towards that goal. Don't let the sun go down without moving forward, even if it is a small step - every one counts!

In Marathon Makeover, we help people get up off of the couch and take that first step towards better help by walking ONE MILE. You have to start somewhere. By consistently building on that very first mile, they are able to finish a marathon. We build slowly and consistently. By continuing to get out there and do what each day requires, lives are changed and marathons are finished. It really is as simple as that.

What is it that you want to change, do or achieve? What do you need to do to get there? You can't get it done if you don't show up, so show up.

10 miler AND 11.5 miler - DONE!

When I last wrote, I was preparing to get a 10 miler done. I got it done - by myself. I do a lot of my miles by myself, but it has been a while since I've done that many alone. To go out and spend a couple of hours walking and running can be a challenge. However, it is also a blessing.

This has to be the most difficult thing I have found since I have become a distance runner. When I began training for my first marathon, I was 37, married, worked part-time from home and was the mother of 11 year old twins and a 4 year old - all girls. I spent the first 6 months, mostly walking, so I was spending a good amount of time training. It was not the easiest thing I've done in my life, but it was definitely one of the most worthwhile investments I have made and continue to make.

It took a while, but I learned to value my time out on the road. I had time to think and pray and breathe! I stopped feeling guilty about this time and started enjoying the benefits of investing this time in me. I learned to budget my time during the rest of the day, so that I had time to train. We all have the same amount of time in each day. I am always surprised, when I take stock of how I spend my time, how much time I actually waste doing unnecessary things. What I found at the end of the training season, is that I had more energy and seemingly more time (because I used it more wisely), I had the most successful year in my business than I'd had up to that point, and most importantly, I had more energy and an overall better sense of well being that, in turn, benefited my family and others around me.

Each time I come upon a long run and am not feeling up to it, I remind myself of all of these things and I know that it is worth it to get out there and do it. This past Saturday, it was time for an 11 miler. I was not looking forward to it because I thought I'd have to go it alone again and the weather was supposed to be very cold. I don't always do well in the cold because of asthma. At the last minute, I checked with a running buddy to see if she wanted to brave it with me - she did. Whew! We had a great run together - it was cold, but the asthma didn't act up. It was a beautiful day and I ended up going about 11.5+ miles.

I will be ready for St. Jude's 1/2 on 12/4. In fact, I am going to try another strategy this time. I am actually going to train up to 14 miles, so that the 1/2 is a drop back. I have never trained this way, because I have never been up to the right mileage in time. I am interested to see if it helps on race day. We will see.