Couch to ATHLETE!

I had the good fortune of seeing many wonderful people this past weekend. It was amazing to hear all of the good will people offered me as it was the first time many of these folks had seen me since I ran the marathon. I was also blessed with a few emails from friends who have decided to pick up running and have told me they are inspired by me and my persistence. Here is what I have to say regarding all of the amazing thoughts that people have shared with me over the last weekend. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! In all honesty I do not feel like an inspiration I do what I do because I want to improve my quality of life; I want to live. What do I mean you may ask? Well, I want to have a long life of many hikes, camping trips, music festivals, road trips, visits with my friends/family, and the list goes on... I realize that I have very little control over when I am going to die but as long as I am alive I am going to live my life to the very fullest, which includes logging an hou...

I was supposed to run tonight after babysitting the cutest little man in Columbus, but due to timing I have been forced to relax instead. Getting back into running after a marathon varies from person to person. Some folks jump in immediately and are able to heal quickly, while others may take a few weeks or even a few months to fully recover from a marathon. Over the last week I have been trying to build my mileage back up to pre-marathon weekly mileage. I have not been fully successful but I am getting there! I have started writing a training plan but have become more inspired by running for the sake of running rather than having a true plan. Don't get me wrong, I am trying to achieve 250 miles for November and December (I am likely to fail as I will probably only hit 110 miles in November) and that is a plan, however I like to just go out and see where my feet take me. Tonight as I sit in my 'grampa' chair, listening to music, reading and writing I have discovered th...

I realized today that there are a number of words I use on a semi-daily basis that I don't even know the true meaning of (wow ending sentences in prepositions, today is not a good writing day). Because I am a word of the dayer I feel like I have a somewhat adequate and intelligent vocabulary but when I realize I don't know the literal definition of, say, the word humble I need to educate myself so I don't sound ridiculous! Dictionary.com solved this problem and provided me with a definition of humble (I should mention that I might still sound ridiculous even though I looked up the definition, but I'm OK with that.). Here is what I learned: Humbled means: adjective 1. not   proud   or   arrogant;   modest:   to   be   humble   although successful. 2. having   a   feeling   of   insignificance,   inferiority,   subservience, etc.:   In   the   presence   of   so ...

Experiencing a marathon from the sidelines is very different than running one yourself. I had the pleasure of spectating my second marathon ever yesterday in Elyria, Ohio. Because I am a very reflective person I stood on the sidelines of my favorite person's marathon reflecting on his success and how I can learn from his success. For starters, nothing in life is easy; neither is crossing the finish line of a marathon. The result we get when we cross the finish line is very reflective of the work we put in to getting there. Sound dramatic? Perhaps, but the reality is  that statement is so very true. Think about it, if your goal is learning to play puff the magic dragon on your guitar by Christmas but you only pick up your guitar to tune it from time to time, you should not expect to play puff the magic dragon any time soon! So as I was watching this incredible individual achieve his goal all I could think is we all need to try harder, play harder, practice harder and believe in...