A Change of Venue

Sometimes, even in a place as big as Southern California, you feel like your runs are all the same. I mean... how many ocean front runs can one person handle! (its tough to deal with)

The one thing we lack unless you drive away from the westside is trails. By trails I mean the kind that wind through woods and fields not the paved kind that stretch for miles along the ocean.

With that in mind, I am looking forward to a change of venue as I venture back to Holland Michigan (my hometown) in about a week. Pretty much every run of more than three or four miles can include trails of some sort.

I'm looking forward to the deep forest trail runs that take me through a world full off fall colors the likes of which I have not seen in years. I'm looking forward to the muddy trail runs in a downpour of rain. I'm looking forward to running in the rain (something we see very little of here in Santa Monica).

A change of venue like this usually makes me run faster, something I can really use right now! Even though I grew up there, it will be like a giant exploration of place that even though familiar now somehow now seem new.

The adventure begins on September 17th... I'll keep you posted!

What's your favorite trail run?

Running Through the Flat Times

You know those days when everything is just clicking?

Those days when it just seems you were destined to be a runner because you can't wait to go for your run and when you do, it seems like nothing can stop you?

We all have those from time to time.

And then, most days you look forward to traininng and at least once you get moving everything seems to smooth out and start working. Most of us, if we run regularly have a lot of the same feelings around our runs. Sometimes we don't feel like it and yet when we get moving its all good. Other days we can't wait to get out there and the rewards are just incredible.

But...

What about those times when you really want to run and you just plain feel flat?

Have you ever had that feeling? How long does it last for you? Have you ever figured out what really caused it?

There has been a lot of research and experimentation around what to do when you hit a plateau and yet I'm not really certain this is what it is. A plateau for all intents and purposes iss a point in your training where no matter how much training you do, you seem to reach a point of diminishing returns.

That being said, I wouldn't really describe this as a plateau. Nor would I call it overtraining or burnout.

Quite simply... its just a flat spot. I've had this happen a few times over the last couple of years. Maybe even twice per year. When it comes on at first I get a little freaked. I just wake up one day and when I head out for a run, everything seems really flat.

What do I do? I used to do the complete analysis. What's wrong with my: nutrition, sleep, the weather, other areas of my life. I'd look at everything trying to find the broken link.

Nowadays, I just push through. What I found was if I thought I was getting sick and I focused on it, I got sick. If I thought the weather was just too hot and I focused on it, suddenly 75 degrees was too hot to run in.

My formula?

Go back to the basics. Put one foot in front of the other. If I have to walk, I walk. If I have to run a little shorter run, I run a little shorter run. If I feel the need to slow down my pace, I slow down my pace.

One thing for certain is I don't panic and I know that it will pass and maybe just maybe, I'll come out on the other side a little stronger and a little faster. Life is a journey not a destination and as far as I'm concerned I have a whole lot of running left to do before I do actually reach the finishline and so I'm not going to let a little flat spot (even if it does last for a couple of weeks) get me down.

Neither should you. If you've been running long enough you have probably had a similar experience and if you continue to run it will likely happen again. Don't let it derail you rather, use it as an opportunity to work on your drive and determination.

My second run of the day will be a short three miler and I'm certain that while my long run this morning sucked, this little run will be fast and that... is a good thing!

Pushing through and I'll see you on the other side!

After a Week

Week one of the run-commuting is on the books.

I have to say it was great and at the same time exhausting. Twice a day running with 11 hours of stand on your feet working is harder than I thought it would be.

That being said I did not add a lot of mileage this week simply because when I was done running home after work... I was pretty much toast! I did get in about 9 miles of walking with the team I train on Saturday and then managed to eek out a 5 mile run on Sunday before I got some quality beach time!

All in all, week one was a success and I'm looking forward to the expanded mileage as I get used to the split running routine.

Week two will be six days of run-commuting as I work on Saturday as well.

Stay tuned!

It's All Good!

Sometimes... well, a lot of the time, life throws out curveballs. It happens to all of us if we're truly honest.

Sometimes... we just don't feel like doing something and once we get into it, we soar and we're glad we did it!

The last week has been one of those weeks for me, I won't go into the details, its not that important. And so this morning when it came time to go train my group of walkers, I thought seriously about blowing it off. I didn't, in fact I ended up getting up early, heading down to the ocean and scoping out places where we could do some simple strength training moves.

And so, my day started with a run to the ocean, about an hour of just plain ocean watching (very therapuetic), a workout at the original "Muscle Beach" just south of the Santa Monica Pier, a great walk with a good group of people who were full of questions and appreciation for my help and then a run home.

Not a bad way to spend the first few hours of any day!

Followed this all up with a return visit to the beach and a dip in the Pacific and a little quality sun time!

Probably go for a short recovery run tonight!

I guess when it all comes down to it, as they say; "No matter what life throws at you, if you decide it is... It's All Good!"

Two Disgusting Words!

Can't

But

As I work with clients these are perhaps the most frustrating words I can hear coming out of their mouths. Its not because I don't understand. Believe me I've used those words many times myself in the past and yet, my life didn't change until I stopped using them and neither will yours!

It goes kind of like this:

I just can't get myself to stop eating...

I can't seem to get up in the morning...

I can't find the energy after work...

I want to workout, but...

Tony Robbins once said; "The person who uses the word but all of the time usually has a big one!"

That may be a little harsh and yet it is the truth. There is a country music song playing lately and the line that sticks out to me is: "Sounds like life to me."

We all have things that get in the way of some of the things we want to do. Life will continue to happen all around you every single day for as long as you grace this world with your presence. Its inevitable! The only question then is; What are you going to give your focus to?

I constantly hear people say they would love to work out but they have kids and they just can't find the time. That one sentence has both of those disgusting words in it! In fairness, I don't have any children, in fact I'm not even married or dating at the moment and so yes, my time is my time and yet...

I work 14 to 16 hours a day almost everyday and still find the time to go for a run. And I realize, fitness is my business and so it would seem to most people that it should be easier to workout right? Wrong! Most of my time is spent in front of a computer, writing, typing, blogging, emailing, designing training programs.

And before I got into endurance fitness training, I worked 7 days a week 12 to 14 hours a day running a car dealership and that is definitely not conducive to a healthy lifestyle!

So how do I find 2 or 3 hours to train each day?

Its all about how important my health is to me. 

If you constantly find yourself saying, I want to but... your health is just not that important to you no matter what kind of lip service you give it. If its really important to you then you will wake up an hour earlier or stay up an hour later or find a way to get someone else to watch the kids for a short period of time. If its really important, you will make the time.

I know you're tired! And, if you will just get with the program you will little by little find that you have more energy and vitality. You'll find that the time you spend with your kids or your spouse or doing whatever else you have to do in life will be so much better because you made your health a priority.

I hear over and over again; my kids are my priority! I completely, one hundred percent, unequivocally agree that they should be! And consider this...

If you don't take care of yourself... who's going to take care of your kids when you can no longer do so because of your health. You have to make the time. Period! You have got to make your health an absolute must. If you are the type of person who thinks its selfish to take time for yourself then don't think of it that way. Think of it as taking time to make yourself a better parent or spouse or lover for those other people in your life. If you fear not being there for them to give them what they need... it should be pretty easy to imagine what it would be like if you weren't around and I doubt you want that!

If you have found a way to get yourself to the gym or on the treadmill or out the door there's still one more thing we need to address.

Are you going through the motions or are you really working on improving?

When you first start out exercising, we take great care to make certain that at least for the first four weeks or so you don't push yourself too hard as your body gets used to its new demands. Where the problem comes in is most people never get out of that initial conditioning phase. In other words, they start going through the motions and as the same workload becomes easier they start to see diminishing returns and don't understand why.

As you're aerobic conditioning improves you have got to continue to challenge yourself. How much?

I'm glad you asked...

With runners, as we begin to increase mileage we use a rule of thumb of no more than 10% increase in mileage per week. If a runners long run is 4 miles one week, the next week we would increase it by 10% or basically a half mile and so their long run would then be 4.5 miles.

On a treadmill you should be using the same sort of principle for speed or time or both. If you are walking at 3.5 mph for 40 minutes, the next week I would suggest 45 minutes at the same speed of 3.5. The next week I would suggest 45 minutes at 3.9 mph (10% increase in speed). 

This is where can't and but come into play. It is going to be a little uncomfortable if you are pushing yourself. I expect my clients to experience mild discomfort when they are training. I'm referring to a low threshold soreness. I am not talking about sharp jabbing pain. You should be able to increase the speed on your treadmill by .1 or .2 or .3 mph in a week without extreme and sharp pains up to a certain speed. If you can not then we need to address your form because something in the way you're moving is causing a problem.

My point is... you will have some soreness, I would be lying if I told you otherwise. You never get more out than the effort you put in!

This is usually where I hear a whole bunch of I can'ts! I just can't go any longer or I just can't go any faster than 2.3mph...

And...

When you say you can't, guess what... you're absolutely right! As long as you tell yourself you can't, you will never ever as long as you live be able to. That applies to everything in life and you can absolutely take that to the bank!

When you stop saying I can't or but and start saying I can and I will things will start to change. When you start to push yourself to go farther or a little bit faster or maybe to jog a little or even run... that's when the magic will begin to really happen!

Every day will not be perfect! Guaranteed! And yet more of them will be pretty darn good. There will be times when you do everything right and get what is seemingly zero results. If you were here with me and we took you to the lab and did all of the latest testing and then trained together everyday, there would still be weeks where you didn't feel like you made any progress. Part of that is simply your body responding quickly to its new challenges and part of it is the fact that everything you do does not result in an immediate weight loss. You are improving your cardiovascular strength and endurance, you are building muscle. Never forget that your overall body composition is changing. You may not experience weight loss all of the time as you gain muscle and lose fat and yet I'll bet you clothes will fit better!

And now I'll get off my soapbox and just repeat.

Start saying I CAN and I WILL!

Now go get active!

What Defines You?

Hard to believe, I've had a love/hate relationship with running for nearly thirty years now.

One thing I know to be true about running or any other form of exercise for that matter is; there will be plenty of days when its easy to get out and get moving. The longer you are involved with running or jogging or walking or strength training or whatever other activity you choose the easier it becomes to consistently get out and do it. In fact it becomes a regular and hopefully enjoyable part of your healthy active lifestyle.

The other thing that I know is, although there will likely be more good days than bad, there will be plenty of bad days. And, its not the good days that define who you are. Rather it is how you handle the bad days that build the real foundation for creating a healthy lifestyle.

It is in those moments when you really would rather not get out and train that you determine who you are, not just as an athlete but also as a human being. Do you push forward and through or do you allow yourself to be derailed by every little obstacle real or imagined that comes along?

I had one of those days yesterday. My training has been going quite well lately. But yesterday, I really wasn't feeling it. I procrastinated through most of the day before finally pushing myself out the door.

By the time I got out on the road it was pretty warm and I wasn't feeling too great to boot. About halfway through my run I started getting stomach cramps and my legs had been aching almost from my first step. Now I was faced with a decision. I could stop running and walk home or I could keep running. Walking would have certainly meant some relief for my aching legs and yet I found that as I slow to a walk for a couple of minutes my stomach cramps actually got worse. The thought then occurred to me: If this was mile 35 of a 50 mile ultra marathon who would be there to help me through this?

The answer was simple. The only person who could make me go on is me. No amount of encouragement from anyone else could have made me run through the soreness. If I was going to finish this run or finish an ultra marathon, it is up to me to dig deep inside of myself and find the strength to go on.

And so I did push on. This was not a particularly long run for me but it was perhaps one of the best 6 mile runs I've completed in a while. Not the fastest or strongest performance, but great because when it came down to decision time, I made the right choice. The fact that I chose to push on will carry with me throughout other areas of my life.

Today is going to be a much, much longer run, but something tells me its going to be one of those days where its easy to get myself out and moving. After all, I've already proven to myself that I have what it takes when things get tough.

What do you do in a similar situation? Do you persevere or do you fold? The choice is yours and making the right one can take you to a totally different level!

Have an awesome day and go get active!

Why Virtual Coaching?

Finding a coach who understands what your needs are and how to meet them is not always the easiest of tasks.

Go to one of the mega-gyms and you may end up with a young kid who isn't really certified and doesn't understand the needs of a variety of individuals.  Oh sure, he or she may have gone through the gym's trainer program but that's not the same as a real certification where the trainer actually committed a fairly substantial amount of time and energy in studying their skill set.

Not only that but at most of the bigger gyms, the personal trainers get paid to sell you more sessions at $50 to $200 per, and to sell you other peripheral items like supplements and gear.  Someone focused on up selling you is likely not as focused on getting you real results.

Find a local personal trainer who is actually certified and you've got to be ready to spend a fair amount of money.  Honestly, if you've got the extra money, hiring a trainer or coach who can work with you on a regular basis is definitely a worth-while investment, in most cases.  Just make sure you don't take 10 session to find out you're not a match for this particular trainer's style.

Yes, personal trainers and coaches just like all other human beings, have their own way of doing things.  If you find a trainer that is knowledgeable and yet your personalities don't match you may find yourself being discouraged and in some cases you might even find yourself thinking about giving up on fitness and that is the last thing we want.

The other alternative and one which is just starting to gain traction, is virtual coaching.  With virtual coaching you don't have to be limited to the trainers or coaches strictly within your neighborhood.  In fact , you could literally work with a coach from Italy if you wanted to.  Its more about being able to find the right one.

That seems to be easier than the traditional method.  In spite of the fact that you lack the face to face evaluation you get from in-person training, you are likely to get better attention from your virtual coach.  It just takes more thought to design a training program and then motivate someone to do it when they're not right there in front of you.

How does it work?

There are varying degrees of virtual programs.  Some very basic programs are nothing more than telling a trainer your desires for your health and them sending you a training program to follow.

Some of the programs involve a training program designed for you and limited email access to you coach during the training period (say 3 mos.)

A program like mine begins a little differently.  Once you sign up with me, you receive an assessment to fill out.  This is designed to give me a good idea of who I am working with by providing information such as current level of physical activity,  potential health risks, current lifestyle, and your personal fitness goals as you see them at this point.

After the assessment is complete, you'll receive your initial training schedule based on everything you told me about what you like and don't like and what kind of schedule you have available for exercise.  From that point forward you'll receive daily emails regarding your training and have unlimited access to email the coach with questions regarding form or nutrition or anything else that comes up during your exercise.

Its kind of like having a daily conversation with a friend only with a serious focus on moving you towards your desired outcome!

Its affordable!

With no overhead so to speak, a virtual coach is really only charging for the program design and then the daily interaction via email or occasionally via the phone.  That's a huge advantage versus a "bricks and mortar" gym because it doesn't require a huge facility to get the job done.  Bottom-line: It usually doesn't cost as much.

I have seen some of the trainers who focus primarily on just designing a program charge $200 for a three month program design and no other trainer interaction.

In my case as it is a monthly investment in your future, I charge $29.99 per month plus an initial $25 for the start up assessment.  Since it is monthly you can drop out at any time or once you feel comfortable with your training although most people do not.  Worst case scenario, if you only stayed on board for the initial month, you'd have a completed assessment of your health and current fitness levels (something many of us never really do), you'd have a customized training program designed just for you and you would have benefited from a month of unlimited email access to your trainer.  All of that for less than one typical session with a trainer in a gym.

You can begin to see why a virtual coach might be a great alternative to an in person trainer.

Which ever way you choose to go take the time to find out what you can about the trainer.  Find out who they're certified with and what their life experience is with fitness.  Your trainers experiences can come in pretty handy down the road when you find yourself stuck in a training plateau or with an injury and you trainer has already been through it.

With a trainer, without, whichever way you choose just do!  You'll be glad you did, trust me I can say that from personal experience!

Should you run/walk?

Training for an ultra marathon brings in a whole new level of training.  I love running and its mostly that love and the pure joy I get from it that keeps me going on the long runs.

But my long runs aren't 10 miles any more.  They're substantially farther.

The more I study and learn about ultra-running the more I hear the topic of run/walk method.

For some runners, its a simple matter of run until you can't and then walk for a while until you can run again.  For others its a much more methodical approach where walk breaks are integrated into the run right from the start

While I'm much more familiar with the first approach (most of us have been there at some point), I'm more interested in the latter method.

There is lots of information out there about the run/walk method.  Perhaps Jeff Galloway's marathon training program is the best known.  After a fair amount of research, I've begun experimenting with my own version of the run/walk, beginning fairly early in the run and continuing all the way to the end and I have to say that I have noticed an improvement.

I am not a speed demon and yet I find my self constantly improving with time.  As a big, relatively slow runner, I am doing my short runs of 5 to 6 miles in the 8 to 9 minute per mile range.  Once I would get beyond 10 miles my times would drop into the 11:30 to 12 minute per mile pace.

Today, I did a 11.5 mile run using a simple run 20 minutes, walk 5 minutes method and my pace improved to 10:26 per mile overall.  That's a significant improvement especially considering the fact it was hot, I was out of fuel and I was out of water (never a good combination).

I'm going to keep experimenting and reporting the results because I believe there can be some significant benefits for everyone from the beginner to the experienced.

I definitely think the planned intervals of run/walk are much better than the run until you can't method and today's results certainly point in that direction.  The other concern I have with the unplanned walking is that if you really run until you can't before you walk, it is all together possible that you may not be able to start up a consistent run again.

We shall see!

Stretch before or after?

While there is no disagreement that you should stretch, there are still two schools of thought on when. Is it best to stretch before or after your run or walk?

The advice from this trainer? If you already have a routine of stretching that works for you... don't change it! If aren't currently in the habit of stretching I recommend doing it immediately after your workout session.

Doing flexibility training after you regular workout can reduce the risk of damaging muscles that is associated with stretching cold muscles before a workout.

That being said, its important to warm up your muscles before doing your training and a slow five to ten minute walk will allow you to get the blood flowing and reduce the risk of injury.

So why stretch at all?

Flexibility training (stretching) gives you a couple of benefits. First, it allows for a greater range of motion about a joint. A greater range of motion means less chance of injury to the joint. When the connecting muscles, tendons and ligaments are too tight, the joint is not free to move in its optimal motion and thus often causes grinding of bone on bone as the joint is pulled out or causes tearing of the tissues surrounding the joint.

The second benefit of stretching is the increased blood-flow to the exercising tissues. Any aerobic exercise requires great amounts of oxygen. The better your body is at delivering blood to your muscles and the connective tissues around your joints, the more oxygen is capable of being delivered and the more efficient the body becomes at utilizing its available energy stores which require oxygen to burn.

All of that put together simply means... stretch! If you're set in your ways and stretching before you run, keep it up. If you haven't been stretching, get a good warm up beforehand and stretch afterwards.

Stretch! You'll be glad you did.

A New "Sub-blog"

We run, bike, swim, walk, lift weights and all other forms of exercise and yet...

We treat our bodies like they're a $200 beater car ready for the junk-yard!

What did you eat today? Do you even know? How many carbs, fats and protein? How often did you eat today? Once? Twice? Three times? Four? Five?

Why do we have more excuses for not eating right than for just about anything else in our lives?


Get the info you need to get it right on my new page

Welcome to Big Bad Runners

When I first started writing this blog, I think my outlook on running was in a little different place than it is today.

I was tired of lining up for a race and being twice as big as most of the runners who were expecting to be competitive in that particular event. I was tired of lining up at the back because I wasn't an elite runner and feeling in someway that I didn't even belong there.

Let me just say... it was all in my head. Oh sure, there are runners who would take a look at me today and figure there is no way I'm running this race! It just that those people are the "few and far between", not the norm.

Generally, the running community is incredibly warm, friendly and supportive to runners of all shapes and sizes. Go to a group of runners and ask a question about a running problem you're having and most of the time they will share openly and genuinely try to help.

I've spent a fair amount of time in discussion rooms on sites like Active.com (a great resource) reading the concerns, questions and general thoughts of new runners or folks trying to get back into running after long lay-offs from activity.

The underlying theme of most of the posts is that people are just looking for advice and sometimes good old-fashioned encouragement.

With that in mind, this blog has become a place for just that. I try to keep it entertaining and yet mostly, I hope that it truly is informative and encouraging.

If you are someone looking to get into running or walking, whether it be for the first time ever or the first time in many years, this blog is here to empower you to take those first steps and to learn how to make health and fitness a lifestyle not just an occasional distraction.

Any and all honest and sincere feedback is always welcome.

If you have questions or write on the discussion board, I will try to tailor the blogs to the topics of interest.

Don't get me wrong... I still enjoy lining up at the back of the pack in races and seeing the looks on peoples' faces when the big guy passes them, its just not the overall theme of this blog! :-)

Thanks for checking out this blog!

I Remember When... Use It or Lose It!

If you're just getting started in a fitness routine, you probably have a memory in your mind of a time when you were fit and active. Maybe it was high school or college and as you remember it, you were the Energizer Bunny.

Today however... five, ten, fifteen or maybe more years later you are kind of wondering whatever happened to all of that health and energy.

Where did the flexibility go and when did a 5 pound weight get so heavy and who on earth moved the mailbox so far from the front door that you have to stop half way there to catch your breath?

Fear not, you are not alone. Many have gone before you! Even some of those folks you think are fitness buffs have had their moments. Anyone who has had an on again, off again relationship with fitness has experienced this incredible disappearing act of their athletic prowess.

Welcome to atrophy! The actual definition... a decrease in cross-sectional size of a muscle resulting from inactivity or immobilization. It affects not just your limbs but your cardiovascular system as well. We see it most commonly in someone who has had an injury where they are immobilized for a period of time. In those cases atrophy can begin to set in as quickly as two to three days.

In our case, where we have been sedentary, it is a slower and more gradual process and yet over time the effects are the same.

Now that I've depressed you, the good news is that it can be reversed and does so at a much quicker rate than it occured.

Muscular strength can be maintained with as little as two moderate weight training sessions per week and cardiovascular fitness can be improved depending on your current level of fitness with as little as 20-30 minutes of aerobic exercise (walking,jogging,cycling, etc) two to three times per week.

Research has shown that cardiovascular fitness in folks who have been inactive will improve with an effort in the range of 45-55% of Maximum Heart Rate, and that... is a slow walk!

Remember when, because it will give you something to aspire to! Actually... forget that because we can never go back. Create a new picture of the you that's in your future and go for it!

All you have to do is use it!

Sometimes a lousy run...

Ever have one of those runs?

You know the one where maybe you didn't feel like it or maybe you got going and just felt like garbage?

Maybe after only a mile or even less, you found yourself with an urge to walk or even turn around and just head back home?

I just had one of those runs. About half way through, I just wasn't feeling it and I started to walk. At first I was frustrated by my inability to motivate my performance and then I began to think about how I would feel when I finished. Knowing full well that even if I just walked the rest of the way, I had gone out and trained.

I thought about how great I always feel after I get done training. It hit me that even if this wasn't the most stellar performance of my life, it was still movement and that is key.

I am a student of human behavior and I have learned most of the ways to get the most out of yourself and surely if I'd dug deep enough I could have found a way to keep myself running instead of slowing to a walk and yet sometimes that's not the point at all.

Sometimes it is just moving. If you exercise; walk, jog, run, weight train, yoga, Pilate's, whatever it is you do; you are doing something for your health that not a huge percentage of Americans do at least not on a regular basis. To have great health doesn't require huge blocks of training, it requires consistency. It requires movement!

It doesn't always have to require great effort in order for it to be a great workout.

Just a thought!

A Brotherly Run!

I am definitely looking forward to tomorrow!

I'll be hanging with my bro and my sister-in-law and my adorable niece. This is very cool!

Not only that, I'll be spending the night with them and then Bubba #3 and Bubba #4 get to go for a run together (something we don't get to do very often anymore).

I have to be honest though, I'm not so sure how I will handle the run. I haven't been training as regularly as I should and where they live its a lot of long slow grades up and down, mostly up! I have plenty of hills here in Santa Monica, they're just of the shorter persuasion. They are steep, however they only last for a block or two max.

Where we'll be running this weekend the hills start as soon as you hit the door and seemingly go up the whole time you're running. I'm not sure how that can be possible but it does at least seem that way.

Should be a great time anyway!

I'll give you the report when I get back. What are you doing for training this weekend?

Pay Attention!

You may have heard this joke in one form or another already, but here it goes:

There was a man who deeply believed in God.

One day a flood was approaching his house. A car came, the driver said come with me and be saved from the flood. The man refused saying "No I will wait here, God will save me."

The waters rose to his porch. A boat came, the captain said come with me and be saved from the flood. The man refused saying "No I will wait here, God will save me."

The water rose to the roof. A helicopter came, the pilot said come with me and be saved from the flood. The man refused saying "No I will wait here, God will save me."

The flood raged and the man drowned. At the pearly gates he asked God, "Why didn't you save me"

God said "I sent you a car, then a boat then a helicopter"

Most of us go through life wanting things to be better or changed in some way. We want more money, better health, improved relationships, a nicer house, a new job... and the list goes on.

The problem for most of us is that we spend so much time focused on the distractions in life that we don't see the solutions when they arrive. Life, or if you believe as I do God, sends us answers all of the time. He'll send you that little hint here or there. Or a big event that demands we do something. And we go frantically cruising through life, never catching the clues as they come along. We get so focused on what we don't want that we don't ever see that what we really do want is passing right in front of our eyes.

I decided that after twenty some years I wanted to change careers. I felt I wanted to make a difference in peoples lives. I was inspired to follow my life long love of fitness and become a personal trainer and personal coach. I spent a fairly substantial amount of money buying the best training programs I could find. I bought the "home study" versions because I had a very busy career and felt this would be the best way to get things done.

I still remember when the first kit arrived. I was like a kid in a candy store! Eyes wide open, jaw dropped, I rifled through the package. I was absolutely beside myself with excitement. I had a couple of things to do around the house before I could get down to it, but I decided I would get started that first night with my studying.

And study I did! That first night, I literally studied through the night. I mean I found myself at the kitchen table still going strong at 5 o'clock in the morning. Soon though, the studying became too much. As the material became more difficult, I found myself spending less and less time moving towards my goal. The other study materials arrived and received the same treatment. Soon they became nothing more than a cluttering distraction on the kitchen table.

Deep down inside, I knew that this was what I really wanted. I knew it was time for a change in my life and the time was now... or maybe I should say when it was convenient.

I did what most of us do when we want change to happen in our lives. I got all excited and certain. Made my plans. Took a couple of steps in the right direction... and then faded like somebody an overused light bulb. Soon I stopped paying attention to opportunities. I mean I had the chance to do some really great things. I literally had people coming up to me and asking for my help with personal coaching or personal training (you think those might have been clues I was moving in the right direction?) and we'd talk for a few minutes and then the subject never came up again.

A Myth...

"Before you can do whatever it is you want to in life, you must be fully educated and prepared, before you get started!"

With a few exceptions, such as, if I needed brain surgery, (I would prefer someone who spent the time getting the education prior to the operation), it is more important to get going than it is to learn more. Too many of us spend too much time being prepared. In fact, we spend so much time focused on preparation that we miss the opportunities when they arise.

A Question...

"Do you think if I had taken on one of those people who had asked me to help them with personal training that I would have screwed them up because I wasn't completely finished with my certification?"

The answer is a resounding, NO! The truth is I have been involved with weight training and running all of my life and have a pretty strong knowledge base to begin with. The certification for me is really more of a trophy to hang on the wall. Maybe more of a "Proof of Who I Am" that people can look at hanging on the wall or posted on my website to add a little bit of credibility to those who don't already know me. Certainly for me who has been training people in a different environment for a whole lot of years, that certificate would not suddenly make me a different person more knowledgeable and capable than I was without it. I already had those qualities.

I have over analyzed myself to death and in the process, missed opportunities that have been knocking on my door which could have ultimately resulted in much greater results. I am as guilty as you are of ignoring the "Hints and clues" of life which lead to the life we really desire for ourselves.

So what do we do?

I believe there are two things that happen;

One is we finally come to the understanding that we need to do more than we analyze. If we let ourselves be open to what's going on around us, many times the answer will come right up and sit down next to us (sometimes literally, sometimes metaphorically). Being a even a little less analytical will allow you and me to go with our first instinct instead of waiting until everything is exactly perfect before we do anything. It will open us up to the subtleties of life, allowing us to get more guidance from our daily living. This in itself will empower you as you move through life.

Sometimes we just don't get it and the clues and hints of life aren't sinking in. For me personally, I believe that if it's important enough to God and we aren't paying attention, the type and severity will increase.

I am case and point. After everything I shared with you earlier about changing directions in my career and life, I found myself fluttering aimlessly back towards the profession I had been in for almost twenty-five years.

Why?

Any number of reasons could fit here. Perhaps, "Path of Least Resistance" is the best description. And then... I had a heart attack! No, not metaphorically, literally! When I talk about the type and severity increasing, I think now you can understand what I mean!

My personal belief is God sent me a car, a rowboat and a helicopter and I ignored them so He then sent an aircraft carrier to snatch me out of the water whether I wanted it or not!

Now let's say for a minute you don't buy the fact that this was the doing of God. I'm sorry if you don't, but let's make that assumption. Let's look at it from a purely psychological perspective... shall we?

We all operate primarily in two planes. The Conscious and the Unconscious. I have witnessed these two at work and at times at odds with each other.

When I ran my first marathon, at 252 lbs, after literally training ten times over the course of a year in preparation, my conscious mind thought I was nuts. Your conscious mind is that part that deals largely with the here and now, in the moment kind of stuff, based on all of the latest data.

The data for that first marathon looked kind of like this:

This is really cool!

Look at all of these people!

If that guy can do this, so can I!

Pain!

I've only gone a mile!

I'm thirsty!

More pain.

I'm never going to make it.

Is my leg really cramping at only mile 10?

I can't do this.

Did we make the right turn here, cause there's only about three runners as far as I can see?

I'm happy.

I'm sad.

I'm stupid.

Call your brother, he's got to be finished already.

I want to run but all I can do is walk.

I don't think anyone will finish behind me.

Two more miles to go, I don't think I can make it.

Last quarter mile I better run to the finish line.

Hey there's my brother.

There's the finish line.

I'm going to make it!

I want to cry at this point.

I'm never going to do this again!

When's the next marathon?

At some point in time over the years leading up to my first marathon, I had committed to myself that this was something I absolutely at all costs was going to do. When my brother finished his first marathon in March of that year, there was simply no turning back. At that point I had permanently and indelibly planted in my unconscious mind that this was a MUST not a should for me. In fact, I signed up for my first marathon on the day my brother completed his first.

The unconscious mind is that infantile part of our mind that takes what we truly believe and firmly implant as a must, and not knowing anything but this is what we are supposed to do, makes it a reality.

In the case of the marathon, my unconscious mind would have run me into the ground if that's what it took to do something it believed was a life imperative for me. In the case of the career change, speaking purely psychologically and knowing how powerful the mind-body connection is, I got the same result.

My unconscious went; "Tim, we're going to do this and if you won't slow down and change directions... I'll do it for you!" "Ignore this if you can!" And obviously, it's kind of hard to ignore a heart attack.

Psychologically, if you implant something deep enough in your belief system, your unconscious mind will do whatever it takes (sometimes even dangerously) to make the belief a reality.

So which ever theory you subscribe to, the bottom line is the same.

Pay Attention! Allow yourself to be open to the hints and clues of life. Act on them knowing that the knowledge and answers will come to you along the way.

And know that if you really believe it should be... the "indicators" of life will continue to grow in intensity until you do something.

Personally, these days I prefer to take action on the simple inklings or nudges in life instead of waiting for the "Big Events"!

I want my "Big Events" to be celebrations, not major traumas!

It All Begins With One Thing!

Think about a time when everything seemed to work for you. A time when you had a plan and it actually worked out the way you wanted it to.

What happened?

Why were you able to accomplish this particular goal, while day in and day out you struggle to complete just about everything you set out to do?

Why doesn't everybody accomplish every goal they have?

If you're one of those people (most of us), who struggles with goals and frustration, don't panic! There is a way out. And it's not your fault!

There are literally thousands of books, articles, audio series and seminars on setting and attaining goals available for you today. Most of them are reasonably accurate in their description of the steps to a goal.

The problem with most of them is where they list the most important step. What is that step? What is it that keeps most of us from reaching our goals?

Let's take a look... shall we?

I'm not going to cover the goal setting process here, rather I'm going to say this about it...

the goal setting process is exactly that... a method for figuring out what you want in life and how you will go about getting it.

We are taught through different methods to figure out what we want, decide how to do it, decide what's most important to do first, figure out who can help you (if you need help), and then finally as a subscript to the whole beautiful plan you've created the final step is...

Take the first small step.

An entire 360 page book can be filled all the way to page 359 with how to figure out what you want and then finally, almost as an afterthought, the author suggests that you take a small step, the first step towards your goal.

It's like saying that it's not actually important to achieve the goal, it's just the figuring out that matters!

What?

I am a firm believer in having a clear vision of what's important to you in life and I think it's a shame that most people don't ever have any idea, however, knowing what you want alone is about as fulfilling as as going to a fine restaurant, ordering their best steak and then when they bring it to your table just sitting there staring at it.

What's the point?

Whatever you want in life. Whatever you don't have or want more of or really believe is important in your life, will never come to be unless you do something to move you towards that end!

A new car, a healthy body, a great relationship, an incredible career... none of those things are just going to fall out of the sky into your lap! Yes, fortunately, cars don't fall out of the sky!

The "Last" step in most people's goal setting programs is taking action. WOW! The last step? It's no wonder most folks read a goal setting program and come out with a big list of ideas and not much more!

I love reading and listening to Tony Robbins. The reason? Not because he's a guru. Not because he's so full of energy! No, the reason I enjoy him is because right from the very begin of any program he presents, he is encouraging you to get moving and take action.

And, yes I know, if you do something it could be wrong, but how will you ever know if you don't try?

If you sit around waiting for everything to be perfect or until you know all of the answers or until you think it's the right time... ten years from now you will be in the same place wondering what went wrong!

Do you really want to be sitting around ten years from now making a new list of the same goals you made ten years ago but never went after?

Or...

Do you want to look back ten years from now absolutely amazed at what you've accomplished in life? Do you want to sit sadly wishing for a different life or do you want to look back gratefully at the incredible experiences you've had in life on the journey to your goals?

Don't you want to be sitting down ten years from now setting new incredible goals that are based on the higher level you created for yourself because you actually took action?

I know for myself... that's what I want! And I know that the only way that's going to happen is to DO SOMETHING NOW that will move me in the right direction. And I think you do too!

It doesn't have to be the perfect first step. You just have to take action!

What are your goals?

Whatever they are... do something! Get up and go for a run or go to the gym or read that book or unplug that TV or hire a Personal Trainer or get a life coach or apply for that new job (even if they don't have a help-wanted ad) or sit down for a conversation with your loved one or whatever it is... do something now!

I promise... you'll be amazed!

Easy As 1-2-3!

Imagine you're watching one of those TV infomercials. You know the ones. They talk about how you can have anything you want. The perfect body, the perfect life, the dream relationship.

And it's all as easy as 1-2-3!

Let's be frank here. It doesn't work that way!

If you're like most of us, you have probably even tried some of those things and now you have a collection of DVDs and strange contraptions piling up under your bed or in a closet out of sight.

I am a positive person but, the truth is anything worth having in life takes some effort. Anyone who tells you otherwise is probably looking to sell you something!

I mean think about it... "5 minute abs", "3 steps to financial freedom", "start earning huge $$ in 24 hours", "get fit in 10 minutes a day". These aren't actual product names, so if you offer these things don't get offended.

However, if we look at all of these things I listed above, they do actually carry a redeeming quality that is hidden behind the misleading headline.

"5 minutes abs" is designed to reel you in and take action. Gosh, you mean I can have abs in just 5 minutes of my time? Well, not exactly but, if you think about it; anything that gets you moving instead of sitting on the couch watching infomercials is going to have some impact on your health. And... the reality is no one is going to actually spend only 5 minutes doing exercises once they get started.

Therein lies the redeeming quality.

No matter where you are in life. No matter how high or how low, if you want to change your life you have got to get your self to do something.

Think about it. If you're at point "A" and you want to get to point "B", what's the best way to get there? Isn't to start moving in that direction? Isn't it to get off your butt and take action?

It's great to have all kinds of ideas and plans in life, but they are absolutely worthless without action! Without taking action all you have is a great list of dreams. Your first steps don't have to be fancy or earth-shattering but, they do have to be forward and in the direction you want to go.

We all get caught up in the idea that if the first step we take isn't perfect and doesn't get us instantaneous results then it's either the wrong one or just not worth it. Nothing could be further from the truth!

If you're struggling in life right now, simply completing one simple step can be one of the most rewarding and empowering experiences you'll ever have. There is power in knowing that in spite of it all, you are taking control of your life to make a positive change! Believe me I know. Even if you take one step forward and end up sliding three steps back, when you took the first step, you were now finally facing in the right direction!

If you can see where it is you want to go at least you have one thing most people don't: a clear vision of what you want. And that, my friend will give you tremendous power. There is incredible strength in knowing no matter how difficult the journey may be, you have begun!

There will be setbacks along the road. That you can count on, but the power you gain from taking action will help you get through those times and keep you focused on the outcome.

I've been on the bench of life, not taking action and it doesn't feel real good. I've let one day turn into ten years and it happens so fast it seems like all you did was blink. I am happy to say that I am now moving in the direction I want to go and it is incredible! Every day is not perfect and there have already been setbacks and disappointments and still, I am moving forward.

As easy as 1-2-3?

Not a chance!

Worth it?

Absolutely!

See you along the road moving forward!

Do You Really Believe That?

(I originally posted this back in June 2008 and it bares repeating.)

Why did you get up this morning and go to work or go for a run or whatever else you might have done?

I bet you answered something along the lines of; because I have to or maybe ; because I get to or maybe; because it's what I've always done.

And if you did, you just confirmed one of the universal truths in our lives. Most of what we do in life is based on our beliefs!

What if you could completely change what everything in your life thus far means?

What if you could take any situation, event or even a thought and turn it into something completely different?

Imagine if you could take an event... let's say, getting fired from your job (normally a negative) and turn it into the best thing that ever happened to you!

How would this change your life?

Would it open new possibilities?

What if you could really believe deep down inside that what ever you wanted in life you could have?

What if you could take a $135,000 debt and turn it into the springboard that launches a whole new opportunity in your life? An opportunity so empowering that you became almost unstoppable in your thinking and beliefs!

The Good News is that the way you experience everything in your life is based completely and wholly on your beliefs. And... you can change any experience in your life by changing your beliefs.

The only bad news here is that until you and I change that one belief; that everything we believe is in our control, we won't be able to use this powerful tool to our benefit.

So, if you're willing... let's begin!

Let's start by exploring where our beliefs come from. Virtually from our very earliest days in this life or as soon as we begin to be aware of the world around us, we begin to assign meaning to the things in our environment. Early on it may be as simple as; that heartbeat is where I came from or that voice is where I get my food from.

A little later it may be; if I cry I get attention (some of us never lose that one even in adulthood).

Why do we formulate beliefs?

Every second there is so much information being thrown our way that the only possible thing we can do other than being totally confused is to begin to organize our world. By generalizing what different types of input mean, our brain can quickly decide what needs to be received and processed and what can be filtered out and ignored. An example is when we learn that touching a hot burner on the stove causes pain, we need to take action to avoid it. We create a belief that says something like; hot burner equals pain.

If you think about being able to change what you believe, this is a great place to begin. Did you know that the mind is so powerful that it can actually manifest physical affects on the body?

In one test they were able to convince a person that a piece of ice would cause a burn and that individual actually experienced blistering where they came in contact with the ice. Simply by changing the meaning of a sensation, they got a whole new set of physical manifestations.

If this is really possible and it is, imagine the wealth of potential you have for changing meanings in your life! The opportunities are absolutely endless.

How does this all work?

Why does one person have a terrible day just because they didn't get bacon on their breakfast sandwich at the drive thru while another suffers a serious life altering accident and comes out with all kinds of possibilities and opportunities?

Its all in the meaning you assign to events in your life. So let's look at one event in my life and see if I can help you understand what I'm talking about.

A month ago, I had a heart attack while out for an extended bike ride. Most people would agree that this could be considered a life-altering event. It would have been very easy for me to have a nice little pity party after such a traumatic thing like this and I had to act quickly or it could have gone that way in a hurry.

Thoughts flooded my brain as I tried my best to make sense of this whole situation. To add to the complexity of things, I had been in the process of changing career paths and as a consequence not only was I not working, I did not have any insurance.

If this happened to you how would you evaluate things?

Being totally honest, my very first reactions were not what I would describe as stellar. I believe in full disclosure whenever possible so I'd like to share some of those initial thoughts with you.

What would people think of the guy who was supposed to be a runner having a heart attack? I was honestly concerned about my credibility as a fitness trainer and personal trainer.

What would this do for my dreams of running an ultra marathon?

Should I just go back to my old career path and forget my dreams? At this point, I was closer to my previous career of 25 years than I was to my new venture. It wouldn't be giving up it would be acting responsibly.

How could I ever talk about life improvement or success or empowerment with this hanging over my head? Again the credibility issue was looming big time!

How on earth was I ever going to handle the $135,000 bill I had just been presented with? This one will get most people's attention, I think.

How could this happen to me? Why me? How am I ever going to get back on my feet again? I'm trapped! There is no visible way to overcome this, I'm just going to spend the rest of my life in a job I hate paying off a huge bill.

Not very empowering thoughts for a guy who is arguably one of the most positive people you will ever meet! I wrestled with this for a couple of weeks maybe a little more. It was tough, I mean really tough!

Little by little, I began to come out of my haze. Instead of turning on the TV, I listened to Cd's by people like Tony Robbins, Zig Ziglar and James Ray. If I was going down, it was going to be a spectacular, full blaze of glory!

And then the questions began to flow!

What else could this situation mean?

I know everything's not perfect right now, but what can I be happy about with this situation?

How can I use this experience to never ever let it happen to anyone else again?

What can I create so that when other people are faced with a similar event they have a road map out?

What do I really want?

What's pretty cool about everything that's gone on in the last three weeks?

As I began to ask these questions and dozens more, I began to get different answers. The meanings I had given my heart attack just a few weeks earlier changed and they changed dramatically!

I began to realize that I could use this in an incredibly empowering way. My feeling of doubt about credibility went flying out the window when I began to realize that there is probably no better person in this world to talk about how important your health and fitness are than the guy who has had a heart attack. I mean, if anybody understands the importance if good health, it's probably that guy wouldn't you think?

I had been working on some writing projects on and off over the last five years. Suddenly my fingers began to fly as the words flowed from my brain like an erupting volcano. Don't tell my cardiologist this, but there were several sleepless nights where it was just me and the keyboard all night long producing page after page of quality writing.

Ultimately what happened is I changed what things meant to me. I went from believing that I was trapped by an event that I didn't have any control over in the first place to; this heart attack that I brought on myself (nobody sat there and forced me to eat poorly and smoke cigarettes) was going to be the springboard for my new and empowering future. I was finally going to lose the weight, get in the best shape and even more importantly use all of the lessons from this experience to powerfully impact the world that I live in.

This was a dramatic change in my beliefs and the Good News is that anyone faced with the same situation could make the same belief changes to get different results.

Let's look at one more, simple example that you can do yourself which can make a huge difference in your life.

If you ask, in fact I did, what most people want in life invariably between 8 and 9 out of 10 will say something along the lines of; to be happy. Are you in that group?

What has to happen in your life in order for you to be happy? Does something need to happen in order for you to have happiness?

Asked these questions most of us will come up with at least a small list, for some it's a monster list of things that must happen before they can be happy.

Bull!

Happiness is a state of mind which means that at any time you can decide to be in that place and you can go there. Happiness is not an event and yet we treat it like it will only happen if X,Y and Z all occur simultaneously and then only in the presence of a full moon!

Think about how you feel when you're happy. How do you stand or what's your posture like? What are you thinking about? If you can describe those things to me, then why couldn't you at anytime think about what makes you happy, put yourself into that same posture and be happy?

Try it! You'll like it! If you were successful, you just changed your beliefs about what it takes to be happy. And even more importantly you now know how to be happy at anytime. So who's fault is it if you're not happy?

That's right, it's yours and that my friend is a very empowering belief! Knowing that other people or events don't have control over you gives you incredible power in your life!

So, if you really believe something and it doesn't empower you... change what it means.

Change your beliefs and you will change your life!

How Long Is Five Years?

(This was originally posted on my other now defunct blog back in September, it just kind of fits with a lot of the conversations I've been hearing lately.)

If you're at all like me you probably have served up more excuses to yourself for not exercising than you can count.

Let's be honest. We all have days when we just shouldn't workout. Days when we're genuinely sick or hurt and training is not going to fix anything or may even do more harm than good.

I'm not talking about those days. I'm talking about the other 360 days of the year when the only thing between a good workout and you, is a great big excuse!

Now I understand, I know how hard it can be to tie a pair of running shoes after a long day of work. And then there's the dilemma of not having the right outfit to wear. And there are at least a half dozen things you should be doing each day before you even think about going for a run. Life is busy!

But... let me ask you a question: Where were you in your life five years ago?

How many of the goals and dreams you said you were going to accomplish actually came to be? And based on the response I assume most of us gave; where will you be five years from now?

I'm not a pessimist, quite the contrary, I'm a huge optimist. I mean as one of my all time favorite speakers, Zig Ziglar say; "I'm so positive, I'd go after Moby Dick in a row boat and bring a five gallon bucket of tartar sauce!" or "I'm so positive, I'd spend my last two dollars on a money belt!"

The honest to goodness truth is that most of us have fitness goals we're not meeting and the biggest reasons are nothing more than excuses.

Maybe you don't have grandiose aspirations in the world of health and fitness like I do. And that's OK. I will suggest, as I learned the hard way, that while it's alright not to want to be an athlete, it's not OK to not have a plan for your general overall health. Every year in this country a greater percentage of our population slides into the "Obese" category and we go on like nothing's changed and everything's just fine.

As I look honestly at the pictures of myself just 3 1/2 months ago before I had my heart attack, I am embarrassed to say that I had slipped into that group of Americans who take health for granted and do little to improve it. I was kidding myself into thinking because I ran once in awhile and had done four marathons in the last two years that I was healthy. I even lied about my weight when they were checking me into the emergency room. I say lied, but the truth is I had paid so little attention to it lately that I wasn't aware of how big I had gotten.

Despite what I thought, I was a stout 250-pounder and all you have to do is look at the picture to see it. Amazingly, I ran a 5K race just three weeks prior. Had I gotten the race pictures back sooner, instead of the day after I got back from the hospital, I might have realized just how bad my condition was.

Fact of the matter is, most of us do this on a pretty regular basis.

Oh sure, we all know we aren't in perfect shape, but we'll get around to fixing it sooner or later, right? And five or ten years later we're still sitting around thinking about getting around to doing something about our health.

PLEASE, START NOW!

I can't say enough about how important it is. I can't impose, impress, stress or anything else, that you have to do something now, if you don't admit to yourself it's time to change now. The saddest part is that most of us know we need to eat better, exercise more, drink less, stop smoking, whatever and still we do little or nothing at all. Incidentally, if you know you are overweight, smoke, drink too much, have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes or anything else of that nature, please don't go out once a month, over train and call yourself fit. I for one would rather have you around than have you dead.

You don't get in shape overnight. It takes time. If you are overweight, there are two issues to be addressed; the weight and your cardiovascular fitness. Sometimes, it's important to work on the weight first just to get to the point where you can improve your heart. This all takes time. But again, let me ask you the question; If you don't start to make a change now, when will it happen? Where will you be five years from now?

Do you remember five years ago? In some cases it went by so fast it seems like only yesterday doesn't it? Trust me, the older you get the faster it goes! You blink at forty and suddenly, you're forty-five. What happened? And more important, what's changed for the positive?

So what do you do?

As I said earlier, there are a million excuses for not exercising and you've got to get rid of them all.

If you're overweight, start simple. Take a walk in the morning or at night... or both. This is arguably the best fat burning exercise around because it keeps you in the zone where you are burning fat the whole time you are exercising. Start with twenty minutes, ten minutes out and ten minutes back. If you handle that well, increase your time. If you are seriously overweight don't automatically try to graduate to jogging. We want to drop some of those pounds before we work too much on the cardiovascular system. I will promise you this; if you will commit to walking everyday for at least forty-five minutes a day, you will notice a difference in your weight and your shape within two weeks and instead of water weight, which is usually the first thing to go when you diet alone or try jogging, it will be fat loss.

Just do this! If you can afford it, get a personal trainer and join a gym. If you can't afford it, contact me and I'll help you with a training program and a plan to get you healthy free of charge (it's that important to me).

Incidentally, walking is also great because it doesn't require lots of fancy equipment or shoes. If you're embarrassed to have people see you, wait until dark, but at all costs get out and go! Besides, most of us see someone out of shape exercising and think: "Go for it!"

For those of you who have fitness goals involving competitions or races, let me just say... no more excuses! Today is the day where you get serious! If you really plan to run a 5K, 10K, half-marathon, marathon, ultra marathon or compete in a triathlon or some other fitness event, it's time to put your training first.

I know we all have the time constraints involved with work, family and such... so be it. If you're going to compete, it's the other stuff that has to be evaluated. Stop reading this blog and go run! Which will be more important to you five years from now, the fact that you took on a physical challenge and succeeded or the fact that you watched a particular episode of your favorite TV show?

Nothing in life worth having is easy. Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to sell you something! It's just that simple! Do you really think there is such a thing as "Five minute abs"? I don't know anyone who exercises five minutes a day, period. And likewise, if you want to complete some form of athletic endeavor, it's not going to happen in five minutes a day. You will find the time when your goal is important enough to you. When you finally decide that this is something you truly want for your life and you will be proud of five years from now when you look back after completing your twentieth marathon or whatever and say; "I did it!"

Tomorrow almost didn't come for me. That may one of the greatest blessings I will ever receive however, I don't wish that on anyone. The key is to get the "don't waste another day" feeling without having to go through what I went through. When you get that feeling, you stop accepting excuses from yourself.

I was talking to a good friend of mine the other day and I said to him, "I spent the last five years of my life, "Actively Disengaged". What that meant was, I was going through the motions. I had a good job, making decent money and I worked hard at it, but only as hard as I wanted to because it was in a business I had been in for twenty years and I could literally do it blindfolded with one hand tied behind my back. I mean it just didn't require me to be actively involved mentally. Accordingly, I unplugged in other areas of my life as well. I'm all for being laid back and relaxed, but I took "going with the flow" to all new levels. That's why it took me ten years to run my first marathon. I'd get to the end of a long day and even though I had promised myself I would go for a run after work, someone would say let's go have a beer and I was done for the night.

Actively disengaged is that point where you go on auto-pilot in life. It may be where you're at right now. You may have dreams or goals in your life, but their attainment is something of a haphazard approach of whatever, whenever or even, if ever. It's not a really cool place to be. Most of us have something more we want for our life and when you are actively disengaged you get a lot of feelings of frustration because you're not really moving in any particular direction, let alone towards your desired outcomes. It's kind of like being in neutral.

For me, having been through a heart attack, I know that allowing myself to be actively disengaged no longer means "neutral", it means "park" and "park = dead"! I am at greater risk now that I've had one to have another and even more likely not to survive if I do have another one. How's that for a stimulating ultimatum? I no longer have the choice to be disengaged. I have got to do everything I can to get in the best shape of my life. As odd as this may sound to some, it really is a blessing! I'm not really interested in being dead right now, so my alternative is to get in great shape.

Are you actively disengaged in your life? Do you get home from work and instead of throwing on the workout clothes, you sit down in front of the idiot box... (most homes now have two different kinds of them; the TV and the computer) and chill out. It's easy to come home and tell yourself you just want to unwind for a little bit by doing something mindless. Stop kidding yourself. That TV show you're watching is not going to make you feel any better and it certainly is going to be of no use at mile 18 of your next marathon or halfway through the swim in a triathlon. And there is no scientific data to back up the theory that two hours of mindless TV can improve your 5K time by 20%. There is however, a lot of data to support doing some good solid running or weight training or cycling.

Being "Actively Engaged" in your life is not easy. Oh boy, here we go again with the whole; it's not easy thing again! It is however, very rewarding. When you take the time to know what's really important and then follow up with the right decisions to ensure that you take the right actions, you will experience abundance like you've never known. Look at all the truly great athletes in life and you will see a group of people who knew and made the right decisions more often than not.

I'm not saying you can't be spontaneous once in a while when everyone in the office is going out for a celebration, it just can't be every single night and in lieu of training. If you're serious about your training, people around you will know that and act accordingly. If they'd rather have you out with them every night, even though they know how important your training is to you, you might want to re-evaluate who you hang out with. "If you ain't for me, you're agin me!"

If you're actively engaged in life you make plans and you do what you can to stick to them. It takes (I know people don't like this word)... discipline, but it's worth it!

So, how long is five years?

Not very long and yet it can be a lifetime! It can represent the best or the worst part of your life. And more importantly, you can decide today what you will feel when you reach five years from now. You can commit to what's really important and go for it or you can let life take you like a leaf in the wind. The choice is absolutely yours!

Make it a great five years!

Always Learning

If you are striving to be a better all around athlete, you need to pay attention to all of the details.

Being competitive is more than just making yourself a little faster. Its about physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. And its about improving in all of those areas.

That's a hand full and requires patience and time (something most of us wish we had more of). In my quest for an ultra marathon next January, I've started looking at all of the areas that need improving. I then begin working on them as time permits. Time does permit, its just up to you and I to decide; at that point we'll find a way. Many years ago I made a commitment to myself that I would read, just twenty minutes a day. I was constantly complaining that I didn't have enough time, but twenty minutes seemed doable and so I began.

I have likely read over a thousand books in my lifetime, most of them since I made that decision just a few short years ago.

My point there is; you have time if you're committed enough.

The last few days I have been really focused on my walking form (yes, there is such a thing). I love walking, almost as much as running. Walking can be critical for an ultra runner and as such needs to be part of your training. What I found though was that after a two or three hour walk, I would be more sore than after a run of the same length.

How could this be?

The answer; form.

I've done a lot of reading and research on the bio mechanics of walking and running, which I won't get into here, but I will over the next few days share some of my observations as to what I changed and how.

I can tell you that some of the small changes I have made so far have removed most of the post walk pain and at the same time made me faster when I want to be.

I'm heading out now for a two hour "experimental" walk. I'll let you know how it goes!

Who ever thought at 45, I would be learning more than I did at 18?