Where the Sidewalk Ends - how trail running can help you love running...

Where the Sidewalk Ends

http://www.runnersworld.com/cda/microsite/video/0,8034,s6-238-511-74,00.html?bcpid=86874881001&bclid=17709914001&bctid=27739096001

These are just 2 of the many articles out there that focus on one of my favorite things in life...trail running. I plan on posting some good examples of Seattle trails in the near future.

Effective Teams: The Power of Negative Thinking

Effective Teams: The Power of Negative Thinking

Creating a Budget: Successful Job Searches / Career Planning Involve Financial Literacy

This may seem abrupt and overly-generalized, but it is important enough to say that I am going to go ahead and blurt it out...

ALL successful job search and career plans involve financial literacy!

Anyone who is even slightly successful (and by successful I mean enjoying their job and making a living wage) has a budget. If they don’t they are just lucky and that luck will quickly pass...

Long term happiness in our jobs and in our lives demands financial literacy. If we can not learn to live within our means we will never really be ‘free’. Without ‘freedom’ life is far from happy or complete.

With that said, living ‘free’ of financial chaos is easier said then done. Most of us struggle with our budgets and many people continue to pay the price for money mistakes they made in the past.*

A little help is much appreciated.

That is why I recommended using the following tool: http://www.thecalculator.org/

I use this Self Sufficiency Calculator with my clients and it is a simple and helpful way to create a budget, identify waste in spending, find resources to help overcome barriers and to make career goals.

Play around with it and it may be one way to help you flex your budgetary muscle and get one step closer to financial freedom.

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*(If you are paying for financial mistakes you made in the past please do not get discouraged. Debt and bad credit are disheartening but they can be overcome. I know from experience that in the process of working your way out of your financial problems you will actually make yourself a stronger and smarter person...)

A Space for Uncomfortable Goals - Effective Storytelling - Biznik

A Space for Uncomfortable Goals - Effective Storytelling - Biznik

A Space for Uncomfortable Goals

In the story of our life, we often find ourselves taking the path of least resistance. This article briefly touches upon the other path, that difficult less traveled route that holds the potential to take us to beautiful places...

Written Jul 27, 2010, read 2035 times since then.

 

I have always been a runner, even as a child.

In fact, I think most kids are natural runners, always in motion, always at play. I know I was. Most of my earliest memories involve some form of running. I even remember my first real ‘run‘, when I circumvented the city block in Colorado where we lived for the very first time. I distinctly remember feeling that running that far was unknown territory and I was not sure if I could do it. Yet, as I ran I was surprised at how quickly each corner came. My doubt and fear were slowly replaced by a sense of completeness. I had discovered something new.

Later, as a teen-ager I spent many miles on the trails and back roads of North Carolina, learning how to push that Unknown Territory further and further out ahead of me, thriving in the midst of myself, pushing through the limits imposed by doubt and fear. I won many races during that time. Yet, the real joy in running came from where my feet took me, the challenges I faced and the life-lessons I learned.
Running has always been like this for me, a combination of wonder and fear and movement and discovery.

It is this mixture of fear of the unknown and satisfaction of completing a difficult challenge that prompts us to do many of the activities in our lives, including running. We reach out into unknown territory, holding hope and perseverance in our hands like a lantern, and we end up finding new things that make our understanding of the world grow. Fear prompts action which in turn prompts discovery.

Ironically, I think this is also why many of us stop challenging ourselves at some point in our lives. In confronting Unknown Territory we discover that sometimes darkness is hiding darkness and not all discoveries are good. [After all, it is this same psychological combination, fear + action = results, that has been used throughout history by those in power to convince people to do things they might not otherwise do. We are exposed to fear-based advertising on a daily basis. We are entertained by fear-based movies and TV. And at the most extreme, we are continuously kept ’at war’ with either real people (Iraq, Afghanistan…) or ideas (drugs, terrorism, poverty).] Bombarded by notions of FEAR at every turn, we grow weary and no longer care to explore Unknown Territory.

Nevertheless, running has taught me that it is exactly during these periods, when the world seems too dangerous and we are afraid to take chances, that we need to re-evaluate who we really are and what we really want in life. What are our goals and where is our journey taking us?

For this reason, I have decided to make a conscious decision these days to allow space for uncomfortable goals.

(A space for Uncomfortable Goals signifies a sincere attempt to leave ones 'comfort zone' and reach out into Unknown Territory.)

Recently, I set an Uncomfortable Goal for myself. Exactly 8 weeks ago, I decided I wanted to run an ULTRA-marathon--a 50K race. At the time, I was running about 20 miles a week. I was not in the shape to do that sort of thing. However, I was in the mood for a challenge. I wanted to feel some pain and try and do something I was not really sure I could actually do.

Rather then set a practical goal I set an Uncomfortable Goal. I trained hard and gradually increased my miles, ate better and started feeling better about my chances. However, according to all the experts it was still a stretch to think that someone could train for an ultra marathon in 7 weeks. I was being slightly reckless and quite frankly...I was scared.

Nevertheless, last Saturday, I accomplished that uncomfortable goal. I ran 30.4 miles from near Mount Rainer to the Puget Sound in Washington State. I did not run fast and I thought a few times during the race that I was going to break down into small pain-filled pieces and crumble away into oblivion.
However, I did not break and I did not quit and I finally did it. Now, the universe is just a tad bit smaller and maybe even slightly less chaotic and incomprehensible as it was before...

Six months ago, I set a similar sort of uncomfortable goal for myself. I decided to switch careers in the middle of a recession while supporting a family. I was in a job I was good at and working with people I liked. However, I was not doing what I loved and I was not using my talents and abilities to the fullest. So, I decided to take a chance and set my feet toward unknown territory. Now, I am still friends with my previous co-workers but I have found a place doing what I love...all because I took a chance and pushed the limits a bit.

I guess in many ways, I have always lived my life this way. I guess it comes from being a runner and always seeking out Unknown Territory to explore. However, now that I am older and supporting a family and growing a career I see that it is harder to take chances. So, I have begun to think about the meaning, need and purpose of Unknown Territory and Uncomfortable Goals...

I do believe now that if we want to capture the truths we knew as children. If we want to truly live life to its fullest. We would do well to realize that Unknown Territory matters and that there should be a space for Uncomfortable Goals in our lives. Try it and let me know what you find...:-)

3 weeks away... The Baker Lake 50k!

And the trail goes on…


I'm now 3 weeks away from my 2nd 50-kilometer ULTRA marathon. Baker Lake is beckoning and I am actually in good enough running shape that I am sure I can finish the race and maybe even improve on my first 50K race performance in the Rainier to Ruston Rail-Trail 50K Ultra 4 months ago.

My first Ultra experience was beautiful and RECKLESS. I flung myself into a race I was not prepared for and suffered the grinding juxtaposition of pain and pleasure that can only come from 'surviving' a truly difficult struggle.

I do not expect this coming race to be any less difficult. However, I am a little more prepared. I have put in some consistent mileage over the past 3 months and have the advantage of experience on my side. I know what running 30+ miles feels like and I am ready to try it again.

With that said, my training is still very minimal compared to most ultra-runners. I barely cracked 50 miles/week last week and most my runs are 7-8 milers...no real long runs yet... I am in no shape to actually RACE this thing. Nevertheless, I am in the mood to give it a good consistent effort and I would really love to break 6 hours (under 12 minute miles, which would be my PR ).

Time will tell and only one thing I know for sure:

The cool clear water in Baker Lake will sure feel good on my legs after the race! (...no matter how long it takes...:-)

Me soaking my legs in the cold water of the Pugent Sound after running from Mount Rainer to the Ocean...:-)

more info about minimalist running...

http://newsok.com/barefoot-running-fad-or-revolution/article/3490014