this is how i’m doing: in case you were wondering…

After today’s run, I have run for over 24 hours since I started back in April.

Now to reward myself with food

While reading another book (I can’t seem to read one at a time) I found myself drifting off in thought and ended up with this statement: “What I do today will open or close doors for me in the future.”  I was reading a chapter titled “Inspiring a Shared Vision” in Kouzes and Posner’s book “The Leadership Challenge”.  It’s a great book even if you’re not interested in leadership.  By the way, you are;  you just might not know it yet.

The day I decided to start running again in April, I opened the door to the level of fitness I have today.  If you run, you’ve heard it before;  “Oh, I could NEVER run that far” or “I can’t even run ONE mile” as if to say that runners were born with super-human abilities that enable them to do things the “average” person cannot.  If you don’t run, I’m probably talking about you. That day I opened the door to running my first 10k in August.  That day, and every day since, I have been gradually opening (and sometimes closing) the door to running my first half-marathon in December and my first marathon in February.

Every day I have to make a decision, “Do I want to run Boston or not?”  I never really phrase it that way;  it usually sounds like “Am I going to run today?  Am I going to make sure I eat enough today?”  I’ve started to see that running doesn’t have to be my obsession to reach my seemingly impossible goals.  I just have to make some trade-offs.  Instead of sleeping in, what if I went for a run?  What if I went for a run instead of spending the evening watching TV and surfing the net?  Those little trade-offs (which will eventually develop into habits) will start to add up to some serious mileage which in turn will open the door to more satisfying finishes on race day and eventually take me all the way to Boston… and beyond?

Kouzes and Posner quote Daniel Gilbert, a professor of psychology at Harvard who says “the human being is the only animal that thinks about the future.”  I’ve tried to get into running before with marginal results.  I focused on what I had done in high school and college, but never really thought about where I wanted to go.  This resulted in half-hearted efforts which lasted a few weeks.  Now, with my eyes on a seemingly unrealistic goal, I’ve run farther and faster than I ever have before and have the motivation to continue to climb this mountain.  Ziglar says “the only way to coast is downhill.”  What are your goals?  What are your dreams?  What do you want to be when you grow up?  YOU get to play an active role in shaping your future!  What are you doing today that will open doors for you in the future?  What are you doing today that is closing the door on a dream or a goal?

Oh, and I set a new 5k PR today!  I ran the Tyler Half/5k today which makes me 6 for 6 on running a race every month.  It wasn’t my goal of 21 minutes, but at 22:43 22:38, (waiting on the official results) I was just quick enough to sneak in a second place finish for my age group.

Sitting at Starbucks, drinking my coffee, listening to Bob Dylan’s “Hurricane”, which is not about strong winds and heavy rain, though I still couldn’t resist in light of the actual hurricane moving through Texas today.

Yesterday was my last day at UNT and to punctuate the end of my time in the North Texas region, I ran a 5K today.  With hurricane Ike nipping on our heels, the great people of Sanger, Texas came out to put on the 30th Annual Sanger Heritage Sellabration and 5K run.  Bad pun aside, it was a refreshing event, reminding me of my college days in a small town.  As the community was setting up tents and tables to sell their crafts roughly 40 runners gathered at the starting line.  With such a small field I was a little concerned about pacing, and getting lost.  Within the first quarter mile I was in about the 7th position.  I would hold this spot for about the first half when I started to pick up my pace.  I finished 5th overall and actually won my age group while also setting a new PR!  23:27 which was a 7:33 pace; I’m happy with that, but I can (and will) do better.  I’m just glad that none of the faster 25-29 year-olds decided to run this one

Now begins my vacation before I start my new job, that I don’t have yet.  No worries though

After having a perfect season last year, the Jacks were really needing a win.  And when you need a win in Division I football, you pick on a Division II school.  Hey, a win is a win.

In other news, I took a week off of running after my 10k — not because I needed it but because I’m lazy.  I’ve got the next race lined up, a 5k in Sanger on Sept 13.  I might have a shot at placing at this one if all the 24-29 year old Denton guys stay home.

I’ve got some exciting news coming soon — as soon as I find out what it is I’ll let you know

The best part about running a distance for the first time, you automatically set a new PR!  Today I ran the Hottest Half/10k (I ran the 10k not the half-marathon) — it was awesome!  I was a bit unsure about the last few miles;  Due to my natural tendency to be lazy, I hadn’t run anything over 4.6 in training.  I finished at about the time I predicted averaging about an 8:50 minute mile.

Even better than the race was the food after the race.  It seems the longer the distance the better the food.  I’m not usually one to partake in an ice cold beer at 9am, but it was free, and it was a light beer, and I had just run a 10k… It just seemed right

My coworker and running buddy John ran this one too and also met his goals — so now we’ve got a half-marathon in our sights.  This is what I’m thinking: I can run the half at the Dallas White Rock Marathon in December and then run the Cow-town Marathon in Ft. Worth in February!  THEN I can train and run the full in Dallas in December 09 to qualify for Boston 2010.  I’ve got 4 years to make it to Boston (I want to run Boston by the time I’m 30), but I think I can do it in 2.

Anyway, back to work tomorrow — this little “win” will definitely help carry me through what is sure to be a very busy week.