This weekend I ran the Seattle Rock & Roll half marathon, taking me one step closer to my running goal for the year. My goal was to finish in an hour and 45 minutes, which would be 8 minute miles for 13.1 miles. I made the journey up to Seattle Friday morning getting the chance to meet up with some co-workers and friends so I would distract myself as the race approached. Learning from past races where I stayed at someone else’s house the night before a race, I went so far as to bring my own cereal and even ear plugs. Laugh as you’d like, but I have a pre-race routine that settles the nerves. Heck, I even had a plan on how we could drive to the starting line instead of relying on the race shuttles (which are crowded unless you get there really early).
I woke up Saturday morning excited to run. We made our way down to the starting area and found parking just as I thought. Then came the trouble. We waited what seemed like forever in a bathroom line. I didn’t get a chance to do a few light sprints before the race. As we made our way to the starting line we couldn’t get up front to my coral. As the race began I was feeling stiff, it seemed I stretched so long ago. We crossed the starting line and all of about 90 seconds into the race my iPod froze. Dam you Apple. 13.1 miles without music would be a death sentence. I live by my playlists in long races. At mile two I went to grab water, but instead got the sport drink which I hate during the race unless it’s a specific flavor. At mile 5 my world seemed to go into pure chaos. I found out that I had incorrectly programmed my watch and it was pausing every 8 minutes. By that point it was 5 minutes off from my actual race time. At mile 6 I grabbed water to toss over my head, but when I removed my hat I forgot my Oakley’s were there and they fell to the ground. As thousands of racers rushed toward me, I had to stop to pick them up. I’m sure there were a few other things that didn’t go my way, but finally I crossed the finish line with the race clock showing an hour and 49 minutes and a smile from ear to ear was all you could see on my face.
A few weeks back I said if our day is real bad sometimes we just need to get up and leave instead of enduring any more. I’m not trying to contradict myself here. Sometimes it’s not just one day. It’s a week or a month. Everything seems to not go our way or there seem to be too many obstacles from us achieving our goals. I’ve been in that rut and during this race, I realized I was getting too absorbed with the excuses that I could make.
You see that smile was so big, because I didn’t let those excuses get to me. I reset my iPod and figured out how it wouldn’t freeze again. Since my watch was off, I had my friend give me the correct time in correlation to the race clocks posted at each mile marker. My friend ran with me for six miles and just after that mile marker she screamed for me to start running my race. The weather was perfect, the course was spectacular and the decent at the end was priceless. As I reached mile 11 I knew I had more than enough time to finish the race and enjoyed 2.1 miles of time free running. If something is not making sense with my story, I apologize for teasing you. The race clock was just under six minutes off from my time since they had staggered starts, so I cleared my goal by a full minute and finished in an hour and 44 minutes. Success!.
The race woke me up to the problems I’ve been having with work. I’ve been letting the excuses be my focus instead of all the things that are going right and leveraging them instead.
All the excuses in the world ... should never stop you from achieving your goals!
Are you leveraging the good things or letting excuses get the best of you?
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
Just go, do it, live life!
Aerosmith says “life’s a journey not a destination”, Ferris Bueller tells us to “stop and look around once in a while”, and another reminds us that “most people miss life while making grand plans for it.”
I talk a lot about planning in setting goals, finding the right mentors, searching for the right job and thinking about how to confront or recognize. Sometimes the only thing left is to just do it. Stop thinking. Stop planning. Stop worrying. Stop preparing. This is it. You are the one that got yourself to this moment, so just go, do it, live your life. Today as I rest from all my training for tomorrow's race, I know in the morning all I need to do is just go run.
Today’s post is dedicated to the memory of a long time friend and fraternity brother of mine, Drew Hunter. He passed away in Colorado during a kayaking accident, but in doing so he proved the point above. He fought a good fight. He lived with no regrets. He attacked the world and soaked in all its beauty. Drew allowed me to reconnect with him this winter after losing touch and we had a great time in the mountains. He showed that you can worry and doubt many things, but that life would just be much more fun if you road, climbed, skied, ran and loved whatever came in your path.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
When all else fails, walk out and go home
How to recover from the 12 hour attitude virus
If any of you follow Dr. Zimmerman’s Tuesday tips, you’ll know this week was about the 24 hour attitude make over. I think most of us don’t need it. We just need to cool off or re-focus. Talking to a friend on Tuesday by lunch time she wanted June 2, 2009 removed from history. The days started on the wrong note and she could not find anything going her way. I should add this is a remarkable positive and outgoing person on any given day. By lunch it was so bad she canceled the rest of the day and conceded it was not going to turn around. Yesterday, I had my turn. A little different, my day was going great until mid-day. Only one thing went wrong, but after that I was completely frustrated and couldn’t get over it.
I talk a lot about people with long term issues/attitudes that need to be confronted. Well all of us are human and even those who are the fun Bobby in the crowd can lose their cool. Sometimes you can’t “just let it go” or “take a few deep breaths” or “find your happy place.” Since you can’t have the day removed from history, I say concede the day. If you have the level of self awareness to find your frustration at its max, then avoid all others. I’ll even admit I thought I had my self awareness was good enough yesterday, but my frustration was so great it created an illusion. I sent off an email to the wrong person that was just plain rude. They called me and confronted me on it. I took the time to talk to them and apologize, but it could have been avoided. If you must communicate, write emails expressing how you really feel, but send them to yourself.
I still believe we control our attitudes and we have the choice of whether or not it’s a good day or a bad day. However, on some days we just don’t have the energy or focus to turn it around. If those days are often (few times a month), then I’d suggest the problem is bigger than you think, but if they occur once every few months, then cancel the meetings, put up the out of office and reboot again the next day. Some might suggest a strong happy hour, but realize that what you’ve been thinking while you have been sober may come out while you are drunk at the bar and find its way to your Facebook status.
If you couldn’t turn it around and had a somewhat full schedule would you call it a day?
If any of you follow Dr. Zimmerman’s Tuesday tips, you’ll know this week was about the 24 hour attitude make over. I think most of us don’t need it. We just need to cool off or re-focus. Talking to a friend on Tuesday by lunch time she wanted June 2, 2009 removed from history. The days started on the wrong note and she could not find anything going her way. I should add this is a remarkable positive and outgoing person on any given day. By lunch it was so bad she canceled the rest of the day and conceded it was not going to turn around. Yesterday, I had my turn. A little different, my day was going great until mid-day. Only one thing went wrong, but after that I was completely frustrated and couldn’t get over it.
I talk a lot about people with long term issues/attitudes that need to be confronted. Well all of us are human and even those who are the fun Bobby in the crowd can lose their cool. Sometimes you can’t “just let it go” or “take a few deep breaths” or “find your happy place.” Since you can’t have the day removed from history, I say concede the day. If you have the level of self awareness to find your frustration at its max, then avoid all others. I’ll even admit I thought I had my self awareness was good enough yesterday, but my frustration was so great it created an illusion. I sent off an email to the wrong person that was just plain rude. They called me and confronted me on it. I took the time to talk to them and apologize, but it could have been avoided. If you must communicate, write emails expressing how you really feel, but send them to yourself.
I still believe we control our attitudes and we have the choice of whether or not it’s a good day or a bad day. However, on some days we just don’t have the energy or focus to turn it around. If those days are often (few times a month), then I’d suggest the problem is bigger than you think, but if they occur once every few months, then cancel the meetings, put up the out of office and reboot again the next day. Some might suggest a strong happy hour, but realize that what you’ve been thinking while you have been sober may come out while you are drunk at the bar and find its way to your Facebook status.
If you couldn’t turn it around and had a somewhat full schedule would you call it a day?
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
The Race I Didn’t Finish
“Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes” – Oscar Wilde
It’s been eight months since the NY Road Runners marathon tune up race in Central Park. Not a day goes by that I don’t remember it. I’m reminded every day I run w/ the blue shirt, which has a tear in it from me ripping the race number off. The reminders in medical bills from the trip to the hospital (which could have been much worse w/o the great insurance Boeing provides me). I’m reminded every time I look at the medal from the NYC Marathon that hangs in my room, because I know it almost didn’t happen.
On the morning of Sunday September 28, 2008 I woke up after a night of barely sleeping. It was noisier than usual for the city that night. I was convinced every cab stopped in front of my friend’s building and laid on their horn for at least 5 minutes. I thought for a moment, what if I skipped the race. No, I told myself. I needed to run 18 miles today otherwise I wouldn’t reach my goal for the marathon (just over a month away). I skipped a good breakfast because I didn’t check if the milk was fresh the night before.
After the race I was going to head to Shea Stadium for the last game there. I was so focused on that game I didn’t scout the race course. Central Park has more hills than most realize. Three laps around those hills are painful. Add to that an unusually humid day in late September and you can see this was no going to be some walk in the park.
My goal was 9:30 miles. However, before the first lap was done I knew that was out the reach. By mile seven I was feeling the hills and the humidity. I was drinking too much water and Gatorade. Each mile that went by I couldn’t see how I was going to get to run 18 miles. At mile 10 I was walking more and as I finished my second lap, I started thinking about where I would stop. It was there just beyond the 13 mile marker I made my way to the ambulance.
I wrote about this story because I struggle with the thought of people who estimated they spend 20% of their time following up on people who do not do what they said. I’ve recently encountered this at work and in my personal life more so than usual. I wonder why they are not following through. I wonder if it could be that maybe a piece is missing and they don’t want to return the call or email until it’s all done. Maybe they are waiting on a return call or maybe they didn’t understand the request and they’re afraid to ask.
On a day when I failed to finish the race I was able to still do so much. I ran 13.1 miles (a half marathon) which is never easy. I learned about being better prepared and that sometimes you need to deviate from the plan. I was reminded how much my family cared about me, even if they yelled at me before I went to the hospital. My two points, if not obvious, in failure focus on all you’ve learned. If you don’t meet your goal or others expectations, realize why. Tell them the progress you’ve made. Don’t be afraid to tell them you’re busy and need to renegotiate the deadline. In a world where we judge others by actions and ourselves by our intentions, remember something sounds better than hearing nothing. You’ll find that those who really want to see you succeed are those who are with you when times are tough.
It’s been eight months since the NY Road Runners marathon tune up race in Central Park. Not a day goes by that I don’t remember it. I’m reminded every day I run w/ the blue shirt, which has a tear in it from me ripping the race number off. The reminders in medical bills from the trip to the hospital (which could have been much worse w/o the great insurance Boeing provides me). I’m reminded every time I look at the medal from the NYC Marathon that hangs in my room, because I know it almost didn’t happen.
On the morning of Sunday September 28, 2008 I woke up after a night of barely sleeping. It was noisier than usual for the city that night. I was convinced every cab stopped in front of my friend’s building and laid on their horn for at least 5 minutes. I thought for a moment, what if I skipped the race. No, I told myself. I needed to run 18 miles today otherwise I wouldn’t reach my goal for the marathon (just over a month away). I skipped a good breakfast because I didn’t check if the milk was fresh the night before.
After the race I was going to head to Shea Stadium for the last game there. I was so focused on that game I didn’t scout the race course. Central Park has more hills than most realize. Three laps around those hills are painful. Add to that an unusually humid day in late September and you can see this was no going to be some walk in the park.
My goal was 9:30 miles. However, before the first lap was done I knew that was out the reach. By mile seven I was feeling the hills and the humidity. I was drinking too much water and Gatorade. Each mile that went by I couldn’t see how I was going to get to run 18 miles. At mile 10 I was walking more and as I finished my second lap, I started thinking about where I would stop. It was there just beyond the 13 mile marker I made my way to the ambulance.
I wrote about this story because I struggle with the thought of people who estimated they spend 20% of their time following up on people who do not do what they said. I’ve recently encountered this at work and in my personal life more so than usual. I wonder why they are not following through. I wonder if it could be that maybe a piece is missing and they don’t want to return the call or email until it’s all done. Maybe they are waiting on a return call or maybe they didn’t understand the request and they’re afraid to ask.
On a day when I failed to finish the race I was able to still do so much. I ran 13.1 miles (a half marathon) which is never easy. I learned about being better prepared and that sometimes you need to deviate from the plan. I was reminded how much my family cared about me, even if they yelled at me before I went to the hospital. My two points, if not obvious, in failure focus on all you’ve learned. If you don’t meet your goal or others expectations, realize why. Tell them the progress you’ve made. Don’t be afraid to tell them you’re busy and need to renegotiate the deadline. In a world where we judge others by actions and ourselves by our intentions, remember something sounds better than hearing nothing. You’ll find that those who really want to see you succeed are those who are with you when times are tough.
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