This Time Last Year

July 31st, 2010
Mid Life Celebration 2009, Finland

Mid Life Celebration 2009, Finland

Do you celebrate milestones from your life, other than the traditional ones?

There’s something about milestones that help us to keep moving forward, to become the type of person we dream of becoming.

What’s a personal, nontraditional milestone that you celebrate, that you’d like to share?

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What A Waste Of Time?

July 30th, 2010

Is That An Eight (8)?

Is That An Eight (8)?

Why do I feel like most people look at regular exercise and reasonably healthy eating habits as a chore?

Or worse yet, people look at this common sense approach as an impossibility.

Can someone please explain this to me, or am I wasting my time?

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Doing Nothing Is Important

July 29th, 2010

Hotel Sokos in Lahti, Finland 2009

Hotel Sokos in Lahti, Finland 2009

Are you  ready and willing to compromise? I mean, literally, every single day?

And if you are ready, what allows you to be ready? Have you always been like this?

Or have years of practice led you to the place where you are today?

Yesterday, it was pick one:

  • Workout after teaching all day
  • Go home and get to bed early, to get 8 hours sleep

Rest is a critical part of our overall health, and sometimes doing nothing (sleeping) is more important than exercise.

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You Know What Blows

July 28th, 2010
Have You Not Read About This?

Have You Not Read About This?

You know what blows my mind?

The fact that you know you should exercise and eat better, but don’t.

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Predictions?

July 27th, 2010
No Predicting What Lies Ahead

No Predicting What Lies Ahead

Do you have a big goal you want to accomplish by this time next year?

What’s it going to take?

We contemplate what we believe we can do. You know, we take what we’ve done and think about what we’ll be able to do when we get the next chance to try again.

It’s kind of like being an armchair quarterback.

Sitting in the comfort of our living room, watching the game, or World Cup, we comment like we know what we’re talking about.

Nothing will ever replace the preparation, wisdom, courage and guts of “game day”.

There is one prediction. July 2011. Masters Track & Field World Championships in Sacramento.

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It’s Over

July 26th, 2010
Slowest Runner Gets Lane 8

Slowest Runner Gets Lane 8

The 2010 US Master’s Track & Field National Championships concluded yesterday. Wish I could have been healthy enough to compete.

During the Championships, many of the world’s best athletes ages 30-96 demonstrated speed, power, skill and endurance, showing that age is no barrier to lifetime fitness and competition. The Spanos Sports Complex was the site of the 2000 and 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials – Track & Field, and will play host to the 2011 World Masters Athletics Championships, July 6-17.

World Championships in 2011?  Are you kidding me?

No.

At 51, it’s still my vision to make it to Lane 8, the worst lane in track & field.

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Your Expectations Aren’t High Enough

July 25th, 2010

Don't Stop

Don't Stop

You heard me correctly, it’s not a typo.  Your expectations are not high enough.

There are people who publicly and privately think I should back off, or slow down.

And sometimes it’s easy to start to think, “Maybe they’re right”. But it never lasts long.

A song, a movie, a thought, a blessing, a tragedy – all these things snap me out of doubt, fear and uncertainty.

Last night, it was a movie, Invictus, an inspiring story about Nelson Mandela and the South African Rugby team.

Start walking, get moving.

Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in a small (hell) prison cell.

And you’re telling me you can’t walk 4 or 5 days every week?

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We All Have Time, Even When We Say We Don’t

July 24th, 2010

Long, Lonely Stretches Can Discourage You

Long, Lonely Stretches Can Discourage You

An hour ago (9am), near the end of my morning run, I slowed to talk to the man, and then stopped to walk with him for the next 20 minutes.

I’ve seen him out walking for the past year or so.

He recently retired, at age 50, after 27 years, owning famous-brand counter-service food outlets in Mall Food Courts.

He then gained 35 pounds, which led to walking a mile a day, and then eventually two miles a day.

He’s gone from 301 to 245 pounds.

How?

He walks eight miles daily, six days a week. Rick says it takes 2.5 hours. He’s retired. He’s got time.

Even though we may not have 2.5 hours, we all have time, even when we say we don’t.

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Amazing What Can Happen

July 24th, 2010

Impossible Is Nothing

Impossible Is Nothing

Here’s a quote, lifted from my Facebook updates:

“You go girl. I am doing the same thing with my bosses wife. We go at lunch time almost everyday. It is amazing what a walk a day can do for you.”

It’s amazing what walking can do, if you do it.

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USATF Master’s Nationals

July 23rd, 2010

2009 World Championships In Finland

2009 World Championships In Finland

Yesterday at the United States of America Track & Field Master’s National Championships, a world age-group record was set in the women’s hammer throw.

If I had been there like planned, you know I would have found her, and with pocket camera rolling, asked, “What motivates you? And, What does it feel like to be a world-record holder? And finally, Any advice to the viewers out there?

Will you be exercising today?

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