OK Now Focus, Speed, I Am Speed

Heading to Orlando for the annual Track Shack 4th of July Watermelon 5k run.

Yeah, it’s a Sunday, and a holiday, and it’s early.

Having fun and staying healthy can sometimes feel like work, but mostly it feels like this:

• Clothes that fit
• Good health metrics
• Good self-confidence
• Not afraid of a bathing suit
• Self-respect
• Good role modeling

These are just a few of the advantages of hard work.

But you already know that.

Take Your Time, But Don't Wait

Yesterday a friend said I was probably the only person who thinks running and sweating is fun. It was their response after reading a conference agenda that started the day with an optional “fun run”, in the Florida heat.

Sitting here writing this second of five blogs before I go for a five-mile run (yes, in the sweaty Florida heat), the fun won’t come soon enough. Partly because this is my “Monday”, meaning the past two days have been active rest days.

How can you become motivated to be focused and disciplined to feel the same way?

Man, wish I had an answer for you. Part of the root cause of my joy is the feeling I get when my clothes fit comfortably. When I can be active and not feel “old”. When I enjoy an ice cream cone without an ounce of guilt, like yesterday.

Someday

Sacrifice is required. And so is patience. You already know this. And you also know how difficult, and some would even say impossible, these are.

Yet we must, over time, develop the good habits that let us have a positive outlook, in spite of the setbacks and missed opportunities. It is our only hope for hope.

Four days ago, I had to pass on the Florida State Masters Track & Field Championships. It’s a 30-minute drive., and my “home track”.  But I’ve spent years with chronic foot pain and am not ready to compete again.

Corporate 5k & 12,600 Runners

Last night, 12,600 5k runners. The second largest Florida 5k ever.

Work hard. Play hard.

Just do it.

No pain, no gain.

It’s who you know.

Climb the ladder of success.

Buzzwords and catch phrases.

IOA Corporate 5k.

Orlando, Florida.

Lake Eola.

Track Shack.

Jon and Betsey Hughes.

Mayor Buddy Dyer.

David and Goliath.

I would be David.

Goals:

1. Have fun, stay healthy
2. Finish in top 100

Mission accomplished.

Excellence is not a spectator sport.

I Run To Set A Healthy Example

Trying to keep from going crazy is a full-time job, with the pressures of today’s economy and all that.

Running helps me maintain perspective and balance.

Leaving here in a few minutes to drive to Windermere, Florida for the ninth annual Run Among the Lakes 5k, which starts at 8:00AM.

It’s a short drive.  Tiger, Shaq, Ken Griffey Jr, and a host of other famous people live there.

My very first 5k ever was this race, back in 2004. Shooting to break the 22:10 from my inaugural 5k.

More later.  Gotta go. Stay healthy, have fun….stay healthy, have fun….stay…..

There are hundreds of ideas here at Lane 8.

But they are of no use if you don’t do something, like read them.

Here’s today’s biscuit.

Lunch in Finland

When do we think about our long term outcomes – from the food choices we make this week?

Um, well, uh, like never.   Right?

Most of us can’t or don’t want to see that far, because it’s too much work. Or, we won’t give up today’s pleasure and convenience for tomorrow’s payoff – good digestive health.

Our son told me last Friday on the drive home from school that he had a “confession”. He doesn’t really like the bread (double fiber) we use to make his lunch sandwiches.

Grateful for the truth, but now what?

So last night on the way home from a doctor’s visit, I stopped to get some food items, including a different kind of bread, but with the same digestive goal – high fiber.

Blogging about health enhances accountability and increases motivation. Are you working on that too?

If not you, who?  If not today, when?  Seriously. Enjoy your lunch.

Lane 8 In Finland 2009

Last night I experimented with a WordPress front page “sticky post”. This allows bloggers to indefinitely keep a certain blog post as the very first post. Like a sticky note.

If it works, regular Lane 8 readers will see the same “Welcome to Lane 8″ post indefinitely. This is really for first time readers to give them a quick look at what Lane 8 is about.  All you’ll have to do is simply scroll past it each time you visit, to get the daily Lane 8 post.

Do you experiment?  At work?  At home?  With your diet? With your exercise routine? With your rest? With your motivation?

We all know that experimentation and creativity are the keys to innovation. What grade do you give yourself for practicing what you preach?

Anyone on the honor roll this semester?

You Can Do It

There are somewhere in the neighborhood of 80-million blogs on the Internet, and growing daily.

There are 221-million results if you Google “Health Blogs”.

What are all these health-blog people trying to say? Please let me summarize for you:

1. Dream Big
2. Get There
3. Stay There

If your goal isn’t impossible, you’re not reaching high enough.

PS. Do your excuses make you stop or make you sick? Mine made me sick. Sick to think that I’m the only one responsible for my actions and I wasn’t doing anything about it, except making excuses.

Excuses be damned.

USA Team Jersey...Priceless

Last night at Gold’s Gym Orlando in the Dr Phillips area, I meet Pleasant Lewis, the owner of several Central Florida Gold’s Gym facilities.

As a 50-year old, I struggle like everyone else, to find time and motivation to exercise.

This is one of life’s big truths.  We all are given the same amount of time. Successful people figure it out, plan for set backs, never give up and they find a million ways to motivate themselves.

And sometimes, if not more often, the thought of, “Is this worth it?”, enters their mind.

Gold’s Gym, Lifestyle Litness, Bally’s, YMCA’s, all struggle too – with finding a way to inspire people to make a lifetime commitment of healthy living.

I proposed to Pleasant that I could help.  We’ll see if “Goliath” has any interest in “David”.

Gym owners have the same challenge as their customers – finding time to do the important things that make a difference.