Why such a big carrot?

It hit me a few years ago.

The answer.

And I was reminded of it yesterday, when I casually shared it with a friend who wants to lose 50 pounds.

Your carrot has to be huge. It has to be one you’ll chase for the rest of your life.

Until I die?

Yes!

My big carrot?

It ain’t the world championships.

What then?

Being a role model for my son. Honoring our creator who gave us the gift of our body. Seeing our son graduate from high school. Etc.

The world championships? A smaller, several year carrot.

Make today a day you stop by the produce section and get yourself some vegetables. Carpe diem, jeff noel 🙂

USA World Team

Here’s the home page for the USA World Team 2009

Here’s the quick link to check the Status of Entries

You’ve heard me say this, “If you’re goal isn’t impossible, you’re not reaching high enough“.

Any day now, when you click on the Status of entries link for the 50-54 Men’s 400 meters, yours truly should appear.

Also awaiting hotel confirmation from Lahti Travel.  There’s a long wait list for limited hotel rooms within walking distance to the stadium. 

The harder I work, the luckier I get.  Carpe diem, jeff noel  🙂

Good but not great, still

Good but not great, still.

Today’s run, three miles.   Ten minutes into it, the mild pain started to subside.  I was happy to run 20 more minutes relatively pain free.

I’ll take it as a very small victory.  It sure was better than the other day when I had to stop.

Listen, I realize this may bore some people.  I’m even semi-bored myself.  Seriously.  Right now I’m just working through some rough times.

I’ll have a better tone tomorrow, because I have some great news to share.

Let some air out of the tires?

Let some air out of the tires?  Yes!

It was the simple solution presented by a young child, to solve an enormous challenge.

The challenge?

A large tractor trailer type truck got stuck under a highway overpass.   No one could figure out how to get the truck unstuck.   People, I believe, were even starting to discuss how some of the overpass would have to be deconstructed to free the truck.

Enter the mind of a child.

Why don’t you just let some air out of the tires?”, the child said.

Wow.  We sometimes are so stuck in what we see, that we can’t think of a simple, and perhaps obvious, solution.

Enter me, yesterday morning.

From the very beginning, in the first 100 meters, I sensed something was not right.  Mild pain in my left foot.  I think I may have even mumbled a curse word, which is totally out of character.  I had pain most of the five-mile run, but not enough pain to make me stop.  In fact, my second and fourth miles were fairly quick.  It may have been denial that made me tough it out, to test my pain level.  I don’t really know.

After the run, I made a same-day appointment to see Dr. Wagner, my great podiatrist.

He pin-pointed the location of the pain.  The place where heel spurs occur.  The cortisone shot ten days ago reduced the plantar fascia inflammation.  This new pain source and location?  A new challenge.

Dr. Wagner and I both thought yesterday would be a “back to normal – minus the pain” kind of day.

So Dr Wagner prescribed a second pair of custom orthotics – an “athletic” orthotic, which provides more cushion than the standard pair that I’ve been using for a decade.  Also, go back on daily 200mg Celebrex for one month.  I had cancelled the Celebrex after the cortisone shot ten days ago, as instructed by Dr. Wagner.

It was at this moment when it hit me.  The heel pain is from heel contact.  What if I switched most of my training to running hills on my toes.  Which is part of a sprinter’s training anyway.  Lower the quantity of miles, and raise the quality.

That’s it!

Look at this running (pain) challenge the same way the child looked at the truck challenge.  Look at it with a simple solution in mind, not some complicated and perhaps impossible thinking.

I’ll keep you posted.  I love when some simple creativity can add a new found sense of hope, to an otherwise hopeless feeling.

Make today a healthy day, because if you don’t, who will?  Carpe diem, jeff noel  🙂

Is heritage important?

Is heritage important?

It would seem so.  If we forget the past, we miss many opportunities to learn.

With that in mind, may I please invite you to go back to the beginning of Lane 8 ?

Here’s the link to November 2008, when this first went “live” on the Internet.  November seems “old”, but there are five posts that are brand new:   https://lane8.org/?cat=4

The origin is often the missing piece.

Make today your best day ever, because if you don’t, who will?

Carpe diem, jeff noel  🙂