Tag: Championships

Run, jeff noel, Run!

Everyday, we are presented with the opportunity to use our gifts.

What gifts?

Great question.

How about the gift of our body?

So in a few minutes, I’ll tie my running shoes, grab my stopwatch, and head out for a five-miler.

It’s been three days since I’ve run.  Monday I ran in Hartford, CT.  Today, Orlando, FL.

Today is also the deadline for Master’s Track & Field athletes to submit their intent to compete at the 2009 Master’s Track & Field World Championships, this August, in Lahti, Finland.

It’s difficult to do what must be done, when it must be done, whether we want to or not.

That, if you really want my opinion, is one of the harshest and toughest realities of our lives.

Embrace it or not, it won’t change.  Will you?

Carpe diem, jeff noel  🙂

World Class in Lane 8?

Can you become world class even if you’re stuck out in lane 8?

What do you think?

I think you can.

So every day, I wake up, and wonder, what would it take for an ordinary person to become extraordinary?

The way Rosa Parks dd.

The way Abraham Lincoln did.

The way Walt Disney did.

I’m acutely aware of how impossible can become possible, and more than that, how impossible can become “business as usual”.

I often say, “The road to excellence has no finish line”.

Well, there is a finish line in Track & Field.

I hope to make it in about 55 seconds.

Lane 8. Men’s 400 meters.  The 50-54 age group.  Finland.  August 2009.  The World Championships.

And, one other important point.  Lane 8, in the finals.

Ya with me?

Carpe diem, jeff noel 🙂

Masters Track and Lane 8?

Yesterday, I had such a busy morning, I couldn’t find time to run, before taking our son to school on the way to the airport.

After my arrival at Hartford, Connecticut, I had the chance to do an easy 35 minute run.

Some left heel pain right away, so I jogged backwards for a couple minutes and that helped.  It usually does.  Not much pain while running.  Afterwards, during the evening, my foot was sore.

And so it goes.

Hope this doesn’t sound like complaining, because complaining is the opposite of my intent.

It’s meant to be a reality check, to the difficulties in this microcosm of life.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately.  Primarily because I need to purchase the plane ticket soon.

Using the creative approaches to challenges, I quickly thought of a “PLAN B”.

Enter the 1,500 meters.

Once I’m warmed up, I can run a very decent mile pace.  Which is why the 1,500 would be a good back up.

It is still unknown if I can get up on my toes, and shift into overdrive for some serious acceleration (for a 50-year old).  🙂

I emailed, and then spoke to, the USATF representative and had the 1,500 added to my 2009 Master’s World Championships profile.

I’ve run a near All-American standard of excellence time, and by August, should be an unlikely long shot to do well for Team USA.

It’s amazing the confidence and reassurance one can gain with a Plan B.

Plan B or not, hope you have a GREAT and Healthy day.  Carpe diem, jeff noel 🙂

Run Blog Run

Run Blog Run is an interesting blog I found while reading Fast Forward on the plane to Niagara Falls yesterday. By the way, I’m here in Niagara Falls, New York.

Fast Forward is a free magazine as part of a USATF membership.

Was it coincidence that the first article on Run Blog Run featured Jeremy Wariner?   Jeremy has dominated the 400 meters for some time:

  • 3 Olympic Gold Medals
  • 4 World Championship Gold medals
  • 5th Fastest 400m Time Ever

In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, LaShawn Merritt, age 22, defeated Jeremy, and established himself as the Olympic 400m gold medalist.

What does any of this mean?

It just means that everybody has something they love to do.  Jeremy, LaShawn and I love to run 400m.

I also happen to love helping others go for their dreams.  That’s what Lane 8 is all about.

Dream Big.  Get There.  Stay There.  Carpe diem, jeff noel  🙂

World Class?

What does it take to be world class?

Why even strive to be world class?   Isn’t that a bit egotistical?  

And even if we could agree it’s not, couldn’t we agree it’s way too much work for the average person?

The big decision remaining for me is when do I buy the plane ticket to Helsinki, Finland?

It’s a significant investment.   “For what“?, I quietly ask myself.

The answer that surfaces most of the time?  

“You only get one shot at life.  Even if you have to walk around the track, you should do it.   Remember, Jeff, there are no guarantees in life.   You’ve been on this journey, consciously, for over ten years.  But in fact, it’s been with you all your life.   You are not being selfish.  Do it“!

And so it goes.  Day in and day out.  One day after another.   What to do?

We all face decisions that don’t have an easy answer.

We all have to decide.  And even if we choose to not decide, we’ve actually still made a choice.  Seriously.

My choice?   The answer seems obvious.  Yet at the same time, I’m having “buyers remorse“.

For now, I’m going to put on my running shoes and go for a run, pray for wisdom, and hope for no pain.  Carpe diem, jeff  🙂