Category: Ramblings

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The Fine Line Between Positive Body Image and Fitness

This is a very difficult topic to dance around, and I had real reservations about posting it, because like the title implies, there is a delicate balancing act here, and it could go either way. Ultimately I decided that it was better to post this and then, if there was a discussion, facilitate it. I hope that the article is taken in the vain that it is meant and that if a discussion ensues, it is a compassionate and adult one. Peace. Joe the Runner.

As a father trying to raise four young women in this world, I understand how hard it is to instill confidence in them. I want them all to be strong, pursue their dreams, and above all else, love themselves and be happy. You try and do what you can. You tell them how beautiful and amazing they are; support them unconditionally in sports, dance, academics, and whatever else comes up. But the world we live in today makes it a very difficult job. Media highlights unrealistic body images that are airbrushed and enhanced, and it is way too easy for people to treat each other disgracefully behind the anonymity of a keyboard. It’s all very frustrating at times!

So I understand when I see people who applaud others for showing off their bodies regardless of the size or the shape. People come in different sizes, and we should never shame or abuse other people, but as a father I also have to look at the other side of the coin. In other words, yes I want my daughters to love themselves despite any flaws they may have, but I also need to have a conversation with them about living a healthy life style.

What I am trying to say is that there are consequences to obesity, and while we should always approach people with love and caring, it is irresponsible to not discuss the fact that obesity can lead to heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and many other medical calamities that you would not want someone you love to have to deal with. I believe that we need to shift the topic of body image to living a healthy lifestyle. I don’t want my girls to be thin so that they look good, I want them to eat healthy and exercise and let their bodies respond. If that means that some of my girls are a little curvy, or a little thin, or a little whatever, as long as they are healthy and happy, then I am happy. I know thin people who are unhealthy due to poor lifestyle choices and slightly overweight people who are healthy due to good lifestyle choices.

We have gotten to a point where we are so politically correct that we are afraid to discuss topics like adults and that has virtually eliminated the “pragmatic middle”. Society shouldn’t be focused on thigh gaps and rib cages and in an attempt to highlight that, embrace a lifestyle that may be equally unhealthy, such as being overweight. It seems that it is always the two extremes. The conversation that we should be having is this. “Life is a journey and no one is perfect. Be kind to yourself and love yourself, and constantly try to improve. Don’t obsess over your weight and your looks, but don’t ignore them either. Not for the superficial reason of looking good in a bathing suit, but for the physical reason of living a healthy life style and feeling good.”

My girls, and all of their friends, are beautiful, strong, young women. I wouldn’t want any of them to ever be ridiculed or bullied by anyone; ever. In a way, I feel like I’ve been a father to all of them at one point or another. What I’d like to see for all of them, is that they eat REAL food, not processed, and get some exercise four to five times a week, so they can minimize the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. Be happy, and love yourselves as much as we parents love you… You’re perfect just the way you are.

I hope that this post and this blog helps you achieve your dreams! To receive new post notifications, newsletters, and post previews, please SUBSCRIBE!

For behind the scenes photos and comments on my training and personal life, follow me on Instagram: joe_the_runner  Strava: Joe Randene

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5 Great Reasons to Schedule Rest Days

Body

We put our bodies through a lot. A typical week, if I am training for a marathon, might look like this: 45 miles, 1500 push-ups, and 4000 feet of vertical climbing. Taking a rest day allows our bodies to recover and rebuild those muscles that we are always tearing down. It also helps with niggles, soreness, and injury prevention which all help to make us better runners!

Mind

It’s often overlooked, but all of the training we do takes a toll on our minds too. There is always the stress of fitting our workout in around obligations and then, when we are working out, we’re thinking about form, cadence, speed, etc. A complete day of not running gives our minds time to relax and reflect on what we are doing with our training, providing us with the opportunity to make adjustments in an objective way. Then when we go out for our run the next day, we can attack it with a fresh mind!

Time

Scheduled rest days are the perfect opportunity to catch up on errands or spend time with family. The days that we train can be very busy with our normal lives and running being squeezed in to windows of time that include work and other commitments. On rest days, I will literally schedule a date with my wife or some time with my kids.

Taking Care of Yourself

If you’re like me, the first thing that I give up on if I get too busy is doing the small things that will help me prevent injury and feel better in general. Things like light core work and foam rolling. Scheduled rest days are great opportunities to get a great session of foam rolling in or maybe even some yoga.

Guilt Free Recovery

This may be the best reason of all to schedule rest. Since it’s absolutely necessary, I make it a part of my training plan, therefore I don’t feel any guilt when I take them. I’m not sure who said it, but there is a saying that goes something like this “You know you caught the (running) bug when you have to be disciplined to take a day off.” That pretty much says it all.

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Get Six Pack Abs in Only 90 Seconds a Day!?

If you saw that headline and thought that I really was going to tell you how to get six pack abs in 90 seconds a day, I apologize. No; I take that back, I don’t apologize. The people out there who write crap like that should apologize, because they are lying to you. Don’t get me wrong, those six pack abs do exist, and the people who possess them normally work very hard for them, so I tip my hat to them, but they are not getting them in 90 seconds a day.

They eat strict diets, perform cardio and most likely lift weights. Maybe they only do 90 seconds of crunches everyday, but when you add in the rest of their routine… you see what I mean? It is NOT 90 seconds. But that’s marketing folks. A headline like “Work Your Ass Off and Eat a Strict Diet” doesn’t get the people to click does it?

So what am I on about then? Well, I wrote this blog because I do not have six pack abs. And that’s not my goal. Being someone who lost 130 pounds, I am just a normal middle aged married with children dude with a gnarly beard who is trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle and help other people do the same. And what I bring to the table, in MY opinion, is I can relate to you.

Never having owned a six pack, other then the beer type, I am definitely more “dad bod” guy then “model bod” guy and that is ok. I look pretty good, but I feel great. What I am trying to accomplish, is I want to be the voice of reason amidst all of these crazy bullshit headlines like “These Foods will Help You Burn Fat” or “Get a Great Workout in 7 Minutes a Day.” My message is more like this: “You can do this. It won’t always be easy, but with a little change in your perspective and consistent application of some straight forward nutrition and exercise principles, you can do this. And if you’d like, I am here to support you.”

How do I plan on gaining your trust and building credibility? Simple, look at my blog. It is basically my life for the last three years and it chronicles my journey from OBESE middle aged man, to a guy who has run an ultra-marathon. You can follow me on Strava and Instagram and see my daily training AND when I am on vacation and chow down on some ice cream! I also highlight other ordinary people who have achieved extraordinary things, so you will have other REAL life examples of people who have TRANSFORMED.

I am not knocking people who are in amazing shape and who have always been in shape, they are doing the right stuff, but what I am saying is that they cannot offer the same perspective to you as other people who have struggled with their weight over an entire lifetime. When you are hitting a difficult patch or have fallen off the wagon, do you want to talk to someone who has always been in good shape, or someone who has fought the same demons and won?

Here is the best part, the price for all of this support, advice, inspiration, and love! A grand total of ZERO dollars. Why? Because I want to help people achieve their goals. I want people to see that they are capable of more than they think. My vision for this blog is that we develop a community of people who are communicating and helping each other in a more meaningful way then two or three lines on Facebook or Instagram. I want to have a space where we can really dig in to stuff. I want to continue to profile people who have done extraordinary things in their life so we can all learn and be inspired. I want to create a space where there is truth and positivity instead of bullshit and the constant drone of negativity that we are being spoon fed everyday. Will you help me? Peace. Joe the Runner

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You Get EXACTLY what you THINK you Deserve

“Instead of crying why me; ask yourself why not me?” Joe the Runner

If people avoided doing the things that they knew were bad for them and focused on the things that they knew were good for them, there would be no cigarette, alcohol, or junk food industry and the physical fitness industry would explode beyond imagination! There would be lines coming out the doors of libraries everywhere! The lesson here is that knowledge is not enough to help people change behavior. Not where emotion and psychology are involved. Tell me if any of these sound familiar:

“I worked hard all morning, I deserve this cigarette.”

You worked hard, so you deserve lung cancer, mouth and throat cancer, bad breath, brown teeth, smelly clothes, and the ability to contaminate the fresh air of everyone else around you with second hand smoke? Remember, that the second hand smoke is probably impacting the people you love the most, kids, partners, friends, and spouses! The best part is you get to pay 10 bucks a pack for the privilege.

“It’s been a stressful weekend; I deserve a night out drinking!”

You’re going to relieve your stress by drinking yourself silly, giving yourself liver cirrhosis, and by being hung-over and bloated in the morning? Once again, having the privilege to pay for it all with your hard earned money!

“I had a great work out, I deserve this donut!”

After making an investment in your health with a great effort at the gym or on the road, you are going to immediately cash that check by eating junk food? You deserve the high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and bad teeth associated with sugary and fried foods?

It’s all about perspective. If you view only the immediate rush or “reward” of the cigarette, alcohol, or junk food, it’s easy to trick yourself in to this cycle of “I deserve this.” But if you take just a second to go beyond that immediate hit and look at what you are doing to yourself long term, hopefully you will become a little uncomfortable. You absolutely must change your mentality before you can make a lifestyle change. So where do you start?

This is going to sound very warm and fuzzy, but I need you to hang in there because this stuff does work. Everyday, start saying to yourself, out loud if you have the balls, if not internally works too, “I deserve to feel great, look great, smell great, live longer, and keep more of my damn money!” This starts the change in your perspective that is necessary to start changing your behaviors, and believe me, it definitely starts with the mind. Once you start to say that this is what you deserve, how can you light that cigarette? How can you eat a donut after each workout? Say this to yourself everyday and every time that you start to head down the path of making a bad decision. Ask yourself what you REALLY deserve.

I’m not a psychologist, but this exercise that follows works well for me in regards to creating a plan and some goals to keep me on track. And like most great things in life, it starts with a lot of questions. Get a piece of paper and a pen, and sit down and answer these questions. “What is my ideal self?” Be specific and cover as many facets of your life as possible. What do you look like in regards to finances, your relationships as a partner, parent, friend, employee, boss etc., your physical attributes, are you overweight? Are you healthy? Do you smoke? How do you feel everyday? Are you full of energy? You get the point, be specific.

Now that you have a clear picture of what your ideal you is, start to write down the things that you need to do to move closer to the ideal you. If you said that your ideal you feels great everyday and has a lot of energy, you may need to quit smoking, eat healthy, and exercise. These become “goals.” Now each of those “goals” will require an action plan. As an example, if you want to quit smoking, you may want to join a support group, choose a date for that last cigarette (immediately works best), set up a reward system like putting the money from the cigarettes you would buy in to a jar and then buying yourself something you have always wanted when you hit that amount. Write it all down under “Quit Smoking.”

When you have finished this exercise, you will have a complete picture of your ideal self, you will have a list of goals to achieve, and you will have an action plan around each of those goals that will get you there. When you start to implement those actions and make progress, think about how great you will feel knowing that you are getting closer and closer to becoming the you that you have always wanted to be. When you hit a bump in the road, forgive yourself, forget it, and get right back on track. Don’t let the inevitable bump turn in to a complete disaster!

All that’s left to do now is get after it! You will get EXACTLY what you THINK you deserve. If you need support, we’re here. Email me at joe.randene@joerandene.com

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Excuses are Like ***holes

“If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.” Jim Rohn

That quote up there is so very short, but it says it all doesn’t it? I’m as guilty as the next person when it comes to finding excuses to get out of doing things that I don’t want to do. That right there is the key though, I make the excuses for the things that I DON’T really want to do. This is going to be tough, but I am asking you to be extremely honest with yourself throughout this post. If you do that and you still decide not to pursue a particular goal, then it is really more a matter of prioritization than anything else.

Let’s explore the two areas that seem to come up time and time again in regards to people telling me they can’t achieve certain goals because of: ENTER EXCUSE HERE. Those two areas are weight/fitness and personal finances.

Weight/Fitness

The list of excuses here goes on and on, my genetics/metabolism are terrible, I don’t have the time, it’s so difficult to eat healthy, I have a bad knee, I can’t afford it… Heard any of these? USED any of these? Yeah, me too. But they are bullshit and you and I know it. Everyone likes to point out the exception and say they “know a guy who has this issue and that applies to me.” It doesn’t. 99.5% of us are just fine and can maintain a healthy weight and body through a healthy lifestyle. In fact, I like to focus on the .5% of the people who really do have issues and say “I don’t care; I’m not going to let that be an excuse.” You see that guy in the picture up there? His name is Earl Granville and he just ran the Boston marathon and he carried his guide over the finish line… with one prosthetic leg! He lost his leg in 2008 in Afghanistan. Do you think his knee hurt?

I’m going to blow up a couple of more excuses. You don’t have time? How much TV do you watch? Are you a golfer? How much sleep do you get each day? How much time do you spend on Facebook, Instagram, or the internet in general? It takes about 30 minutes a day of exercise at an elevated heart rate to make a difference, let’s shoot for 5 times a week. That is 150 minutes in a week! You are telling me that you are so busy that you cannot find that time? I’m throwing the bullshit flag! If you woke up 30 minutes earlier and did the exercise, you’ll feel better then if you slept the 30 minutes! EVERYONE can find 150 minutes in a week. Unless of course you don’t want to. That’s not an “I am not capable” issue, that’s an “I have other priorities issue.”

By the way, those 30 minutes of exercise can be absolutely free. Running is free. Sure you need a decent pair of running shoes, but you need shoes anyway, so buy a nice looking pair and give them double duty. Walking at a brisk pace is free. Push-ups are free. (Click here if you want to see how to do 1500 push-ups a week in only 5 minute a day.) Planking is free… your picking up what I’m laying down now, right? So you have the time, don’t need the money, and are capable of doing this, NOW what’s your excuse?

Personal Finance

This is way too big of a topic to cover in a short half of a post, but I’d like to tackle the first basic principal in wealth building, and that is living within your means to create a little additional cash to save/invest each month. Here the biggest excuse I hear is simply “After we pay all of the bills, we have absolutely no money left to save/invest.” Bullshit. I’ll remind you to be brutally honest with yourself here as we ask some questions. Do you have an iPhone? What is your monthly cell phone bill? What is your car payment? How many times a month do you go to a movie? How often do you eat out? What kind of brands of clothing are you wearing? Do you have cable or satellite TV service? How often do you go out for drinks/happy hour? Do you smoke?

For 99.5% of us, after we answer those questions honestly, it should be clear that we spend a lot of money on things that we really don’t need. You need a car, but do you NEED a $35,000 car? You need a phone, but do you NEED an iPhone with unlimited calling and data? I know that you don’t NEED to smoke! Point made. There are tons of ways to save money that you can use so that you can increase or start contributing to a 401k plan or an IRA. In fact, I urge you with all of my heart to just automatically deduct 3% of your paycheck and put it in your 401k or an IRA and DO NOT TOUCH it for any reason. You won’t even notice a decrease in your take home pay after a couple of weeks and you’ll be on your way to saving money for your future! Then, with each pay raise, increase it 1%. This is a double increase because you will get the increase in savings from the raise and then the additional 1%! It adds up quick and you won’t feel it at all. STOP making excuses!

There you go. We destroyed the bullshit excuses people come up with and if you are being honest with yourself, if you do not make any changes after reading this, this is what you are really saying. “I prioritize surfing the web more than my health.” Or “I prioritize checking my Facebook page at the grocery store over saving money for my retirement.” I’m not saying that those are bad things, I am saying be honest with yourself so you make educated and honest decisions.

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5 Must Have Manners ALL Runners Need

“I draw the line on (lack of) coverage when I start to look like a running chia pet.” Joe the Runner

Wash Your A$$

Look, I am a runner too. I know. I know… Our sport is a stinky sport. We run, we sweat, and we even ooze at times. Toenails fall off, we bleed through our socks. I know! BUT, please, wash your clothes, wash your body, and generously apply deodorant every single day. If we all do this, everyone will all be a lot happier and will breath easier too!

Watch Your Snot Rocket

Me, I’m not a snot rocket guy, but I do see the appeal! I mean, when you are just getting in to your stride and really starting to feel it, and suddenly your nose starts to run and it gets harder to breathe… I get it. With one simple pinch of a nostril and a massive blow, you’re clear! Awesome for you; but not so much for the dude or dudette you snotted on. Take a second and make sure you’re clear on both sides and behind before you conduct your emergency blow. Thank you.

Use the F%*&ing Porta Potty

Man, I cannot believe that I even have to say this, but I do. Yes, the lines can be long. Yes, the race director could have put more porta potties out there. Yes, I know you really need to go and the race is about to start. And, and, and… I DON’T CARE. Plan your morning better. Think of it this way, you probably would not appreciate it if someone walking through your neighborhood had to go really bad, so they popped a squat on your lawn. Well, that’s how the host city feels. Pull yourself together!

NO BODY Wants to See All That

One of the best side affects of running is what it does to our bodies. I have massive calves and solid thighs. When I’m peaking for a race, my body fat gets below 10%, not bad for a guy with a dad bod! But trust me, NO BODY wants to see it all hanging out while I run around the street sweating and oozing! I’m not saying to not be comfortable, but if your shorts are so short, that squirrels are paying attention, that might be a problem. I’m a very hairy guy; I draw the line on (lack of) coverage when I start to look like a running chia pet. You get the point. Let’s be a little modest. If you can’t do it for yourself, think of the children!

If You Have Dressed Up in a Full on Outfit, Stay Out of My Finish Line Picture!

This one is probably more on me then the other person. If I haven’t trained hard enough to beat the panda bear that is pushing the wheel barrel for 10k, then I probably haven’t trained hard enough!

PLEASE add your own manners that I may have missed in the comments section below!

I hope that this post gave you a little giggle, we all can use one! If you have enjoyed the content please SUBSCRIBE!

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Discover the One True Key to Success

“To be successful, you must decide exactly what you want to accomplish, then resolve to pay the price to get it.” Bunker Hunt

I believe that anyone can become anything that they want. Sure there are some limitations, someone who is 5’ 6” tall will not be the most dominant center to ever play the sport of basketball, but this isn’t what I am referring to. What I am talking about is that most able bodied people can become as successful as they want within the aspects of their life that they deem important. And here is the rub; everyone has a different definition of what success is, although most people would agree that they have not fully attained it.

Ok then, what’s the one key to success? Unfortunately, I’m not sure that you are going to like it, but this is a dose of reality that most people need to hear. You have to be willing to pay the price. You’re probably thinking “That’s it! What a rip off!” Well, before you stop reading, just take the time to answer a few of these questions:

Are you at the weight that you would like to be at?

Are you as financially independent as you would like to be?

Are you working in a career that makes you happy?

Are you spending the amount of time that you want with the people you love?

The list can go on and on. Now if you answered yes to all of these questions and you are completely satisfied with where you are in your journey, then congratulations and hopefully you’ll be back for the next post. As for the rest of us, let’s dig in to this a little and see what pops up!

What does “willing to pay the price” really mean? Let’s start with something like that person that you know who seems very fit, always has energy, looks good in everything that they wear. You know the guy; you might even hate the guy! But you shouldn’t. With the exception of genetic freaks, when you see a person like this, they are paying the price to achieve that level of fitness and maintain their body weight despite the battle of growing older. What might that price look like? Watch what they eat; smaller portions, fruits and vegetables, lean meats and fish, and do they drink water instead of soda? What aren’t they eating? Do they skip desserts? When they have a beer, is it A beer or multiple beers?

Listen to what they do with there free time. Are they hitting the gym four or five times a week? Are they getting up early to run three or four times a week? On Monday do they talk about the 50 mile bike ride they went on with their buddies or that long run to get ready for the half marathon they are running in a couple of months?

THAT is the price they pay. Now I’m not saying that hanging out and drinking beers is no fun, it is! But what I am saying is that is a choice we all need to make. And whatever choice you make, don’t regret it, but be aware of it. Own it. This way if you ever want to change your goals, you’ll know what behaviors you need to change and what the price is to achieve them.

I love doing this exercise myself whenever I start something new. Let’s say that you want to change careers, so you need to go back to school. If you are willing to pay the price, you can do it. If you went to a local school, you might be looking at $5000 per year in tuition and books. That’s the financial cost. You will definitely need to attend classes, do homework, and study. That’s the time cost. Assuming you have kids, you’ll need to find child care or help from a family member. Possibly you can take some or all classes on-line to help as well. Regardless, it’s not going to be easy, but you can do it. There are student loans available, you can eat out less, not buy that Starbucks, or skip going to the movies. These are all ways to help fund school. You can do homework and study after the kids are asleep or before the family wakes up in the morning. Weekends may have to be used for school work as well. This is how you can create the time needed. You will have to lose sleep. This is the price that will be required, and like any purchase you make in life, once you know the price, you can decide if you want to make that purchase.

I’ve heard people say “I cannot spare a single cent.” when asked why they are not pursuing a goal, and I show them with this example how that is just an excuse. Do you remember when gasoline went up over 100% in the course of a few short months? What did you do? I’ll tell you what you did; you paid it and went to work. Yeah, we all complained, but we didn’t quit our jobs, we paid it. Thank the lord, the price of gasoline has come way down creating “found money” for us all! What have you done with that money? Are you saving it? Most people are simply just spending it. It kind of gets absorbed in to life doesn’t it? That’s just human nature.

My point is that when this type of cost is imposed on us, we pay it because we have no choice. But you will only achieve the goals that you set for yourself if you are willing to pay the self imposed price of those goals. There is no magic to it. The great news is that this means your goals are within your control and within your reach. Sit down and write down the goals that you want to achieve and then go through the cost of those goals, like we did in the example above. When you’re done, you can decide if you’re willing to pay the price and get there. If the price is more than you’re willing to pay, then the goal is not worth it to you. But at least you’ll know. Or maybe, after you see that while the price may be high, success is within your reach, you’ll go for it. You’ll pay the price and start living a better life! But that is how we grow, by putting in the work. You are capable of more than you think, do not sell yourself short.

For behind the scenes photos and comments of training and personal life “stuff” follow me on Instagram: joe_the_runner

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Dealing with the Devil: 5 Ways to Cope

I want to reach out to people who are fighting their own demons everyday. I have been through what you are going through. I have felt despair, guilt, out of control, anger, self deprecation, you name an emotion and I have felt it. I want to let you know that you can do anything that you want to do, and that you are not alone. If you would like to chat, here is my email: joe.randene@joerandene.com

I can remember the day that I almost quit. There was almost no “Joe the Runner”, or a new healthy me, or this blog. Because like so many people that battle demons everyday, I almost gave up and fell right back in to those comfortable habits that had served me so well for so long. And the trigger for this near relapse was stress.

We were having problems at one of our sites in France and I was travelling there every single week, for months. Having started my attempt at losing weight and running about four weeks before, on one exceptionally bad day, instead of running, I went out to dinner and drinks with some friends to commiserate. It was great, I was eating and drinking beer, I ordered a nice dessert at the end of the meal, and all of the stress started to melt away. I was playing my “part”. This is who I was, a jovial, overweight guy. None of my friends knew who I was trying to become and they just saw the “Old Joe”. It wasn’t their fault; you have to hold yourself accountable.

Feeling a lot less stressed and walking back to the hotel where I was staying, something odd started to happen. I started to feel a new kind of stress. The kind that comes from knowing I missed a run and I had completely blown up my nutrition. I say nutrition, because I hate the word diet. Diets do not work long term. You need to eat correctly not necessarily less to lose weight permanently. Check out this post for more: Lose Weight without Being Hungry.

I realized at this moment that if living a healthy lifestyle was going to be a permanent change, it couldn’t cause me stress, because like I said, stress is a trigger for me, and causes me to eat those comfort foods and drink! So I took a deep breath and evaluated the situation. Yes, I completely fell off the bandwagon and yes, I skipped a run. That was the damage, how bad could it be? What could I do to “fix” it? Right then and there I decided to wake up and get an extra run in before work the next morning and get back to eating the right foods immediately.

I woke up the next morning feeling a little hung over and completely full. You know that full that I am talking about when you have gorged yourself on a big dinner late at night. Deep down, I knew there was no way that I was going to run… so I walked. Instead of 30 minutes of running, I just walked, because moving was better then not moving. For breakfast I ate lightly as I was mostly full so I knew a piece of fruit would tide me over. Then I just reflected for a minute. I told myself that I was proud that I woke up this morning and did what I could, and that I wasn’t perfect. I FORGAVE myself.

That day, I ate very clean, no mishaps, and when we got back to the hotel, I went for a run and ate a light dinner. And you know what, when I didn’t order a drink or dessert, no one cared. I started to play my new “part”, and no one really seemed to notice. I was back on track and one step closer to becoming “Joe the Runner”.

This is what I learned in regards to dealing with the devil that I have to battle even to this day:

  • I know that I am not perfect, and I will make mistakes. Just don’t let them become consistent mistakes! In fact, I even plan these “mistakes” as rewards. When I completed my first ultra, I went out and celebrated! I drank beer, I ate gelato, and I ate PIZZA! It was my reward. When you run 36 miles in two days, it’s ok to take a day and go a little crazy.
  • Be kind to myself. When I make mistakes, I take a deep breath, evaluate the damage, come up with a plan to get back on track, forgive myself, and move on. Do not dwell on this stuff!
  • Know your triggers. Take time to reflect and identify the what and why behind your habits so that you are more self aware and can nip them in the bud!
  • Be flexible. Today is a great example! I was supposed to get a 15k run in and rest tomorrow, but I found out last minute that today is my daughter’s senior lunch, so today is now a rest day and tomorrow I’ll get the 15k in. Check Strava if you don’t believe me!
  • Be prepared to leave parts of the old you behind in order to become the new you. Unfortunately this means that you may lose some friends, but my experience has been not my TRUE friends. They stuck around. By the way, I’ve made a lot of great new friends too!

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