Just Calm Yourself Down

Running tip: If you have tough running day, don't let it get the best of you. Don't let is psych you out. Be kind to yourself. Just know that you are strong, you can reach your goals. Just know that Lance Armstrong lost his nut, had a 40% chance of living, and could barely walk let alone ride a bike after his cancer diagnosis. He came back to win seven consecutive Tour de Frances. He also ran the NYC Marathon in 2:46. He may be a freak of nature, but he shows us the power of perseverance.

Here’s the thing. If your Garmin won’t turn on and you know it’s fully charged, don’t do what I did and throw it on the ground while cussing the Garmin gods and thinking, “How will I afford a new Garmin? I can’t afford a new Garmin! Shit, this Garmin is only a year old. How appropriate it would fall apart on its one year anniversary when the warranty just has expired. Motherf$cker ”

Especially don’t do this if you are at the track at your child’s middle school and you’re pretty sure the sixth grade class just watched you lose it in your black tights.

The reason you don’t have to do the above, is that you could just go home and Google, “Garmin 205 won’t turn on,” and you could find out that all you have to do is reset it by holding down the Mode and Reset buttons at the same time, then pressing the On button. I love the Internet. I would marry it if I could.

This is something I am working on. Not being so eff’ing reactive. Do you know what reactive means? It means that someone says something to you in a tone you don’t like or an old lady flips you off at a red light or you get a phone bill with charges that don’t belong to you and you LOSE your mind, immediately. Aren’t you supposed to count to ten or something before throwing a fit? I seem incapable of this. Some people like the Dalai Lama and yogis and Anderson Cooper seem to be able to hold their shit together at all possible moments. Maybe if Gloria Vanderbilt was my mom, I could too.

I am making a promise. A promise to work on being less reactive:

Re.ac.tive: Tending to be responsive or to react to a stimulus

I am going to stop reacting to stimuli. Stimuli that annoys me. Stimuli that I cannot control until I get home and Google things. Stimuli that really doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Stimuli that I won’t be able to recall tomorrow morning much less a year from now.

"Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it” - Charles R. Swindoll

“Adversity is a fact of life. It can't be controlled. What we can control is how we react to it.”

“From the backstabbing co-worker to the meddling sister-in-law, you are in charge of how you react to the people and events in your life. You can either give negativity power over your life or you can choose happiness instead. Take control and choose to focus on what is important in your life. Those who cannot live fully often become destroyers of life.” - Anais Nin

I will let you know how it goes.

I guess am giving up reacting to stimuli for Lent. Yes, I’m late. No, I’m not Catholic. I’m just trying to fit in.

How are your Lent deprivations, New Year's resolutions, or promises to yourself going?

Drinking: Kirkland brand coffee brewed by Starbucks

What I Won't Do This Year & Some Commandments

The whole blog world is talking 2010 resolutions and goals. This makes me think I should have these things. But what if you're the type who wants no self improvement, is completely content with every aspect of everything at every moment? If you know this person, let's beat them up, cause it's certainly not me.

Here are things I'm not going to do:

1. Get injured. Seriously. If I get injured again and can't run I'm going to make all of your lives miserable.


2. Drink as much wine. I don't think I have a problem (burp), but I wonder how much better I might feel and how much stronger my running might be if I cut back


3. Cuss at my children. Because it's just not nice (Joie, that one's for you)


4. Lose weight. I know. I must be in the minority on this one. I'm happy where I'm at.


5. Exercise more. Again, minority. I think I'm okay in this area. Let's face it, like you all, I ran so much I hurt myself. No problem with exercising here.


6. Hang out with people who bring me down. 'Nuf said.


7. Get fixated on stupid stuff that doesn't matter. That is, not sweating the small stuff


8. Let fear get in the way. I decided this one awhile ago when I thought I was being too controlled by my fears. They were getting in the way of my living. I stopped being afraid and started taking leaps.


9. Miss a chance to hang out with and enjoy someone I love.


10. Compare myself to anyone else

My 16 week training for the Colorado Marathon starts a week from today. I'm up to six pain-free miles, so I think I'm ready to start a structured plan. To avoid shooting myself in the head yesterday while on the elliptical I listened to a podcast by Endurance Planet. Ever hear of Ultra marathoner Marshall Ulrich and his "Ten Commandments of Endurance"? They apply to each and every one of us who runs. I think I love this man and his wisdom:

10. Expect a journey and a battle--

"Life is not always simple. Don't think that it's just going to be smooth and not a rocky road. Accept that in your mind and then you can deal with things."

9. Focus on the present and set intermediate goals----

"Don't get too far ahead of yourself. Just stay in the present. If you've got some sort of problem…just deal with that. Take a deep breath and solve that one problem and then you can go on to others."

8. Don't dwell on the negative--

"I think it helps to step outside of ourselves and not live in our own space or our own head too much. Look at what's happening out there and focus on even problems of the world or other people. It kind of takes that focus from ourselves."

7. Transcend the physical--

"If you've got an injury, say you've twisted an ankle and you want to keep going--providing you're not doing damage to yourself--take that focus off that ankle. You can keep going as long as you don't get locked into thinking about it continuously. You can transcend that physical aspect."

6. Accept your fate---

"Just accept it for what it is and take it one step at a time."

5. Have confidence that you will succeed---

Recall experiences, "where you've had success in the past. It will give you confidence to go beyond what you normally thought you could."

4. Know that there will be an end---

"There will be an end and we can go on to more fertile soil."

3. Suffering is okay---

"That's the human condition. We're all going to suffer on one level or another."

2. Be kind to yourself---

"If you're running and you need to walk a little bit. That's okay. Know that you have weaknesses just like anybody else."

1. Quitting is not an option---

"Everybody is going to think about quitting. I think about quitting. But you can't let it overwhelm you. You can't let it stop you from your success. And if you frame it in that way--that quitting is not an option--I think that's the best thing to do."


And I leave you with this video of me and the fam in the Colorado mountains today as we rode tubes down a ridiculously steep hill. Just because it makes me smile (if the video keeps pausing, hit pause and wait for it to load completely before watching):