Category Archives: Running & Fitness

The Treasures in Our Pockets

18th January 2016

I hate the cold. I despise it. My body despises it. As a measure of precaution, I live in the South, where we list our wintry sixty degree days as a perk. So this morning, when I checked the weather to find it felt like a balmy 20 degrees out, I went to work from the comfort of my down comforter.

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As the hours passed and the guilt rose, I got up the courage to head to the closet and pick out as many layers as possible, determined to keep my word to myself to lace up for five miles.

At the back of my closet, I stumbled upon the Better Sweater. A few winters ago, I saved up to buy this cozy little vest. While its name should ring full of blissful adventures, over the years it has become my last ditch resort for keeping warm on a chilly morning run. I zipped it up, put my hands in its fuzzy pockets and found a single stick of chapstick.

As a kid, I would hide little trinkets in the pockets of my winter coats. Barbie shoes, a dollar, a 25¢ ring, it didn’t matter the value, but more the reminder. It was as if some brilliant figure from the past had sent treasures into the future to say “I don’t care how miserable it is out there, look at these awesome things we used to have!” Those Barbie shoes had been gone a year, so naturally this was a sign of something good to come. The treasures were my way of reminding myself that it wasn’t going to be all doom and gloom for the next four months.

In this scenario chapstick is grown up treasure, until it isn’t. Chapstick means I probably I went for a run, my nose tried to fall off and I couldn’t feel my face for three days. This is what we have to look forward to, Better Sweater, Chapstick and I, no noses and sore faces.

I begrudgingly laced up my shoes, zipped up the Better Sweater, took one last deep breath and zipped out the door.

I’m home now, five miles faster, and while my nose did try to fall off, the Chapstick was a true treasure. It’s a reminder that when you get your butt out the door, the miles aren’t nearly as bad as you make them out to be. As an extra perk, Chapstick does soothe red lips and sore noses miraculously fast, and I don’t know how it does it.

Next time your brain tries to trick you into thinking treasures are for suckers, remember someone in your past put them there for a reason. Oh and Spring, you can come any time now.

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How I’m surviving Serial Season Two

13th December 2015

There was a time when I was one of those focused runners who could run sans music or distraction of any kind. During the past few years, that dedication has slowly slipped away and the headphones find their way into my pack far more often than I like to admit. The “you’re not training for a race, just stop and take a break to take pictures” habit has also worked its way into my running routine, but I digress.

Headphones started as a means for talking on the phone to pass the time, progressed to Nike’s Spotify playlists, and for the past few months, have settled on podcasting.

Call it a funk, or a cure to one, but having someone feed stories into my headphones almost makes running feel like the by-product.

It wasn’t until this afternoon, two miles into a run, when the first episode of Serial Season Two came to an abrupt end and I was reminded of this terrible truth:

One story. Told week by week.

I jumped on the Serial bandwagon late. This translates to: I had the luxury of listening to every episode at my heart’s content. Unless someone hold my patience hostage, reality suggests that waiting for a full season of stories is not likely.

In the event that you also find yourself in the same Sarah Koenig, week by week void, here are a few of my other favorites to help you fill the time.

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Invisibilia

“The invisible forces that control human behavior, ideas, beliefs, assumptions and emotions.”

This series had me rushing out the door and adding miles just to race to the next episode. If you’re not quite sold, start with episode three, “How to Become Batman.” You’ll be brainstorming DIY superhuman skill tests before the 59 minutes are up.

The Lively Show

“Add a little extra intention to your everyday.”

Jess sucked me in with her exclusive on Young House Love earlier this year. Her topics are simple, yet leave you feeling like you can conquer the world.

The EntreLeadership Podcast 

“Grow yourself, your team and your profits.”

Don’t let the business-y focus of this one scare you. These guys know how to tell great stories and they dig into the personal histories of some of business’ best known leaders in a truly valuable way. Episode #115 with Walt Disney World Resort’s former Executive Vice President of Operations Lee Cockerell is a personal favorite.

What have I missed? Any other favorites out there? Preferably anything that plays into binge listening, my sneakers thank you in advance.

Expectations

26th October 2015

Damp grey Monday. After a weekend filled with more than a few fall excursions with my favorite person, we’re back to Monday, and a gross rain filled Monday at that. As the rain barrels down on our rooftop, I can’t help but set my thoughts back to our fall filled weekend and a word that’s lingering in my head as a result: expectations.

As running and I haven’t been on the prettiest of pages lately, I’ve been in search of podcasts to fill the miles I could normally, quite happily, fill with silence. A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a podcast released earlier this year called Invisibilia.

Brought to us by NPR, Invisibilia documents the invisible forces that control human behavior. It is so incredibly fascinating that in the last few weeks, I’ve found reasons to stay out on the road, just to finish episodes.

But back to expectations.

In episode three, Lulu and Alix explore how the expectations we set for both ourselves and others can quite literally transform the world around us. The pair begins by sharing a story from Robert Rosenthal, professor of psychology at the University of California.

In his experiment, Professor Rosenthal brings a group or ordinary lab rats and labels them either “dull minded” or “bright minded” before handing them over to a group of test subjects. While the rats did not possess any difference in intellectual value, when handled by people with these preconceived expectations, the “bright rats” were able to improve their maze learning by 65%, simply by the way they were held, spoken to and interacted with. In other words, expectations changed the outcome.

I found the entire episode fascinating and couldn’t help but gush to P about what could be possible if only we forced ourselves to think differently about our situations. Luckily, we were quickly able to put the thoughts into practice (unknowingly) this weekend as we set out on our first long-ish mountain bike ride in North Georgia.

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A short break early on in our ride.

Last fall, we stumbled upon the Jake and Bull Mountain trail system and have been dying to get back up on our bikes. While we didn’t take the plunge on the full trail (see elevation estimates below), we did set out on a shorter loop that would take us ten miles and across some of the most rewarding trail we had seen in years.

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We cruised through the first eight miles or so, passing horse after horse, fording two creeks (to which I made more than a few Oregon trail references) and settling into the silence that is listening to gear shifts and leaves crunching. If there is way to feel closer to having heaven on earth, I haven’t found it.

But, oh mile eight. We started up a steady climb, that while not terribly steep, went on. And on. And on. After not biking for a few months, it kicked out butts. Until at about mile nine, when P broke the silence and reset our expectations with a simple reminder, “don’t forget, when we finish this, we can go find boiled peanuts.”

The view of the pumpkin patch (and home of the boiled peanuts) we visited after our ride.

The view of the pumpkin patch (and home of the boiled peanuts) we visited after our ride.

It made all of the difference. If we had watches, we would have probably noticed clocking our fastest mile after that moment, but alas, no watches.

It was the perfect reminder that expectations don’t have to be world changing or even life changing, but they can be moment changing. So while it may be damp, grey and Monday, I’ll hold on to the idea that event the smallest of gestures can set your expectations off in an entirely new direction, and maybe daydream a bit about our next trail ride adventure.