So What's Next?

Cynthia is a friend of a friend who, at 57, is the fittest female I know –  wiry with taut muscles and boundless energy.

She started running in her 20’s because she loved being outdoors and is a high energy sort of person.  It suits her. Her professional life in the field of therapy keeps her indoors and running is a great outlet I’m sure.

The last time she was here she told me about her effort to master the technique called Chi Running which many believe is the best way.  (This interesting philosophy is described as a “revolutionary approach to effortless, injury- free running/walking – go to ChiRunning.com to learn more about it. The novel Born to Run also provides insight into the natural human ability to run)  She was here for the Philadelphia marathon and improved her personal best time considerably using the Chi method.

At the ripe old age of 50, she set a personal goal to run 60 marathons by the time she turned 60.  She’s ahead of schedule since at 57 she has done 58 in 16 different states!  And many of these aren’t the urban runs you see on the evening news.

She lives in the northwest where marathons are held among the high mountains in places like Death Valley, Red Rock Canyon NV, and Choteau,  MT.  This is some serious running.  She must do cities like Dallas, Philadelphia, New York and Las Vegas for rest stops!

I was amazed when she sent me this description of a recent run in Lone Pine, CA.

“It was just a matter of 7 miles straight up against the east side of Mt. Whitney, 9 miles straight down into the valley, another straight up, another straight up, and yet another…. Absolutely gorgeous the entire time.

I loved it.  No spectators (good; the trail was dust so car-spectators would have stirred it up awfully); the best food and drink array ever; and…..I came in first in my division with a trail-time that doesn’t begin to compete with my personal best but those grades were insistent.”

Insistent?????   I can think of lots of other descriptive adjectives for that trip..…

In the run right before that one, she came in fourth BUT– the first three winners were all 25 or 26 years old.  Ah, Cynthia – you make us all proud!

In the time it’s taken me to get this written, she has completed her 60^th with The Prince of Wales run in Alaska and has signed up for 6 more this year.   Well done, lady!

She describes her training regimen as taking it easy.  She runs the marathons because they’ve become a fun way to see microcosms of lots of different communities for a weekend.  She goes back to the ones that were especially fun. Her advise to others is to continue to pay attention to good body rhythms;  swim, walk and bike in between marathons.  Add some tempo work or long-distance training runs, but focus om doing whatever exercise is enjoyable and not painful or boring.  She keeps her life in balance with Tai Chi, yoga, gardening and reading. enjoying music, friends, her cat and dog and her work.

Her inspiration for the rest of us is to:

Start where you are, not where you want to be.

Get advice for doing it well so it is physically helpful rather than harmful.

Don’t underestimate yourself.

Do what you enjoy!

Of all the links for things to do in my last newsletter, the most readers clicked on the Adventure Travel one.  So, for all of you who are feeling some wanderlust, here’s an idea from Norman Clearfield and Habitat for Humanity.

If you are looking for a unique, rewarding, life-changing experience, please consider service in Africa. We are looking for adventurous people to join us on this exciting and challenging trip to Ethiopia. While helping people in great need of decent housing, you will also have the opportunity to explore the unique Ethiopian landscape and culture. We will be building in Bahir Dar on the shores of beautiful Lake Tana and there will be an opportunity to participate in an optional tour of historic cultural and religious sites in the region.  Continue Reading »

That’s the first line of advice from Diana Trout in her wonderful book called Journal Spilling.   I bought it a couple of weeks back out of curiosity about this whole process of  Art Journaling that everyone’s buzzing about.  I just mentioned it in my latest newsletter, but I want to explain it more and show you the picture of my first one.

I believe in the power of journaling.  I’ve done it many times especially when things were not going well in my life and I needed to vent my bad feelings, anger or confusion to someone who wouldn’t talk back.   That’s part of the beauty of the process – you can say whatever comes into your mind.  No grammar or spelling rules and no illusions of literary value.

But for many people, writing in a journal feels risky.   What if someone else finds it?   What do you do with them 5 years later after the crisis has passed?

The process of art journaling can be an answer.  Besides just being fun to do, it allows you to write in a way that is still valuable to you but that no one else will be able to decipher. Continue Reading »

I was browsing through a photo site looking for an image for this blog site when I spotted this image and paused to consider it.

Look down at your keyboard. There is a group of magic keys.

CTRL    ALT     DELETE      SHIFT      ENTER       ESCAPE.    ..

Wow, if we could only manage our lives the way we manage our computer!

Make a mistake?  Highlight it and press DELETE….

Want to add emphasis to your words?  Press SHIFT…

Want to change the direction of your life ?   Press ALT

Want to accomplish a task quickly?  Press CTRL

Want a life re-do?  Press ESCAPE to start over.

Use these keys in combinations and you can make your computer do just about everything except the dinner dishes.

My favorite is the ALT key  (it’s OPTION on a MAC).  Used with other selected keys, it brightens or dims my screen and changes the volume of the sounds I hear for example.

That one key allows me to change my outlook.  If only I could do that to the cloudy, threatening view outside my window right now!

I’m guessing that the majority of you have no earthly idea how to use the magic keys.  Most PC users are terrified of pushing the ESCAPE key!

Can I suggest that most of us are the same way about our lives?  We are set in our ways; we continue to do things the way we know because that’s easier than learning a new way.;  we are afraid we will mess it up if we start  trying new things.

Know what??  You really can’t fail – you just learn what not to do and try again.  My message today is this;

Get over the fear.    Get curious.   Get out the users manual.

You can figure out how to accomplish that thing you’ve always wanted to do.  You might even have fun while you’re figuring it out.   

You’ve read it or heard it a million times before.  If you want to make a change to some facet of your life, work or relationships just start small.  “Take Baby Steps” is the mantra of every life coach.

That seems simple, but it still requires a lot of effort for most people to take even the tiniest step. Turning it into a game of tradeoffs sometimes makes it easier for me.  Continue Reading »