Just Keep Moving Forward

It was a busy week in our house.  We are an interfaith family, Jewish and Methodist.  Palm Sunday and Passover (and my 39th bday) packed together.  We are cooking, preparing, and working in two soccer games this weekend.  But.......this was the Sunday I was going to run alongside Dean Karnazes, The Ultramarathon Man.  If you read my post a few months ago, you know Dean is running across the United States to raise money and awareness for Action for Healthy Kids, an organization devoted to kids' health and undernourishment in our country and specifically in our schools.  So this was right in my wheelhouse!!!

My busy weekend was interrupted by a 5:15 a.m alarm clock for a chance to meet this guy who I  have read about, followed on Twitter, and have admired not only for his incredible physical and emotional strength, but because about the manner by which he goes about it.  Here's a guy who has run a marathon at the South Pole!  Here's a guy who has finished in the Top 5 at the Badwater Ultramarathon, a grueling 135 miles through Death Valley culminating at Mount Whitney....IN JULY! (you must read about this race!) Here's a guy who has run 50 marathons in 50 days across 50 states!  

This guy is pretty unbelievable.  And here's a guy who is inspiring people to move more and eat well.  I can't argue with that.  Here's a short clip about he is.....

So yesterday, my life long friend, Randy and I took off to run 2.5 miles around the Indianapolis Speedway with Dean as he passed through town.  He got here the day before after a 40 mile day, woke up at 5:15 a.m. to run 2.5 with Randy and me and roughly 300 others on a 35 degree Palm Sunday morning.  

Here's a few moments from yesterday....

The world famous speedway pagoda with Dean's transportation services.

Dean's crew in one of his two custom buses. (Kelly Ripa was not there!)  :(

 Grumpy and cold Good Morning America production guys.  We were on live!

My only close up of Dean to get an idea of how small his is and how fit he looks!

Dean finishing up.  I beat him!  Ha!

So what this guy does in incomprehensible to the vast majority of the population, but I see this guy as an opportunity to learn more about my own health and fitness which is what I believe he is all about.  While some would view Dean Karnazes as egotistical, I choose to see him as something else:  humble, incredible, inspiring, and real.  

Some observations from my experience:

1.  This guy eats 8,000 to 10,000 calories PER DAY when he is doing this stuff.  And he is a tiny and incredibly ripped/athletic man.  Proof in the pudding that you are what you eat!

2.  He does not worry about pacing with this kind of experience.  His goal is to finish.  He said, "As long as I am moving forward, I don't care if I'm doing a 9 minute or 12 minute mile."  Something to consider in my own training whether it running, Crossfit, a sprint triathlon, or swimming.

3.  This guy has major sponsors, Live with Regis and Kelly, books, a team of doctors, nutritionists, a sport psychologist, two running buddies, and much more following him.  He was interviewed live in front of us on Good Morning America.  With all of this, he still stopped to not only sign autographs, but look people in the eye, smile, talk, engage in conversation, ask questions of complete strangers, cheer on others, and just exude an incredible positive energy while being real about it.  After all, he puts his shoes on the same way you and I do every morning.  This energy was contagious and something I think is often overlooked by many.  While a produced piece of media, I think this video demonstrates this about Karnazes very well...

4.  This experience rekindled my desire to continue running, something I've put on the back burner since discovering Crossfit.  I've put a goal out there before to run a sub two hour half marathon, and running around the world famous oval today with a life long friend may have lit that spark again.  

5.  Patience is a tough concept.  Thinking about what Karnazes does in order to better me is tough given what his body is capable of versus mine.  However, I believe the principles he follows can comparatively transfer to my life or anyone's for that matter.  My point?  I need to be patient with my training, my expectations, and my overall fitness goals.  There should be no rush to achieve as long as I'm doing the same thing Dean is doing on his run across America:  

Just keep moving forward!!!

Born to Run....

He's off an running.....75 days across the United States by foot raising money for Action for Healthy Kids.

I'll be joining Dean when he passes through Indianapolis on April 17th for a short 5K stint of his amazing run/fundraiser.  

Please consider going to my fundraising page and making a donation to help Action for Healthy Kids, a non profit fighting childhood obesity and undernourishment.

Running Across the United States

It's almost Spring and the snow and ice have both melted.  Indiana saw temps in the 50's the past week which was a huge motivator for me.  I'd like to thank all the friends and co-workers who have shared their story with me so far.  If anything, you've been a big inspiration to me as I continue to need smacked around to stay on track.  

It's been a tough week for me as I suffered a pretty significant groin injury playing indoor soccer last weekend.  It was stupid of me to go out as hard as I did with little stretching, and the result is being pretty immobile for a week.  A few chiropractic adjustments and tons of fish oil later, and I hope to be back to working out later this week.  I don't think I want to rush this part of my body, huh?!

So I became a bit dejected over the week.  I've let a few "indulgences" slip into my diet.  Work has been a bit stressful at times, and I've caught myself straying from my focused path prior to being injured.

ENTER:  A new purpose.  I've mentioned Dean Karnazes, the ultramarathon runner before.  He's something else.  Call it what you want, but in my book this guy has put running and wellness on the map.  Currently, he is running ACROSS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA to raise money for a huge, HUGE cause.

Check out the info. here.....

So I've decided to join him for a measly 5K stint in Indianapolis on April 17th.  The time and location are to be determined, so I'll keep you posted.  However and MORE IMPORTANTLY.....My goal right now is to raise AT LEAST $1,000 for Action for Healthy Kids.  This organization helps raise money to help fight childhood obesity and undernourishment, something I believe is a crisis in our country.  I sure hope you would consider donating to the cause.  As many of you know, I don't do these kids of things half-assed, so expect more posts to come.

You can get straight to my donation page by CLICKING RIGHT HERE.

This is exactly the kind of thing I needed at this point in the year and at this point in my path to remaining healthy throughout the winter months.  It's hard!!!!  But.....finding little things like this helps re-energize me to getting back on track.

Ultramarathon Motivation

If you haven't heard of Dean Karnazes, you should.  He is the Michael Jordan of ultramarathon running, something that is out of my brain's capacity to comprehend.  But since I have made a point to keep my eyes open for more things that are motivating this month, I could not pass up a chance to share this with you.  His book, Ultramarathon Man is worth a read, and he's written a few more since then, but Live with Regis and Kelly is giving Dean great pub.  Check it out here....

Dean plans on passing through my neck of the woods, Indianapolis, and I just may sign up to run a leg with him for a great cause.  I think I'm motivated.  You can check on this map if he will be near you.

My long, lost college buddy Brian was always doing something to crack me up back in our days at Hanover College.  Aside from calling me in the middle of the night to see if I started a paper, he would run crazy distances at a young age while the rest of us were just going to bed with a hangover.  I saw the Dean Karnazes video on his Facebook page, and remembered that Brian, a teacher by day, is attempting to run across all 50 states separately, but who in the world has done such a thing?  You can see for yourself here.

http://www.statesrunner.com/

You should buy his book about his 4,800 mile run across the U.S. on the Great American Discovery Trail.  I sure miss those days as he's moved to the other side of the world....well....Arizona.  He brought laughter and a different view of the world to my daily college life.  Hope you are reading Brian.  "Tis yawa life!"

So if you are thinking, "That stuff is crazy.  These guys are nuts.  They are full of themselves" well.....I choose to look at it as motivating.  To see humans push themselves to do things they did not think possible only makes me take a look at myself to evaluate how I can accomplish things I never thought possible.  Without Dean Karnazes and my good ol' friend Brian, life would not be as interesting let alone motivating.  So I say, bravo!