Running 4 Your Life

George Sheehan said, “Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be.”

I saw that courage and determination two days ago as hundreds of athletes gathered to run the Boise City of Trees Marathon and Half Marathon. I had the good fortune to be a spectator this year for this monumental task.

Two of my friends from Chicago came to Boise to participate in the events, and many of my friends here in Boise ran as well. We couldn’t have had a more perfect day for running. I managed to make it to several spots along the course to cheer them on and even get a few photos through the window of my car.

Whether you are running 13.1 or 26.2 miles, it is a long way to run. And, completing a long distance event takes months of discipline and practice. Making it to the starting line is an accomplishment in itself, and I applaud everyone out there.

Special congratulations to Ann for completing your first marathon! And, to Joan and Roz: Thank you for coming from Chicago to visit me in Boise to run in this event. Congratulations to both of you on running a great race.

Courage, determination, will…George Sheehan uses these words to describe success. Add to those discipline, persistence, encouragement, mental and physical toughness - and you are describing Joan, Roz, Ann, Kit, Matt … and so many others. Congratulations to all the City of Trees athletes!!!

A huge piece of competing in any type of event is the mental component. It’s one thing to embrace a physical challenge: we set goals, train, we eat right, and come race day, we are hopefully at our peak performance.

But how do we prepare mentally for what may await us on race morning? (more…)

Those of us who tend to participate in what some people would call “extreme” sports often hear, “You have to be crazy to do that!” By “extreme” I mean marathons, 1/2 Ironman triathlons, ziplining, ultramarathons, to name a few. To us, those activities don’t seem that extreme. We’re just doing what we love to do.

My friend Lori is training for her first 1/2 Ironman, which is a grueling event: 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. The smart athlete trains a minimum of 6 months specifically for this event, but the foundation-building starts long before that. (more…)

Can you remember a time when you accomplished something you had never done before? Have you ever said, “Wow! I really did it!”

Many of the athletes on our run walk team are going to be reaching a goal they’ve been working toward for about 10 weeks - some will be doing their first 10K (6.2 miles); some will be doing their first 1/2 marathon (13.1 miles). This is a big deal. Some of these folks had never gone more than a mile before, and now they are going to be running or walking 6.2 miles…or 13.1 miles! (more…)