What you missed last week in the world of marathon training...

Last week's readership was lower than usual, mainly, I suspect, because I got off the subject of marathon training proper and jumped into the subject of dreaming big dreams and going for them.

The subject is, I'll admit, somewhat saccharine. Indeed, I cringe at the word "dreams" and the image of beamy-eyed New Agers trying to coax me into believing in myself and following my dreams. But, as I mentioned in last week's entries, there's a point to all this.

Dreams are those wishes and desires that are seemingly outside our reach. If they weren't so hard to reach, they'd be called errands.

Dreams inspire us because they represent an ideal version of our lives or a thrilling achievement that would, if realized, greatly impact our lives. If they weren't, they'd be called a "To do list."

Marathons -- among other amazing feats -- fit into the category of dreams because (a) they are seemingly impossible to the mere mortal and/or (b) if you train for and finish a marathon, you will be a different person afterward.

You don't have to dream about marathons. Your dreams can be about anything. I'm pretty sure most of your dreams, if you have them, have very little to do with marathon running or even exercise for that matter.

What's important is that you deliberately stir up what's inside you to realize your dreams -- whatever they are -- and to go after them.

The point of last week's blogs was to illustrate to you how I came upon the "dream" of finishing a marathon, how it changed my life, and how I discovered that it is important to constantly have a dream even if it isn't about marathon running.

We'll get back to marathoning soon, but don't ever pretend that this blog is exclusively about training for and finishing a marathon. It is about whatever dream or ambition you want.

I'm gonna invoke Fight Club

It is important – vitally important, if you don’t mind the hyperbole – to constantly challenge one’s imagination. We can never measure the capacity of one’s ability until he or she is challenged to the fullest. What is both grand and at the same time frustrating is that with each challenge successfully vanquished we learn more of what we’re capable of accomplishing. All at once we learn, we adapt, and we grow. Our capacity to do more becomes greater, and the challenge to measure that capacity becomes greater – but, oh what a voyage. I describe it as “frustrating” because as we grow, we will crave more growth, more understanding, more awareness, and more personal power. It’s a never ending cycle! Oh the humanity!

Allow me to draw what is perhaps a strange illustration: the characters in the disturbing film Fight Club belong to a club, obviously, chartered for fist fighting. Blood and guts aside, the movie presented a thesis that sticks with me today. The leader of the club recruits members and challenges them to leave the comfort zone of their boring, predictable, routine lives and to learn to literally fight for their lives.

By fighting, they learn their limits and potential, but more importantly, once they measure the capacity of their individual powers, they become more powerful. Powerful because they lose their fear of the unknown. They literally lern how to take a punch. They learn their pain threshold. They learn just how brave (or crazy) they are and how far they are willing to push their limits.

Their confidence increases because they conquer their unknowns. Of course, I and the police and your parents don’t encourage you to become violent and self-flagellating, but at least I urge you to test the boundaries of your abilities [isn’t that like free speech too? Challenging our sensibilities to teach us new perspectives?]. Doing so will empower you to chart newer, bolder courses in your life.

Life doesn’t have to be about winning the presidency or the Super Bowl or the Pulitzer Prize (though these are worthy goals, and if you strive for them, I believe you can make them happen!).  Most of us mortals live on terra firma where our goals usually are to get out of debt, get a better job, gain more wealth, have a healthy family, or seek out other life events or milestones typical of most humans. However, if there is one point I hope you walk away from this blog with, it is simply: Ask yourself what you want and go after it. Equally important, as yourself what is seemingly impossible or scary and go after that!

The Tao of Steve

Last night Steve Jobs succumbed to cancer. One of the greatest visionaries in modern history, he has changed all of our lives. You are reading this blog on a PC or a smart phone because of Steve Jobs. I am writing this blog thanks to the software and technology created by Apple. In 2005 Jobs delivered the commencement address to Stanford University's graduating class. The theme of his speech is "How do Live." I couldn't think of a better way to inaugurate the Tao of Po blog.