Everyone needs to believe in something. I believe I'll have a beer.

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Limosines for the feets!

Santa brought me a pair of bright, pimped out size 11 Asics Gel Nimbus 13s. The soles have the impressive GU Dance Line, whatever that is.

These are the carriages that'll carry me across the Houston Marathon, Rouge Orleans Ultra Relay and New Orleans Marathon finish lines. And because I'm training in the cool months, these won't stink nearly as much as the Asics I just retired.

They were good to me too. They helped me in the final stages of Chicago Marathon training, the race itself, and prepped me for Houston -- though I should have traded them in long ago.

After I finish Christmas clean up -- the tree is punishing my allergies -- I'll wax philosophical on shoes. Can't wait.

Merry day after Christmas and Happy New Year!

Worst. Run. Ever. 19.25 miles of misery.

Well, actually 14 miles of powerful, determined running, another 3-ish of plodding, and a final 3-ish of ugly loping and puttering. When I started this morning it was great, probably because the temperatures were moderate... in the 50s. By the time 14 and 16.5 miles rolled around the temps had climbed nearly 20 degrees. I wilted. Folded like a beach chair. Spent like casino quarter. It was the ugliest run I can remember... at least the finish was.

This is exactly what happened at the 2010 Chicago Marathon when the temps started very cool for a Great Lakes fall morning then climbed into the 70s late in the morning. You know, the time you need your strength the most to finish the race.

On top of it all, I foolishly drank two cups of coffee early in the morning. By mile 14 I had to stop for a drink of water, but by then it was too late: I was already dehydrated. I thought a lot about proper hydration and even gave thoughts to hyponatremia (dehydration's polar opposite evil twin). Fortunately, I finished, hydrated, showered and ate.

I have been feeling sick to my stomach since I finished. Have you ever experienced this? I don't know what it is or if it has anything to do with running. I'm not sick, but I am oogie.

Still, I finished the 19-mile long run. Next stop, 22 miles. But this time I will start early, early in the morning to avoid overheating and dehydration.

3 miles down, 19 to go

Ran 8 miles Saturday, 6 miles Sunday and 3 miles tonight in preparation for tomorrow's 19 miles. Again, my lack of faith in my erratic training program gives me pause. I find that I am once again anxious about running the 19 mile long run tomorrow.

The Houston Marathon is one month away. After the 19-miler I still need to run 21 miles then taper for the January 14 race. I feel like I'm behind and forcing myself to run a race ill-prepared.

There is no doubt that I will finish the race, but I don't want to run another turkey like I did in Chicago last year when I finished 5 hrs +. Yes, my motto is to finish, not place, but 5 hrs was embarrasingly ridiculous. I don't want to do that again.

I hope I can pull it off tomorrow.

New Orleans Marathon -- AWESOME new course!!

Run through the CBD, Garden District, St. Charles Ave., Audubon Park, the Quarter, up Esplanade through City Park, to the Lakefront... man, that's hitting all the great hot spots in NOLA -- at least the ones that don't serve adults. Check it out: New Orleans R&R Marathon course map. The race is all the way in March but I am already so psyched for it. By then I will have finished the Houston Marathon and Rouge Orleans Ultra Relay. Boo-yah! So psyched!

Marathong

I don't know what bizarre sense of pride convinced me all these many years that it is more dignified to run in tights and soccer shorts than those abhorrent running shorts with the hammock. Is it because they barely cover the thigh (a la Dolphin shorts) or is it the awkward nest they give you to rest your pieces? Whatever the reason, I refused to wear them because I found them as embarrassing as women's underwear. Now I find myself at a crossroads. After more than 15 years of marathoning I fear I must give up the tight nylon security blanket for the article of clothing I've dreaded most. Let me just say that not since the Great Chicago Fire has there been greater burning. So, either I punish my body and risk deformity, or I add to my already humiliating running time and form by donning the shorts of shame. Is there no alternative?
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8.25 miles like the wind!

Another great night run. Cool temps, clear, starry sky and big moon. Christmas lights galore... And I ran like a grandpa. I felt really strong. In fact, I thought I was booking it especially as I outran two tiny dogs. But the clock said otherwise. Another reason why I eschew the objectivity of the chronograph. Let me fudge on time and distance. That's my motto. Still and all, a nice run for all and to all a good night.
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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.

Best. Run. Ever.

Ran 16.5 mi in 50-degree overcast weather on a monotonous loop 6 times around. It was awesome!
Started w/some procrastination in the early morning, then a shot of coffee - not a whole cup - and some Gatorade.

Strong run. Strong Gu. Strong legs. Strong lungs... Strong smell. Time to hit the showers.

Still a little behind where I want to be in my training schedule. Houston Marathon is Jan 14. All in all, I'm feeling good.

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Happy Hour, Happy Times. Drinkin’ and Dreamin’

What I’m about to tell you should probably wait until the end of the book, or not be mentioned at all.  But, the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that the story of my first marathon is apropos to the message of this book.

In the spring of 1996, I was living in Washington, DC, working in the U.S. House of Representatives. My house was located near the office and next to a popular bar. Go figure. My cousin, who is much less handsome and nowhere near as charming as me, came up for a visit from Richmond one weekend.  After about three pitchers of beer and several hours of talking smack about nothing, one of us courageously proclaimed that he would jump out of an airplane tomorrow morning.  No kidding.  The other, I don’t remember whom, readily agreed, and by the next morning we both were calling skydiving companies all up and down the Chesapeake.

Fortunately for us, nobody was taking customers that morning.  This was good because both of us would have been puking before we put on our jumpsuits. 

None deterred, we tried again the next morning, suspicious of the other’s determination to go through with the Bud-filled challenge two nights before.  Politely locking our pride in the basements of our souls, neither would admit that he was a little scared to go through with it.  We remained this way for the hour drive out to the jump grounds, through the training videos and demonstrations, and while being strapped into jumpsuits three sizes too small and ten odors too stinky.  In fact, we swallowed our pride enough to fly a corkscrew pattern up to 10,500 feet in a puddle-jumper, in bad weather until we each jumped out the plane free falling at 120 miles per hour for more than a mile, flying like Superman - rather, dropping like Superman in a jumpsuit of kryptonite - until we pulled our cords, felt our progeny thrust into our stomachs, and floated delicately to the earth while muttering to ourselves, “Holy crap. I did it.”  And I did.  I’ve got a video, pictures, and a high-pitched voice to prove it.

Two weeks later I found myself at the same watering hole, waxing moxie and derring-do, sharing tales of my conquest with an easily unimpressed audience, when again the gauntlet was thrown for yet another challenge. Among our lot there was discussion of great, but impossible feats. You know, those ridiculous human pursuits of cave diving… bungee jumping… mountain climbing (hmmmm) … sky diving (hey, wait a minute)… and marathoning (Eureka!). 

One of us declared, I don’t remember whom, “Let’s run a marathon!”

The Bat Signal of adventure and personal challenge was lit, the challenge was made, and I would respond with a “Holy crap, Batman!  I’m going to run a marathon!”

I know you’re not stupid.  You do not need me to state explicitly what was implied in my cleverly told anecdote.  But, I will.  You don’t need pitchers of beer to dream big.  We all do that anyway.  Take, for instance, the sensation you feel when you buy a lottery ticket.  If you haven’t bought a lottery ticket, you won’t understand.  Turn away from the blog, go to the 7-Eleven or Quickie Mart or the gas station and purchase $1 of lotto-filled inflated expectations.  Work with me on this. 

As you hold the ticket in your hand, what are thinking?  You’re thinking how you’re going to spend the money aren’t you?  You’re fantasizing about losing a shoe in your boss’ derriere as you sign off from jobland.  What car are you driving? Where is the house(s) you’re going to build? Now you can do that thing you’ve always been dreaming about. Now you can be, now you can have….

Now stop.  What are you doing?  You are dreaming big.  In your mind are the castles and sports cars and fine clothes and fabulous vacations and other opportunities that are otherwise absent from your day-to-day thinking.  This is the “Impossible Dream,” and it doesn’t take a pitcher of beer or a lottery ticket to conceive them in your head.  Come on.  Let go.  Let your mind wander like an ADD patient at a whistles and bells convention.  Just dream.  Its fun, it’s easy, and it’s free. 

Now ask yourself: What is between you and all that you just dreamed (with the exception of you wingnuts who want to be Spiderman.  This book is not for you.  Put your arms back in the jacket and return to your padded room.)?

So, what do you want? Ask yourself, what is it? Good. Now I’ll show you how to get it.

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!

LSU's Claiborne intercepts for TD! 42 to 10!

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Blue scores TD! LSU 35 to UGA 10! SEC Champs (almost) and en route to BCS!

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Running blog WHAT?! Geaux Tigers!

LSU up 28 to 10 over UGA. Honey badger punt return for TD. 2 Rushing TDs. Powerful D!
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The 2% Fulcrum

My wife says that I am perhaps among 2 percent of the entire global population who think this way – and she is not, I might add, flattering me.  And she’s probably right. But I believe that 100 percent of the planet – meaning everybody – dream for a better life, wish they could play the piano, want more money, want true love, want to excel at work, want to lose weight, want to hit all their free-throws, want As and Bs on their report cards, want to be healthier, want _______ (insert your desire here).

Many people observe celebrity and wish they were rich, famous or superbly talented. This is the unfortunate byproduct of witnessing greatness and wanting to have it. Most folks focus on the end result and disregard the years of blood, sweat and tears it takes to create such greatness.

Everybody wants something – something they consider unattainable or impossible to achieve – and merely dismiss such dreaming as passing fancy or pipe dreaming.

 Have you ever whined, “Oh, I wish I could…” or “If I only had….”? Of course you have. Or, if you haven’t whined about it, you secretly have held a desire to have or do something more than what you’ve got or done so far. 

Before I trained for my first marathon, I easily dismissed such fanciful notions of marathons and mountain climbing as ridiculously out of my reach. Boy, have I changed.
 

Well, you can do whatever it is you want, and you can have that which you desire. You see, yes, there are perhaps only 2 percent of the world’s population that think this way, but it takes the 2 percent to show the other 98 percent that dreams are real and can come true.

 
And by the way, it is the 98 percent who either work for or admire the glamorous 2 percent. Hmmm. Maybe there’s something to that.

Admittedly, there are obstacles, challenges, and new priorities in your life that might cause a dream to be postponed.

It is easy to get discouraged and throw in the towel when that happens. Believe me, I have been through some of these challenges the last several years, and I have often been tempted to chunk my dreams in the trash bin.

Some people have money problems, lose a job, lose a loved one, suffer poor health, or whatever. These are obstacles that get between you and your dream. Some people get married and have kids, which causes them to reprioritize their dreams (ideally, the spouse and kids enter into the dream picture as new dreams and wishes).

Whatever the circumstances, the dreams – real, honest to goodness dreams – won’t go away. You may have to postpone them. You may have to think differently about negotiating all the other obligations (and dreams) in your life to attain what you want.

 
Fortunately, or unfortunately, my dreams are a part of who I am. They are meaningful and inspirational. I can’t get rid of them even if I try. It sometimes hurts to have them when it feels like life’s other challenges get in the way and prevent you from fulfilling your dreams.