Grandma Murphy

The other day I made a post to Facebook hat made me think about my Grandma Murphy and her sleeping habits.  To more years than I can remember she owned and operated a little corner store name "Murphy's Sundaries".  She was the precursor to 7-11, Kum & Go and Casey's and you could buy nearly anything you needed and was particularly famous for her penny candy.

Getting back to the sleeping habits thing.   Her store opened daily at 10 AM and remained open until 7 PM.  Rather odd hours when you think about it, but normal for her and her customers.  It worked for her, heck it worked for me when I worked retail.  

What does this have to do with sleeping?  Well, my Grandma was not a morning person.  She just didn't move real fast before noon.  That's not to say she wasn't productive, just that she woke up slowly.  I think that's one of the reasons she stayed with her business for so long.  Also, because she was a night owl closing a little later didn't bother her because by 7 o'clock at night she was just getting started!  

The significance of all of this is she was a night owl and she passed those traits on. . . to me!! Now I don't enjoy being a night owl.  I read and hear about all of the successful people who are early risers.  There is the phrase the early bird catches the worm.  I even seem to have my best days when I get started early!

It's just that my body (or mind) will not allow me to make the switch to mornings. Believe me I've tried. It's just that after everything is said and done I enjoy staying up late and getting up a little later.

Now that I think about it though, why should I switch?  I mean it seemed to work for my Grandma for all of those years and she was a fantastic person!!!  Besides that owls eat meat not worms and who likes worms? Enjoy.

Need motivation?

There are times when I need a little (a lot of) motivation. I am a procrastinator by trade and darn good at it!  The result of this expertise is a serious need for motivation.  Motivation to start, motivation to finish, sometimes motivation just to be. 

I've  been know to put on my running gear, sit on the couch and then not go for a run.  Ask my wife and she will tell you story upon story of my best laid plans and my failure to accomplish them.  I better get to the point before I stop writing this blog.

What I'm trying to get at is right now I need motivation to run.  So I've set up a fool proof plan (unbeknownst to several others who's participation is a must)!  First on the list is reading as much as I can about running. It seems the more I read about running the more I want to run (who knew!?).  Currently I am reading Runner's World and 80/20 Running.  Every time I put them down my heart is racing, my mind is imagining a scene from past runs and my body craves the fatigue of a couple of miles.  I love it!

Next in my diabolical plan is challenging a friend to completing a streak in February.  A streak is the number of consecutive days you can run.  To help me with this part of the plan I have also purchased a wall calendar to mark off the days I run and give me a constant visual reminder of my success or failure.

The final part of the plan is talking my daughter into running a marathon and actually making her think it was her idea.  All I had to do was start planning to run a couple of marathons this year while she was around and the next thing you know she asks if I want to run one with her.  Well of course I do!

Hopefully these "tricks" will last long enough to get me to June.  If not I'm sure I can pull another rabbit out of my ASICS!

ENJOY!

Have you?

Have you ever wondered why?  If not,why?  I know I'm being a little obtuse with the second question but I can be that way, besides, how else am I going to get this conversation started.

I remember as a kid getting a book title "Tell me why".  What a great book!  It had all of the answers to all of the questions I must have been bugging my parents with.  I spent a lot of time reading that book.  Anytime I had a question that had "why" in it I went straight to that book to find the answer.

Who knew you could find all of the answers to all of your questions in a single book!

It turns out you couldn't, because the following year I received the second book in the series, "Still More Tell Me Why."  The second book was not nearly as good as the first book, how could it be?  I mean, all of the worlds answers were held in that one book and a second book seemed like overkill and a lot like a snot nosed kid asking why just to push his parents buttons.

Now all of these years later, at least 40 and more than likely closer to 45, there has been a book written called "Start with Why." Sorry, I already did but I'm game and Daniel Pink did write another book I enjoyed named "Drive" and I do enjoy doing that, driving that is.  I like reading too but my attention span still isn't what it used toor needs to be to read all of the books I want to.  Let alone all of the books I have already purchased.

By now you're probably wondering, why? Why did I write this? Which leads to another question, what does it all mean?!  That's a question for another day. Back to why.

I wrote this because I have been trying to write for years but have never made an effort to achieve my goal. Well, it is the first of the year and it seemed like the perfect time to get on the perverbial bicycle and start peddling!  More to follow.  Enjoy!

Partners

It may be hard for some of you to believe but I am an introvert.  As much I it seems that I am built to be in front of a crowd or large group of people, I enjoy being alone and left to my thoughts.  In fact there are times when large crowds make me uncomfortable and I shut down.

That may be one of the reasons I love running so much.  It's just me, the road and my always on melon. Now I say this but as I was in reflection while on my last run a thought occurred to me that contradicts my "enjoyment" of alone time.

Please stay with me as I share with you my line of reasoning/thinking which developed on my most recent 2:39:05 spent inside of the mind of Brian.

While I enjoy my time in my own head, I also love and crave running with others.  I enjoy exchanging ideas and thoughts about everything and anything. I enjoy experiencing the pain and pleasure that running brings (often on the same run).  I enjoy being alone with other people. 

In fact the success of running is tied to the connections you make with others while running. I truly believe I couldn't survive without a running partner. That someone to share the joy of running. That someone to challenge you.  That someone to motivate you.  That someone who is there because they need you like you need them. 

With this in mind I am happy to announce that I have a new running partner and we are training for the 2015 Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN. On June 20th.  That some one is my beautiful daughter Aubrey.  She has new committed to joining me even though she is three hours away and won't technically be by my side. She will however be in my mind and in my heart every time I lace up my ASICS and run myself into the ground. 

So the next time you see her, welcome her to the running family and tell her her daddy loves her.

Enjoy!

Paperwork

It happens to all of us. By us I mean runners. Anyway, it happens to all of us, you're out for a run (long or short it doesn't matter) and that urge hits you. You know the urge I'm talking about, the one that begins at the top of your stomach and ends at. . . well your end, as in hind end. 

Usually it starts innocently enough that you think it will pass. Then it slowly builds enough that you begin to calculate the time and distance to the next depository telling yourself that you'll make it and to remain calm even though you are panic stricken with your eyes darting around searching for the best place to "relieve" yourself in case you don't make it. You are also taking inventory to determine the best way to clean yourself if it does in fact come down to a stop in the bushes. 

Fortunately, up ahead in the distance, you see what you've been patiently holding out for. A soothing oasis of comfort. A familiar friend. A throne fit for a king or court jester.  The nearest bathroom on your run!

You eagerly approach and begin to calculate the time this unscheduled pitstop is going to add to your time on the road. Then it hits! That sinking feeling that the oasis you didcovered isn't close enough. Panic begins to set in. Will you make it? Can you hold out for ten more feet and the time it takes to undo the knot in your shorts. 

Ah, relief!! Until you discover there isn't any paper to complete your work. 

Boulders in my shoes

Metaphor time!  Although I'm not very good at it, I love trying to find different ways of describing one situation through a simpler but similar situation. In other words, I love metaphors!

During my long run today I came up with a different way to look at life and all of the things that seem to cause us great anxiety.  At least I think I came up with it. . .if not my apologies to the originator whoever you are.

Inevitably when I'm on the road putting in my miles a piece of gravel or ten will find their way into one or both of my shoes.  Often it's no big deal because I'm only running a couple miles and I can put up with the minor inconvenience.  

However there are those days when I swear I have a rock the size of Gibralter rubbing against my foot. Or, I just know a dump truck unloaded a ton of rocks inside my shoes and they are going to cause blisters that will never heel and I'll never be able to run again!!

So you know what happens next. . . I pause my run to eliminate the menace because  let's face it, when you are a world class athlete like I am you can not risk serious injury!  Plus with the condition of some of our roadways I figure the extra rocks can't hurt. 

Well you know what happens next, I unlace my shoe and discover the smallest of earths products. A piece of stone so small the speck of sleep I picked out if my eye that morning is enormous in comparison. 

This can't be the cause of all my pain and discomfort. There must be some mistake. I shake my shoe, certain there must be more stones lodged farther down. I even reach my hand inside only to find nothing.  

Although I'm a little stunned at the insignificance of the cause of my discomfort I am relieved to find I will be able to continue my training for the world famous Des Moines Marathon!

Life is short, but it should be long enough. 

Bouncing Balls

I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders!  For several years I have tried to start a blog and struggled. The struggle stemmed from my thought I needed to pick a topic and center the blog around that topic. 

Maybe a better way to put it is I struggled with choosing the topic. Not that I don't have specific ideas on my mind, but that I was putting myself in a box by choosing the wrong topic. 

Let me get to the point. I was trying to write about my experience and thoughts surrounding running, basketball, leadership and even marathon training. What I discovered is I couldn't just focus on those sole sources of ideas because they were too narrow. 

Now I don't want this to sound wrong (although to some of you it will), but the topic I should have focused on all along was me. Cue the laugh track! 

It dawned on me today my attempt at blogging was difficult because the main thread through all of those interesting topics is me and I was putting myself in a box. 

I AM multifaceted and tend to follow "bouncing balls" a lot. Some people call it ADD/ADHD, but I just call it "being me".

Anyway, I hope you enjoy what I have to say. If you don't I hope it will at least make you think. Either way welcome to a new journey. My new journey. Our new journey. 

Fasten your seatbelts the train is leaving the station and I know it will be a bumpy ride. Kind of like a bouncing ball!

Welcome to B Hillville!