USATF HQ 1 Block From Our Hotel

USATF Head Quarters On The 8th Floor

Sometimes life just has a way of saying, “Thank you for trying to make our world a little bit better”.

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Track & Field geek? Totally. And I wasn’t fully aware how bad it was until yesterday morning.

Unexpectedly, it provided a keen reminder of how Disney fanatics feel when they get those rare opportunities to go backstage.

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Indianapolis

Getting and staying healthy is on your mind a lot, isn’t it? That’s one of the reasons you visit Lane 8. And it’s the reason I write Lane 8.

The real secret to health isn’t what or how we do it, and yet it’s the first thing people get hung up on. The real secret is finding the motivation to do whatever it takes.

Whatever it takes to never give up. To never quit. Ever.

Last night after dinner with a colleague, we walked a different route back to our hotel in Indianapolis. We are on the same street as the Capital building. Indianapolis is also home to USATF headquarters, and roughly three blocks away.

Guess what? We bump into the guy who runs the USATF online store and strike up a conversation. Small world? Karma? Opportunity? Fate?

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All the children participated, even the first timers.  Our son eagerly lined up.  Surprisingly, two of his friends are members there and graciously welcomed him into the atmosphere.

Off to a great start and then somewhere in the middle it got more intense and he felt uncomfortable with his skill level, and returned to the audience with me.

I could not have been more proud.  He tried something.  He did his best.  I didn’t push him, even though I could have.  He’s nine.  How hard do you push yourself?  He’ll get were he needs to go.  Will you?

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1. The chicken or the egg
2. The ostrich or the chicken
3. Stick your head in the sand
4. Chickensh!t

Does it even matter?  It does if you want to be an example instead of a warning.

“I don’t want to run unless I know I’ve done my best.  And the only way I know how to do that is to run flat out until I have nothing left. Running any other way is Chickenshit”! — Steve Prefontaine

Same goes for life.

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Seriously.  We all want them. We all chase them.  There are even people who guarantee them.

But the craziest thing I’ve seen is that there are people who actually believe them.

Just yesterday, Labor Day, had a conversation with a friend and I told him I write these blogs for my son.

Yet perhaps, they are really written to myself.  You probably don’t understand this, but the real audience is me.

I need daily reinforcement that common sense only works if I make it common practice.  Period.

After writing for me and my son, these blogs are written for anyone else who wants to read.  But please don’t expect guaranteed results.

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A friend told me he recently ran a 5k, and broke the 10-minute per mile barrier for the first time ever. How cool is that?!

He started “running” a year ago by walking his first 5k.  Eventually, he was able to run short parts of his 5k’s.  Now he runs the entire distance without stopping.

The key for him?  He started slow.  He made progress gradually. He never stopped.

Now his next challenge is to do it for another year, and another year, and another……

But anyway, what about you?  What’s your story?

Whether you know it or not, you’re telling it to everyone you know.

PS.  Dream big.  Get there.  Stay there. Carpe diem, jeff noel

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Lane 8 focuses on one of the four, big life choices.  Our body – our physical health.

It has also sort of morphed into a secondary (although at times it seems primary) focus of setting impossible goals.

And, like all jeff noel blogs, it is for our son.  He’s nine.

Do you have young people in your life?

Do they look to you as an example or a warning?

Carpe diem, jeff noel

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Autumn is coming and Winter after that.  Shorter daylight hours.

If you said, “Jeff, what’s your favorite time to run”? I’d tell you humid mornings, just before sunrise, when there is no need for even a t-shirt to stay warm.

Plus, I get to watch the sun rise.  And on a day like that, I’ll be soaked with sweat.  That’s the favorite.

Even though they last from March through September, those days are quickly fading.  So what?

It’s a constant and significant reminder that motivation is the key.

Cold, dark mornings with oncoming cars, headlights blaring, racing 60-65 mph to get to work.   Who needs that?  Who wants that?

Not me.

Actually, I do need it.  Without exercise, there’s too much at risk.

Ya with me?  Got motivation?  Carpe diem, jeff noel

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Because the world championships are over, there is not a compelling goal in front of me, to make the tough choices easy.

Well, actually, there is a compelling goal.  I pick him up at school everyday.

Until you grasp this concept of “purpose” you will remain stuck, and your health goals will only be “resolutions” after a night of drinking too much, eating too much, or sitting around too much.

Remember, from one push up a day to World Championships.  All so I can see our son graduate from High School in ten years.

Carpe diem, jeff noel

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