The Elusive Sense of Balanced

SNAPSHOT

Life feels crazy and out of control. 

DIGGING DEEPER

As we are tossed and turned by the winds of the day, we seek peace through balance.  There is a constant striving for that mystical equilibrium that evades our senses.  We say, I will shore up this pillar, I will wind around this trail in just the right way.  I can find a way to be balanced.  Yet, our fault is trying to control the circumstances instead of controlling our focus.  There will always be distractions, disappointments, and disasters, but it is where your eyes and mind are focused, that keeps the balance. 

Seeking to balance with all four limbs on a large therapy ball, I noticed the parallel to the balancing that happens in my life.  Distractions by my son pounding into the room or the dump truck rumbling through the streets right outside my window, try to pull my mind away from the balancing exercise.  I crash to the floor with the ball ending above me. A mess.

Remember the key to balancing is starting with your intention on a focal point.  Specifically, that one corner of the sofa, or flower in the design of the rug, can gather all your attention.  Balance is all about that focal point.  There will be distractions, no matter how much you try to eliminate them. There will be disappointments no matter how positive you will yourself to be.  Sadly disasters will befall you and those you love.  Those elements surrounding, you can not control.  However, you can control what you focus on.  The tossing and turning you are feeling in the rough waters of life are because you are losing your focus.

So what to focus on?  Focus on what is valuable to you.  What inspires and leads you? For me it is God.  When I have my focus on God, then I am balancing.  Note I did not say balanced.  We are NEVER going to be absolutely balanced.  The earth is turning and you must always adjust.  However, you can be balancing.  When on the ball in my living room, I can be balancing for minutes.  I can be in a state of balancing.  It is active and takes my whole mind.  I sift out the sounds and movements around me.  I know what is happening and care about those circumstances.  I am aware, but I don’t take my eye off my focal point.  

RUNNING FOCUS

How does this happen in running?  Your focus may be a particular goal race that you are training for.  When a long workday, seasonal sickness, or a small injury, keep you from a planned run, don’t toss in the towel.  Keep your eyes on the goal race and make the needed adjustments to your training plan and continue on.

Last week just after reaching a new level of fitness, I pulled a shin muscle and needed 5 days off from running.  I was not panicked. Patience and wisdom guided my actions and thoughts. Instead of worrying, I enjoyed the extra hours of reading, knowing that I would soon be back on the road with little time to read. With my eyes on my goal of a strong base mileage phase of training, I knew the rest was going to be good for my body.  Balancing through the ups and downs of training can keep me on the path to accomplishments. 

The craziness of a family of six

PARENTING FOCUS

How does this happen in parenting?  Your focus may be to raise your children to be contributing adult citizens to their community.  There comes that disappointing decision your child made. Your heart is hurt and you are embarrassed. Don’t throw in the towel and say all is lost and you failed as a parent. Instead remind yourself that it is an up and down journey for your child and keep focused on the goal of raising them to be a contributing citizen.

SOLUTION

Balance with calmness by having your eyes on the focal point.

June 2011

Wanting More Than 24 hours

SNAPSHOT

I don't have time to...

DIGGING DEEPER

You do have time. You do have a choice on how to spend it.  Well, really your priorities get to spend it.  What are your priorities?  

Write next year's Christmas letter and find out what you want to value in 2017, says Laura Vanderkam in her Ted Talk "How to Gain Control of your Free Time."

Laura Vanderkam

You do have 12 minutes to listen to her wisdom.  A fair warning though as you might get a little uncomfortable with the facts. However, the knowledge will help you make decisions that will create a different 2017.

SOLUTION

You do have time to run, most days.

The Training Secret

Bridge of Flowers 10K 

SNAPSHOT

Slightly undertrained with daily recovery and consistency are the secrets to success.

DIGGING DEEPER

Do you wonder what the secret workout is that gets runners to the podium?  It is not so secret as you may think.  In addition, the method is not just for the elite.  

It is quite simple to explain. Train the body to adapt at it's highest possible rate without causing too much trauma or stress. Allow the adaptation to occur under the most optimal recovery circumstances.  All the while adding each adaptation upon each other without setbacks or plateaus, therefore creating a consistent training year.

Theresa Loomis racing in the YMCA 10 miler in May 2016.

The complexity is in the individual differences between each human.  One runner's maximum weekly mileage is another runner's low level. Each body is unique in its making and ability to withstand the pressures of running. We all need different amounts and elements to recover optimally.  The stress of our life intervenes with consistent training.

So what does this all boil down to?  How do you get faster, better, stronger?  Listen to your body. With the knowledge that slightly undertrained with daily recovery and consistency are the secrets to success, do as your body needs.  Train hard using your internal motivation, tread carefully the rest of the 23 hours of the day in order to recover, and plan carefully causing a consistent training schedule.

It is simple yet complex.  This is where turning to a coach will improve your running. A running coach keeps you on the right track towards appropriate training and adequate recovery.  They should be sensitive to your recovery at the same time challenging you just enough to cause adaptation and increased fitness.  A coach sets out your training plans and keeps you accountable.

Your finish time should not dictate whether you deserve a coach.  Whatever level you are running at, you still need someone to guide you. I have a coach.  Even this coach needs a coach to run optimally and to reach her potential. Reach out to a runner around you that inspires and encourages you.  Ask them to guide you through a successful 2017.

SOLUTION

Secret exposed, what are you going to do with it?

Friendly Influence

1996 Fort Collins Varsity Team - 2nd place finisher in the Colorado State 5A division race

SNAPSHOT

Join me for track practice.

DIGGING DEEPER

It was a friend that brought me to running.  She wasn’t a runner or even an athlete.  I don’t know why she even wanted to join the middle school track team.  I was not an athlete either.  Since my family was in a constant state of change and my father was parenting on his own, sports had not been an option.  The extent of my athletic experience only entailed winning the elementary school field day races once a year. 

Middle school track in Fort Collins, Colorado was only 6 weeks long with just a few meets.  It only took that one last race where I was flying through the finish line to capture my heart.  When the fall cross country season came a few months later I quickly lined myself up to run on the high school team.  Running in the shadows, I was the most wide-eyed, innocent, quirky little girl with a bit of pudge and not real running shoes. I tagged along on a team that had a serious history of winning and a coach that took us to the podium at state meets.  

Start line focus

While riding to the first cross country race, the fast girls pulled a prank by convincing me that gullible was not in the dictionary.  With that same innocence, I accepted the pointing out of the race course thinking I would just be following all the jerseys in front of me.  The JV race gun went off and I dashed out to the front.  No one stepped ahead of me.  In the lead, I took the wrong turn and was guided back by the spectating parents.  A lesson I would never forget as I became the course strategist on all my racing teams.  To the surprise of my team, I finished with a win. 

During the next practice, the varsity boys walked by exclaiming, “So, you are the one that won the girls' JV race.”  I blushed as bright as my red trimmed glasses.  I knew the joy I felt while running was worth being watched. It was the beginning of a love for running.  

My future was altered by a friendly invitation. So I encourage you to reach out to a friend and experience a new endeavor together.  You may help them find their love.

SOLUTION

Come along side of me.  Together we explore.

1996 Fort Collins High School's winning teams

Chasing Dreams

SNAPSHOT

Chasing coaching dreams

Quicksilver Running Team before their one-mile time trial on Monday.

DIGGING DEEPER

On July 24th I completed the USATF Level Two coaching school in Indianapolis, Indiana. Months of studying and testing prepared me for the lecture hall where I received another six days of knowledge from expert running coaches. (Yes, six days away from my family. They SURVIVED, perhaps even THRIVED.)  The coaching school provided an extraordinary opportunity to learn from the coaching masters.  One of the coaches presenting was Mike Smith, the West Point Academy Cross Country coach.  His focus on core strength and base fitness was intriguing.  When I returned, my training partners quickly wanted to know all that I had learned, but not even a long run was long enough to share the depth that I received from the week of lecturing and testing (98% average grade).  You can be grateful that those jewels will be leaking into my future blog posts.

A sense of accomplishment overwhelmed this mom of 4 kids.

My absence from blog posting resulted from an increase in opportunities. In order to solidify my newfound knowledge, I am observing the national record-breaking Shenendehowa Girls Cross Country coach, Rob Cloutier. Check out his blog here.  Many new clients have contacted me and I am grateful for the chance to guide them in their running journey. They range from beginners to busy moms to under 20-minute 5K racers.  The four runners that I guide daily through online training have been crushing their records. It has been a thrilling last 3 months.

A much needed weekend away in the Adirondack Mountains cultivated the opportunity to move the swirling thoughts in my head to written blog posts.  I will be releasing them weekly.  The seven prepared posts will range from my original beginner tips to how to balance life, which is mind changing.  

Lake George on a windless day, peacefully delightful

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SOLUTION

Chase dreams until they become reality.