April 2022 – Walk Into the Future

2022 Treasure Coast Half Marathon

TCHM1

“Running a marathon takes balls, other sports just play with them”.

(Anonymous)

I created an aggressive (for me) 2022 running schedule to make up for lost races in 2020 and 2021. Not trying to recapture those miles but wanted to get back to running races in multiple locations and get this running tourist thing going again.

Targeted a monthly half marathon for the first 5 months of 2022 with the intent to get better mentally and physically with each passing race. The full goal is to run as fast as possible when I get to Atlantic City for the 2022 Atlantic City Rock N Roll Half Marathon. I have never been to Atlantic City and thought it would be a great place to visit, run and take a shot at a personal record. I still need to put in the training work for the PR to occur but the flat course there is enticing for me. A bonus is the opportunity to see my friend, Lauren Apgar while in town. 😊

The 2022 Treasure Coast Half Marathon is a local race for me in Stuart, Florida. The race location is only a quick 30-minute drive down the Florida Turnpike and I thought this would be a great race to test myself and see a new city in the process.

The EXPO was held in a local middle school gymnasium and had several interesting vendors selling gear. My focus for the EXPO was to pick up my race packet and then get a sneak peek at the course I would be running the following day. Got my customary photo op at the EXPO and tried a few of the energy drinks the vendors made available to runners. Did not spend a lot of time at the EXPO since I was interested in getting a view of the bridge, I would have to cross during the half marathon. There are multiple bridges in Stuart, but I was happy to discover the bridge half marathoners had to cross was not one of the steep one. Left with the knowledge this bridge crossing and location would not be as diabolical as what I experienced during the 2022 Florida Marathon in Melbourne.

Went to bed early with the knowledge I would face a challenging course but one that was manageable with good effort.

Drove back to Stuart at 5 am the next morning to ensure I got parking and could warm up before the 6:15 am race start time. There was plenty of parking near the start/finish line and I made my way over to the race village to get prepared for the race. Got some stretching in and made one last bathroom stop before heading to the start line.

This was not a large race so there were no corral assignments for the runners. I settled into the middle of the half marathon pack to ensure there was separation between myself and the other runners.

We were still bunched tight, so I decided to hold back a bit, so I did not get caught up in traffic and possibly bump into anyone.

Surprisingly, I clocked 9:18 for Mile 1 and felt good doing it considering the amount of traffic I had to avoid. Miles 1 – 4 all were run with a 9 out front (9:18, 9:38, 9:39, 9:45). Mile 5 is where we crossed over the bridge for the first time, and I still clocked a 10:52 which is not bad for me with a bridge ascent. Miles 5 – 8 all were run with a 10 out front (10:52, 10:46, 10:37, 10:41).

The temperature at race time was 74 degrees and it got progressively warmer as the race unfolded. What’s my point? Happy you asked!

My race pace, strategy, and energy all took a hit once the temperatures climbed into the mid-80s. You could say I fell off a cliff or hit the wall after Mile 8. You pick the race metaphor and it applied after Mile 8.

Most of the course was run in direct sunlight and the higher the temperatures got the more the sun beamed down. I am happy with my efforts during the latter part of the race because I was able to bear down and keep moving forward. My pace slowed but I was making positive progress towards the finish line and found an extra gear to cross the finish line with a smile on my face. This was not my fastest half marathon but that was not the point of signing up for this race. My January, February, and March races are laying the foundation for my April and May races. I have a hard time making myself run fast on my solo training runs so decided to leverage races as my long runs and help me get faster in the process.

My next race is the Winter Park 10k on March 12, 2022. I set a 10k PR last year and look to repeat this feat in 2022. The speed I generate in the 10k will allow me to gauge my fitness levels for the 2022 Nashville Rock N Roll Half Marathon in April and the 2022 Atlantic City Rock N Roll Half Marathon in May. I will use the summer months to build mental and physical fitness to launch into the next running season in October.

Still got goals and races to conquer!

What goals do you have to accomplish in 2022?

“My doctor told me that running could add years to my life. I think he was right. I feel ten years older already”.

(Milton Berle)

Make your bed! (Repost)

Books

“Good order is the foundation of all things”.

(Edmund Burke)

My Walk into the Future allows me to pick and choose my adventures and some take me to amazing places. Others find me rooted at home but still bring a level of joy and satisfaction.

I am an avid reader and love to find new books to help me as a lifelong learner. My latest find was the book by retired Admiral William H. McRaven titled Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe The World.

The title is simple enough and gives the reader an understanding of what the Admiral will cover in this book.

I love the fact the book is broken up into short chapters that are easy to follow and integrate into daily life for readers. Admiral McRaven uses things from his life to help highlight the importance of how little things add up to make life move forward.

The book starts with the simple premise of why making your bed daily sets the tone for the day. I understood this fact when I read the book but did not fully gain knowledge until I shared the book with a coworker who reads more books than I do. My coworker assumes since I am retired Air Force the concept of making your bed was instilled in me during my time in the Air Force. He was surprised when I told him I rarely make my bed because I did not see the importance of the act. I am not a slob but making my bed happens when it happens—I did not go out of my way to make the bed before heading to work.

My coworker was shocked with my admission. I can be set in my ways but went back and read the chapter on making your bed to figure out what I missed.

I started making my bed DAILY after reading again to see if this simple act made a difference in my day. The verdict is in—yes, it does!

This simple act appears to be a springboard for a productive day for me.

The flow I have been able to display at work came once I made the decision to start my day with a simple act of organization. Taking the time to make my bed and organize before leaving the house for work or my runs puts me in a better mindset for the day. I arrive at work with a mindset to organize and I can transition quicker once I make it to my desk. This may all be a coincidence but the flow, production, and ability to get more accomplished came once I decided to make my bed.

This is a recent phenomenon for me but exciting at the same time. The ability to make a difference daily is something I take pride in. Making my bed appears to heighten my ability to get this done.

Let’s be clear on this! I fully understand making the bed has not given me a new superpower, but it provides me an opportunity to cross off a daily task early in the day. I view making my bed as the first win of the day and gets me ready to win throughout the day. I love crossing things off my to-do lists and I can get this started before I leave the house.

Therefore, making your bed is an important step for the day! It sets the tone and establishes a foundation for success—give it a try and let’s see what making your bed can do for you!

What are your thoughts on the importance of making your bed? How does it set the tone for the day?

“For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned”.

(Benjamin Franklin)

Busy or productive?

“Beware the barrenness of a busy life”.

(Socrates)

Dictionary.com defines busy as having a great deal to do.

Conversely, Dictionary.com defines productive as producing or able to produce large amounts of goods, crops, or other commodities.

So, which of these definitions describes your daily endeavors in the workplace?

People use the terms in a similar fashion, but I am quick to tell folks my goal is to be productive daily.

Busy can quickly become a mindset that leads to staff becoming overwhelmed with the tasks they must handle in the work environment. I ask staff members how they are doing throughout the day and when I hear someone say they are busy I simply ask: are you busy or productive?

This makes folks pause for a bit and then they want to know the difference. Again, I refer to the two distinct definitions. Someone who exclaims they are busy is identifying they have a lot of things to do, and they are thinking about that workload. Some will just come out and say I have a lot on my plate and need to get things done. Sounds reasonable but it can also cause a mental drain on the staff member and anyone else who hears a constant “I am busy” drumbeat in the work environment. Yes, there may be a lot to do but saying ‘busy’ does not move the needle to get things done.

Flip the script!

My goal is to be productive daily, and this starts with the concept of coming to work to get things done. The old saying talk is cheap would apply here. Talking about being busy does nothing to get task accomplished. A productive mindset allows staff members to come in with focus and take an active role in getting things done. Tools I use to increase productivity:

To Do Lists (daily, weekly, monthly)
Outlook calendar (meeting reminders, team time off, out of office reminders)
Face to face conversations
Email
Large Post It Notes on my office walls
Staff meetings (group, 1:1, virtual)

I have used To Do Lists for most of my professional life and these lists help me plan/organize my day to keep me focused on deadlines and work products I need to complete. I begin each morning before going into the office with a list of action items I want to accomplish for the day. I sync this list up with any items I did not complete the previous day once I arrive in the office.

FYI, I am also the first person in the building most days so I can have 45 minutes to consolidate my lists and build a game plan for the day. Yes, I put this much thought into my operation to ensure I have a productive day. I am trying to maximize my opportunities to be productive and leverage all the tools available to help me with this. A secondary benefit of my lists is they allow me to pick up where I left off when I must help staff members with a task or problem. I can come back and pick up where I left off without wasting time trying to remember what I need to get done. Please note, staff and clients take priority, so I get a lot of practice coming back to my daily lists.

Face to face conversations are a great way to keep the productivity flowing. I find simply getting up from my desk and going to have a conversation is more productive than emailing back and forth. We can talk things through, come to a consensus and eliminate potential misunderstandings. Of course, this only works if the person is available to have a conversation. 😊

The large Post It Notes on my office walls is something I started while working in the Florida State University’s Career Center. The concept was for me to put big projects on Post It Notes so staff could come into the office and add updates to each project. I began to allow staff to build their own projects and put them on my office walls so we could work them together. I got the Post It Note idea because my white board was not large enough to highlight multiple projects. I purchase the Post It Notes from Staples and they stick to the wall. These notes provide a great visual to highlight how productive we are on any given day. One of my current staff members said coming into my office and seeing the notes is like being ‘in my mind’. I quickly told her to get out of there because there is a lot going on up there. 😊

There are other ways to become productive in the work environment, but these are a few that I leverage daily to help move me and the organization forward.

So, I ask you, are you busy or productive? What tools are you using to help your productivity? I welcome your thoughts—thanks!

“Focus on being productive instead of busy”.

(Tim Ferris)

2022 Florida Half Marathon

“Please ignore the faces I make while running”.

(Anonymous)

Diabolical: Outrageously wicked (Dictionary.com).

Never thought I would describe a race as diabolical but that’s what I am going to do. I know there are other meanings for diabolical, but I will stick with outrageously wicked.

The Florida Marathon/Half Marathon is a fine race that is put on by a fantastic run organization. My use of the word diabolical is more to describe the course and how the runners must finish both races.

Yes, this was a half marathon, so I was ready to put in my 13.1 miles of work in for the day. I was happy with my 2022 Vero Beach Half Marathon results in January and wanted to translate that effort into the 2022 Florida Half Marathon in Melbourne.

Let’s jump ahead a bit—there was no translation from the Vero Beach race to the Melbourne race. Happy with my effort but did not get close to matching or exceeding my January race time during this race. More on that later. 😊

Signed up for this race to ensure I run monthly half marathons January through May. Wanted to test myself by adding more races to my schedule in 2022 and building a run base that will allow me to get faster with each race—in theory.

Melbourne is one of my favorite places to visit because of the great beaches and laid-back vibe of the people. This race provides the best of my worlds—beaches and running. This was my first race in Melbourne, so I was excited to run the city as a running tourist.

Drove up on Saturday morning since this race had a Sunday morning start. I wanted to get in town early enough to pick up my race packet and continue to carb load throughout the day. My ultimate motive was to get into town early enough so I could go sit on the beach at the Crowne Plaza Hotel for a bit. I always maximize beach time when I can. 😊

The EXPO was held in the Front Street Park Civic Center. This sounds like a huge place, but it is the size of a regular house, and it is right on the river side in downtown Melbourne. Parking was quick and easy, so made my way into the Civic Center to get my race packet and see what the vendors had to offer.

There were only a handful of runners in the Civic Center when I arrived so went right to the front of the line to get my race bib (#715) and packet. Grabbed a fellow runner to take my picture in front of the step and repeat race display which is a tradition for me. Walked around a bit to see the vendors but did not buy anything while at the EXPO.

Went outside and took a few pictures along the river and got a great shot of one of the bridges we would have to cross during the race. The bridge incline should have been a precursor of what was to come.

Left the Civic Center and checked into my hotel. Wanted to drop off my bags and get a good feel for how close the hotel was to the race start line. Made my way to the Crowne Plaza to get lunch and continue my carb loading process. The weather was great on Saturday and provided a perfect backdrop to relax on the beach and listen to the band playing on the deck. Enjoyed a turkey club sandwich, fries, and Bud Light at the Crowne Plaza. They have an extensive menu, but I stay conservative the day before a race to eliminate potential stomach issues during the race—lesson learned from a past race. Sat on the beach for a bit and enjoyed the views before heading out.

Left the Crowne Plaza and made my way to Patrick Space Force Base (PSFB) for a quick shopping trip. Wanted to see if they had the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 22s to replace my GTS 21s. They had the 22s but not in my size so walked around and looked at stuff I didn’t need—never a wasted trip since I get to spend time around military people again—love being back on-base.

Made my way to the Olive Garden to finish my carb loading for the day and get to bed early. The restaurant was crowded so made my way to the bar and found a seat there. I am basic when carb loading so went with the Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo, lots of bread sticks and Bud Light. Relaxed back at the hotel before an early bedtime so I could get my rest and get up early to tackle the half marathon.

Remember the term diabolical from earlier? Well, let jump into that a bit more now. 😊

Woke up at 4:45 am to prepare my mind and body for the 13.1 miles I needed to cover at 6:30 am. I do some stretching and mental preparation during this timeframe before putting on my equipment (KT tape, Salonpas patches and BioFreeze) and getting dressed. My run outfit was conservative for me so got dressed after putting on my layers of equipment.

Luckily, I grabbed one of my running jackets before leaving the hotel because it was already raining. The weather forecast ‘mentioned’ rain the day before, but this was just a steady flow, and it was not cold. I thought the rain would be around for a little bit but was wrong on my forecasting skills.

Made my way downtown towards the race starting point and arrive about 10 minutes after leaving the hotel. Researched places to park the night before and found a spot about 100 yards from the race start line. There was still a light rain coming down at this point, but it got heavier the closer we got to race time. The race announcer came on the loudspeaker and let us know the race was delayed due to weather—the on-course police support was still getting setup because of the rain. I sat in my vehicle to avoid standing around in the rain without knowing the exact time we would start the race. The delay lasted for only 15 minutes, but most runners did not get a chance for a normal warmup.

The marathon runners were allowed to start 10 minutes before the half marathoners. I did not leave my vehicle until the announcer gave us a 5-minute warning for our race to start. Made my way to the bathroom and then got a quick stretch in before heading to the start line.

Yes, it was still raining, and the streets were wet! We finally got started at 6:50 am

I decided to go out very controlled since the streets were wet and did not want to injure myself or anyone else. I did not have a specific finish time in mind with the wet conditions—wanted to enjoy the course (LOL) and the experience.

Miles 1 – 3 were crowded as runners were very cautious trying to avoid slipping and bringing others down with them. My first mile was a comfortable 9:19 which was probably too fast for the conditions and what was to come. Miles 2 and 3 were like my Mile 1 pace but still felt comfortable. A cool experience during this portion of the race was we got a chance to see dolphins swimming in the river. Yes, runners enjoy the scenery during races. 😊

Slowed my pace a bit during Miles 4 and 5 because I knew the course got a bit tougher at the 6-mile point. The FIRST bridge crossing starts at Mile 6 and goes up until you hit the Mile 7 marker. Bridge running is tough in normal conditions but gets a lot tougher in the rain. I did not want to lose too much time so gritted out the incline and then made-up time on the bridge decline. Felt great through Mile 8 but hit a wall right at the Mile 9 marker. This may have happened because my warmup routine was impacted due to rain or I went too fast on the bridge. Either way, my legs were on fire and yes, it was still raining on us.

Decided at this point to just finish the race. No need to try to set a Personal Record (PR) since my legs were not moving that fast anyway.

Miles 9 through 11 were consistently slow for me but I keep moving forward. Started feeling good about myself again at this point but then the second bridge crossing was looming. So, my question is: who puts another bridge crossing at the 11-mile point of a half marathon? A diabolical person, that’s who.

Yep, had to dig down to get up and over another bridge to finish this @#$% race! I made it slowly up to the 12-mile marker and then found some level of courage to go faster on the decline. I did not want to limp across the finish line but that is how I felt. I put on my best I’m not in pain face and found a kick to get me across the finish line. My official time was: 2:17:52 which was 6 minutes slower than Vero Beach. I’ll take it with the conditions and bridge placement.

Got my medal, a couple beers and donuts and found a place to sit down to enjoy my prizes. It was still raining so got my rain jacket out of my vehicle so I could sit and get some ice on my quads. Talked with my fellow runners and we all experienced the course in a similar way. Happy to finish but beat up by the conditions and the course. Would love to meet the person who thought it was a good idea to cross a bridge after Mile 11. 😊

As much as I’m complaining, I will probably run this race again next year. Hopefully, we will have better weather and I know the course now and can pace myself for a better finish. We will see!

Irie!

“I run because punching people is frown upon”.

(Anonymous)

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