Walk Into the Future

Category: Leadership

  • Move the crowd!

    “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”

    (Walt Disney)

    How can I move the crowd, first of all no mistakes allowed.

    This is the opening salvo from the Eric B. and Rakim classic hip hop song titled, Move the Crowd.  This 1987 rap classic reminds me to put in work daily to ensure I am moving the crowd in my daily activities and with this blog.

    What does this look like to me?  Great question!

    My Walk into the Future blog posts allow me to keep my readers engaged and hopefully inspired.  I lay down these weekly tracks with the intent to provide wisdom, knowledge and insight.  My goal is for the readers to use my words and look for ways to move the crowds they engage with. 

    The Walk into the Future blog is not a collection of serious topics but I look to weave in daily life with my leadership thoughts and activities.  Authentic Leadership is a growing movement, and this blog lays a foundation for me to continue to grow.

    The concept of walking into the future is an analogy for everyone to slow down and enjoy the path you are on.  We are always in a hurry to get places and do things where enjoyment gets lost in the hustle.  The term moving the crowd is synonymous with slowing my readers down to enjoy my words and thoughts before getting back to regular life activities.

    Author Steve Pemberton has a book given to me by my friend Lynn titled: The Lighthouse Effect.  This is a great book and with outstanding messages throughout.  My hope is the Walk into the Future blog, and my work will serve as a lighthouse for my readers and get you up and active.

    I strive to move the crowd but maybe I’m displaying a lighthouse effect when I write.

    Interesting thought and concept.

    Who can YOU become a lighthouse to?  How do you move the crowd in daily activities?

    I welcome your thoughts!

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

    “Do the best you can.  No one can do more than that.”

    (John Wooden)

  • 2025 Virginia Beach 10-Miler

    “Victory is sweetest when you’ve known defeat.”

    (Malcolm Forbes)

    The quote above is a great reminder that defeat is a part of life and victories. 

    My training for the 2025 Atlantic City Marathon is very much on-track, but the 2025 Madison Mini-Marathon humbled me a bit.  The weather was hot and humid, which was unexpected for that time of year.  The third “H” from race day was the hills.  I finished the race with a little kick, but this was not my best half marathon effort. 

    I felt good about my training program up until that race and had some doubt linger in based on the results from the Triple H Day.  Well, no worries about my training program or efforts friends. 😊

    The 2025 Virginia Beach 10-Miler provided me with all the data I needed to gauge my training program so far.  Things are going well! 😊

    I hit a personal record (PR) for the 10-mile distance (1:34:44) during this race.  The 9:25 per mile pace would have been a half marathon PR as well if I had to complete that distance.  This was the first time I have experienced a windy race day in Virginia Beach, and the head winds were strong at multiple points of the race.  I learned to adjust my running posture to help me cut through the wind and keep battling towards the finish line.

    Race day started with a great view and sunrise right on Virginia Beach.  I’m a creature of habit so I return to the same Marriott Courtyard on the board walk each time I’m in Virginia Beach.  The temperatures were in the mid-60s but the wind off the water made it feel a bit cooler than it was.  I prefer the cooler weather, so this was a welcome part of my race day.

    I leveraged the board walk and the views as part of my race warm up.  My hotel was on 25th street and the race start line was conveniently on 15th and one street over.  I got in some stretching on the board walk and then a light jog to get me to the start line on time.  I made it to the start corrals without any problems and entered my assigned corral.  The corral assignments are loose for this race but most of the folks in Corral #1 were where they were supposed to be. 😊

    I felt good and my confidence was high, so I wanted this to translate to my race.  I shared with friends that I wanted to PR this race and the start line was the place for me to mentally prepare for this to happen—I had extreme confidence in my training but needed this to translate to race day—mission accomplished!

    I went out with a controlled pace and tried to avoid weaving in and out of other runners.  I decided to test my patience and let the miles roll by without pressing at the beginning of the race.  I was surprised to see 9:06 after the first mile and I felt great even with the extra traffic at the beginning of the race.  This pace felt comfortable, and I wanted to see how long I could keep it up.  Mile #2 went by at 9:14 and I knew I was in for a great race outcome.  Fun fact—this first two miles were all done on Atlantic Avenue which has building that kept the wind away from the runners.  Mile #3 had us turn due east to get on the board walk and this is the first place the wind became a factor for runners.  I’m not sure how hard the wind was blowing off the water, but it impacted runners.  This is where I first adjusted my running style to incorporate a more aggressive arm swing to help me cut through the wind.  This seemed to help me continue to move forward with the pace I wanted so kept it up until we made the turn off the board walk and back to street racing.

    This turn helped with the wind as we had hotels to the east and shops to the west during this stretch of the race. Another turn and we were heading south towards our first bridge crossing. The race is entirely flat except for the multiple bridge crossings.  I mentally prepared for the bridge incline and got to the top with a smile on my face while passing the Mile #5 marker.  There’s always a DJ on the bridge and he plays reggae music.  This is always a welcomed sound as I battle to maintain my pace and keep moving forward.

    Runners enter a residential area after the bridge and are greeted by race spectators who come out to cheer for random strangers.  There was a high school cheer squad and a little girl with her dad passing out popsicles to runner.  This appears to be their family tradition since she has been handing out cool treats for the past three years in the exact same spot.

    The course turns east, and runners enter the Virginia State Military Reservation for a 3-mile portion of the racecourse.  This is not a scenic portion of the course, but it is completely flat and several of the assigned military members come out to cheer on the runners for support.  Leaving the State Military Reservations points runners north and back towards the bridge for the second crossing.

    I knew I had an opportunity for a PR at this point and decided to bear down and just keep moving forward.  The bridge incline on this side was not as steep as the first crossing, so I put my head down and got up and over.  The decline on the other side was used by most runners to make up time and go fast.  I had a large smile on my face at this point because I was enjoying the process and running a very tactical race.

    I skipped the final water stop to ensure I didn’t lose any clock time.  We made the final turn back on the board walk and got a full blast of headwind.  No worries, I reverted to my extra arm swing technique and battled the wind, time and distance.  I focused on a couple runners in front of me and then went about catching them, one by one. 😊

    The announcer called out Calvin Williams from Fort Pierce, Florida as I approached the finish line and this gave me an extra kick.  I crossed the finish line at 1:34:44 with a huge smile on my face since I knew this was the PR I was chasing.

    I got my race medal and took some finish line pictures.  I made my way into the race village to get pizza and beer.  I was so focused on getting to the beer I forgot to ring the PR bell—guess I need practice on this part of racing. 😊

    Posted up on the beach with beer, pizza and listened to the live band for about an hour.

    The 2026 Virginia Beach 10-miler is moving from Labor Day weekend to Mother’s Day weekend in 2026.  I’m not going to make that race since I will be spending time with my mom.  I will have to find another Labor Day race to keep my running tradition alive. 

    Virginia Beach is a great race location so will see when I can get back there for another race.

    Mile splints for this race:

    Mile 1: 9:06/ Mile 2: 9.14 / Mile 3:  9:07 / Mile 4:  9:08 / Mile 5: 9:13 / Mile 6:  9:35 / Mile 7: 9:26 / Mile 8:  9:51 / Mile 9: 10:10 / Mile 10:  9:22 /Mile .05:  :26

    My training is paying off and I’m looking forward to the 2025 Atlantic City Marathon and running at another good pace.

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

    “Victory belongs to the most preserving.”

    (Napoleon Bonaporte)

  • Book Club 2025

    “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies.  The man that never reads lives only one.”

    (George R. R. Martin)

    My Walk into the Future in 2025 is defined by a new level of intensity in multiple phases of the walk.

    I have chronicled my race calendar and the desire to challenge myself more in that area.  My desire is to test myself and see how much improvement I can make with my running program.  I almost called it a hobby, but running is a legitimate part of my life, and I don’t know what the world would look like without my 5 am runs.  I guess I would know how to sleep in like normal people if I wasn’t a runner. 😊

    My writing has remained consistent and I’m always looking for new content to add to the blog.  I’ve tried writing prompts and suggestions from my tree branches but 99% of my content comes from just living life. There are weeks when I found unlimited inspiration to write and others where I don’t write at all.  This used to bother me, but I find it’s easier not to force content and let it come to me when it’s time.  I must remember to keep my eyes, ears and thoughts open to receive inspiration and be ready to lay down the tracks that will become a new blog post.

    My friend John Crowe and I have formed a two-person book club that focuses on leadership topics.  John lives in Oklahoma City, and we share new books via text message.  We normally critique each book via text or a Teams call.  John has a curious mind about leadership, and he keeps me inspired to find new ways to enhance my leadership program.  Authentic Leadership is my foundational leadership style, but a true leader never stops learning so my book club work helps me grow and expand my knowledge base. 

    I view 2026 as a big year for my leadership consulting work and the exploration we are doing now will enhance how I work and partner with clients in 2026.

    Here are some of the titles we have explored in book club so far:

    • Team of Teams / General Stanley McChrystal
    • It Worked for Me, In Life and Leadership / General Colin Powell
    • Conquering Crisis, Ten Lessons to Learn Before You Need Them / Admiral William H. McRaven
    • The Positive Dog / Jon Gordon
    • The Power of Positive Leadership / Jon Gordon
    • Leaders Eat Last / Simon Sinek
    • Be The Unicorn / William Vanderbloemen
    • The 5 AM Club, Own Your Morning.  Elevate Your Life / Robin Sharma
    • The Light House Effect / Steve Pemberton
    • Proverbs (daily)

    I am still looking for new books to add to the list to finish the year out strong.  Send me a book suggestion and I will explore for book club. 😊

    What book are you reading right now?

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

    “A book is a gift you can open again and again.”

    (Garrison Keillor)

  • Make Every Second Count (Repost)

    (Photo by Jordan Benton)

    “You may delay, but time will not”.

    (Benjamin Franklin)

    The Walk into the Future blog continues to look for new topics to develop.  Most of the content comes directly from my travels, life adventures and items of interest.  I have reached out to tree branches for thoughts on new blog content and then try to develop their concepts into something I can share with my readers. 

    I had an outstanding conversation with Melissa Forges on my drive over for the 2025 Town of Celebration Half Marathon.  We got a chance to catch up on life and have a few laughs in the process.  Melissa shared three topics of interest and gifted them to me to see if I could develop them into a blog article. Well, here’s my run at her first topic: Make Every Second Count.

    We all understand the concept of time and how our days on earth are numbered.  There’s a finite amount of time we get to live this life, and this is our way to inspire YOU to live more.

    I decided to do a little research to put time in perspective.  What does time look like?

    • 12 months in a year
    • 365 days in that same year
    • 7 days a week
    • 1,440 minutes in a day
    • 86,400 seconds in a day

    The first three time markers are the most common and talked about in our daily interactions.  Days turn into weeks, months and then years at a faster pace as we get older.  This may be a perception thing, but it feels real to me.  I left home to join the Air Force in 1986 and just celebrated 39 years on this life journey post Jasper, Florida.  We hear time flies, and it seems to become a reality as I get older in this life.

    Let’s dive into the minutes and seconds we each have in a day.  How many of the 1,440 minutes in a day are you doing something to make the world a better place?  What about the 86,400 seconds in a day? 

    I take my role as a tree (mentor) seriously and look to enhance my interactions with my tree branches daily.  I’m not sure I maximize every second of every day, but I put a sincere effort into this process daily.  It’s easy to say I will get something done tomorrow but I don’t want to waste time or effort and ignore today.  Yes, it’s easy for me to write this from the comfort of my keyboard but I will begin to leverage the time concept into my writing as well.  I have new responsibilities at work and there are days when I don’t sit down to work on my writing craft.  I assume I have time to develop topics into blog articles but need to leverage every second available to ensure I have a large library of blog articles to select from.  I normally have seven to eight articles drafted before I publish weekly.  Maximizing every minute and second in the day will get me back to a place where I have a large library to select from again. 

    Making every second count can be leveraged in all aspects of life.  I plan to use this mindset when I start my full marathon training program in June.  The 2025 Atlantic City Marathon is scheduled for October of this year, but I must use my training time smartly. 

    How can blog readers who are parents maximize your time with your kids?  Yes, they have busy lives but are you making every second count with them? 

    Have you booked the vacation you have been talking about for the past few years?  Again, time stops for no one—are you making every second count?

    I can add more scenarios but believe you get my point on time. 😊

    One final point.  My grandmother passed away in 2012 and the pastor that delivered her eulogy used the concept of time to inspire the family to live life.  He gave us the 1,440 minutes and 86,400 seconds per day to highlight how my grandmother lived life to the fullest.  His exact words were: She Lived!  He challenged the family to follow in her footsteps and live life.

    I’m still a work in progress but I maximize my time daily.

    So, I challenge my Walk into the Future blog readers to make every second count!

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

    “Time moves slowly but passes quickly”.

    (Alice Walker)

  • Ellucian Live—No bad days

    “Positive anything is better than negative nothing”.

    (Elbert Hubbard)

    My Walk into the Future provides multiple opportunities for me to network and expand my knowledge base.

    I attended Ellucian Live 2025 in Orlando, Florida back in April.  My current school is in the process of implementing Banner as our new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) student support system.  We’re currently a Workday school and need to modernize the ERP for ease of use for everyone to include students, faculty, staff and administration.

    The Ellucian Live event allowed space for us to network and explore available modules for the new system.  This was an outstanding way to see how the modules interact and provide a better experience than our current ERP.

    My overarching role in the switchover is to identify the modules that will provide us with the best capability for successful implementation.  I sat in multiple sessions to hear from experts and other schools on their implementation of best practices.  There are a lot of moving parts to successful implementation, and I wanted to ensure we didn’t miss any steps.  Fun fact—it’s not my job to run the implementation but my area will be a huge consumer of the completed project.

    There were several keynote speakers during the event from diverse backgrounds.  There were university and college presidents, actress Sheryl Lee Ralph, the Ellucian CEO and Coach Prime (Deion Sanders).  They all had specific messages, but Coach Prime was my favorite speaker.

    Coach Prime has a message of positivity and making the world a better place.  There are times this message gets lost because folks are not truly listening to what he is saying.  He is a true family man and has deep religious beliefs.  This is how he lives his life daily.

    The Ellucian CEO sat down with Coach Prime to ask him questions during his session.  I wish they would have given him a true keynote session and let him deliver his message.  He was adept with his responses to her questions but the biggest takeaway I got from him was he never let other people’s issues cause him to have a bad day.  He admitted he can and will have a bad moment but does not let that linger and cause a bad day.  His message is to focus on the positive in life and shrug off bad moments.

    Coach Prime shared, “Don’t drag the bad moments forward and let them mess up a good day” (Ellucian Live 2025).

    I remember Coach Prime from his Florida State University and Atlanta Falcons playing days.  He had a different nickname back then, Neon Deion.  He was flashy, loud and brash—or so we thought.  Turns out that was the image of his younger self that does not fit him now.  He leverages past experiences to set an example for his children and players.

    I love his no bad day message and work to integrate it into my daily endeavors.  Bad moments by others will not impact my day or positive outlook.

    How can you leverage this principle in your daily life?

    Thanks Coach Prime!

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

  • Denver Leadership Conference

    “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower”.

    (Steve Jobs)

    My Walk into the Future is designed to allow me to gain new experiences and share knowledge when needed.

    I connected with the Academic Impressions Senior Product Experience Manager during a Retention conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota last October.  I knew of her through work communications but got a better understanding of her role while attending the conference.

    She knew of my work at Indian River State College in the Advising and Career Services space but did not know I did leadership consulting on the side.  I’m happy to share this fact with anyone willing to sit with me so I can expand my portfolio of clients.  Also, I’m proud of my Authentic Leadership work and developing new partnerships is something I strive to achieve.

    The Academic Impressions mission is to develop the leaders higher education needs to thrive. My Authentic Leadership research and consulting focuses on higher education, but I expand this focus to include any organization looking to enhance leadership development.  I shared my leadership training philosophy with the Academic Impressions staff during the conference, and we spent several days discussing a potential partnership between CW Consulting, LLC. and their organization.  The organization has a branded, 5 Paths to Leadership program that is leveraged by higher education institutions to build and grow proactive leadership programs.

    I was invited out to Denver for the leadership conference to learn more about the Academic Impressions leadership programs and to see how we may be able to introduce Authentic Leadership into their leadership training portfolio. Yes, I’m always looking for ways to partner and find new ways to expand the reach of Authentic Leadership. 😊

    I was able to leverage professional development funding for this trip to enlarge my institution’s partnership with Academic Impressions.  A bonus to this partnership was the opportunity to visit Denver again and experience the city after work hours.  I’ve been to Denver multiple times and enjoy the culture, sightseeing and crisp mountain air.

    The Academic Impression leadership conference consisted of higher education professionals from around the country.  Several schools sent their entire leadership teams to this conference to build teamwork and synergy towards developing leadership protocols to enhance their daily operations.  It was interesting to hear from others in this space to understand the challenges they face in leadership development.  FYI—most schools conduct professional development training out of the Organizational Development (OD) department which is part of Human Resources.  Most conference attendees worked out of OD at their respective schools and were in the process of building or revamping their leadership training programs.  The Academic Impressions 5 Paths to Leadership program was a major draw for everyone in attendance. I was a bit of an outlier as I was trying to determine if Authentic Leadership could be embedded in this leadership principle and possibly become a leadership facilitator with Academic Impressions.

    The 5 Paths for Leadership is based on research within the higher education leadership space and has helped multiple schools get positive results in leadership training.  My time in Denver allowed me to learn how this leadership program has helped organizations implement leadership training on their respective campuses.  The attendees were able to share leadership challenges and get input from facilitators on ways to move forward with new concepts and ideas based on research.

    I enjoyed the one-on-one time with the facilitators and the group exercises to identify future challenges to leadership success (example: the political climate in America, reduction in DEI initiatives, etc.).  We spent a good amount of time identifying challenges with a Post It Note session and there were consistencies across the board—it did not matter what part of the country we came from; we all had the same thoughts on future challenges. ☹

    I made a lot of new leadership connections during this conference and stay in contact with my colleagues to learn new techniques.  I plan to follow-up with the Academic Impressions folks to see how I can incorporate Authentic Leadership into their leadership program.  This would be a great compliment to their work and would allow me to expand the Authentic Leadership style into the higher education space.  I’m always looking for ways to expand and this partnership will provide me with another platform to share with others.

    I will provide an update once the Academic Impressions folks pick me up as a facilitator. 😊

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

    “The art of communication is the language of leadership”.

    (James Humes)

  • Port St. Lucie (PSL) High School Leadership Awards

    “Leadership is the capacity to translate a vision into reality”.

    (Warren Bennis)

    My Walk into the Future provides outstanding opportunities for me to make a difference in the world.

    I rarely turn down a chance to speak to groups to help others move forward in life and help them prepare for career success. A work colleague recently asked me if I would be interested in speaking at the Port St. Lucie High School awards ceremony. I was honored with the request and said yes on the spot. I viewed this as an opportunity to reach back and help a group of young leaders on their journey after high school. 

    This was also a chance for me to work on new speaking material in case I’m asked to speak at graduation ceremonies in the future.  I’m always preparing for something.  There are times I should ask more questions before accepting these speaking gigs but more on that later. 😀

    My role as explained to me was to speak for 5 – 7 minutes and provide inspirational words to the award recipients and other attendees.  I was not familiar with PSL High School or the students there so I decided to focus on how they can implement a formula for success.  My plan was to use the success formula I was gifted while in the Air Force that I leverage daily.

    — Be where you’re supposed to be, doing what you’re supposed to be doing, when you’re supposed to be doing it.

    I’ve leverage this success formula for years and it’s helped me progress in my professional and personal life. My goal was to let students know it does not matter where you come from or how you start. Success is available to everyone if they have a goal and grit to strive towards it.

    I started with a little background on myself where I shared with the students my lack of success when I first started my educational journey.  I attended Lake City Community College right after high school, but I was not successful.  I shared that I’m probably the only person they will meet with a Ph. D. who flunked out of community college.  This allowed them to see failure can be a part of a successful life and professional journey. 

    My words were well received by the students, parents, staff and school administrators. I felt good about my message and how I delivered it.

    So, why should I have asked better questions prior to the speaking engagement? Great question Lynn! 😊

    Well, it turns out the high school principal was out unexpectedly, and they needed someone to fill in handing out awards and taking pictures with over 250 award recipients. Yes, I was elected to fill in for the principal and shake hands with each student that crossed the stage. I joke that it was a chore, but it was an amazing experience to greet the young people who got positive things accomplished during their time at PSL High School.

    The highlight for me was when a student with Down Syndrome won the most popular award and he hugged me when he came on stage. He was so excited, and his fellow students were thrilled for him.  He danced off stage after receiving his award and there were smiles on the face of everyone in attendance.

    My friend, Alisa, attended the event with me for support and ended up taking pictures for me to capture the great moments with the students.  We joked that she was my publicist, and several presenters asked her to take their pictures as well since they thought she did this for a living.  She enjoyed interacting with the audience and it was a great sport taking pictures for complete strangers. 😊

    This was a great experience for me and allowed me to spread Authentic Leadership to a new generation.

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

    “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way”.

    (John C. Maxwell)

  • 2025 Nashville Half Marathon

    “I love Nashville.  It seems like everywhere you walk; there’s great music coming out of every wall”.

    (Imelda May)

    My Walk into the Future brought me back to one of my favorite cities, Nashville, Tennessee (NashVegas)! 😊

    I always look forward to my yearly pilgrimage to the Music City for the half marathon, live music and great food.  Nashville is my city!

    I added bridge repeats to my training program this year to help me battle the Nashville hills.  This additional training got me ready, like my old training routes in Tallahassee, Florida.  I never imagined how the hill training in Tallahassee prepared me for the half marathon distance.  Yes, I need more hill training in my life!

    The 2025 Nashville Rock N Roll Half Marathon was a battle.  This was not because of the distance or the hills.  I put in extra work to get me mentally and physically ready to rock the half marathon (pun intended).  The battle on race day was because of the unseasonably high humidity.  April temperatures in Nashville rarely get past the mid-60s but our race day started with temperatures in this range and the humidity hung in the air.  Again, the race temperature at the start was fine but the humidity was my primary worry.  Yes, I train in Florida, but the humidity has not been high so far in this training cycle.

    The race is well organized and there are aid stations about every 1.5 miles on the course.  I made a mental and strategic plan to get extra fluids at the aid stations to keep myself hydrated throughout the race.

    I stayed in a new hotel this year.  The Marriott Courtyard West End which was one block over from my normal hotel.  I got a great rate which included parking and breakfast and allowed me faster access to the great restaurants in the West End of Nashville.  I got an early morning flight from Orlando to Nashville so I could hit the race EXPO when it opened and then head over to Broadway for food, beer and music.

    Getting through the EXPO was a breeze!  The Rock N Roll folks know how to throw a race party.  I got my bib, t-shirt and Rock N Roll carry bag and made my way to visit the vendors in the Music City Convention Center.  I didn’t really need anything but always get some food samples and explore clothing options.  I found a funky headband that matched my projected race outfit and tried out some recovery boots—this is always a highlight if there are no long lines.  No, Lauren, I did not buy the high price recovery boots. 😊

    I left the EXPO and walked one block over to Broadway to take in the sights and hear great music.  My first stop was Rippy’s Honkytonk for food, beer and live music.  Rippy’s is a popular spot and has great BBQ.  This is not my typical meal before a race, but the pull pork is outstanding, and I doubled up on the French fries as part of my carb loading process.  I left Rippy’s and made my way to my favorite spot, The Stage.  I love this spot because of the stage configuration and the quality bands that play here.  This is my go-to spot in Nashville. 

    I left The Stage and made my way down to 2nd Ave to check out Luke Comb’s new spot, Category 10.  This is where the old Wildhorse Saloon was located, and I was anxious to see what they did to the place.  The inside of the venue has been upgraded with new floors, light show and sound system.  They also provide line dancing lessons throughout the day.  Yes, Maria, I like line dancing when I’m in Nashville. 😊

    https://www.rippyshonkytonk.com/

    Home

    I didn’t want to stay on my feet too much with a half marathon coming up, so I made my way to the Westend of Nashville and checked into my hotel.  I made a point to get to bed early so I could tackle the Nashville hills in the morning.

    My hotel was only 1 mile away from the race start line, so I walked down Broadway as a warmup.  I was assigned Corral #6 this year which put me close to the elite runners.  I’m not saying I am elite, but I could see them from where I was standing. 😊  I got a nice warmup by walking to the start line and stretched well before getting into the corral.  Getting extra hydration on the course was going to be a needed resource due to the humidity.

    The Rock N Roll series uses rolling starts to ensure runners are safe at the start line.  They release corrals every two minutes, so I didn’t have to wait long to get my start down Broadway.  The first portion of the course on Broadway is downhill before we make a right on 4th Ave and then begin the climb back up towards Music Row.

    My first mile was run in 9:20 which felt pretty good considering runners experience the first major hill climb within the first half mile of the race.  My pace stayed consistent throughout the race with Mile 11 being my slowest at 10:34.  I stuck to my race plan and got fluids at each aid station and made a point to pour water on the back of my head to avoid overheating—this really works. 😊

    I finished Mile 13 with a pace of 10:12 and crossed the Nashville Rock N Roll Half Marathon at 2:12:45 which was 8 minutes faster than 2024 even with the heat and humidity.  Unfun fact—there were several racers who needed medical attention on the course.  This is the only race where I’ve seen runners receiving medical attention.  I’m hoping these runners have speedy recoveries and can get back to running soon.

    The race after party was epic again this year with food trucks, free beer and a concert.  I stayed around a little longer this year to soak in the atmosphere and celebrate a hard-fought race.  I am already looking forward to my return to the 2026 Nashville Rock N Roll Half Marathon.

    What are you looking forward to?

    FYI–part 2 will cover my time on Broadway! 😊

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

    “The half marathon is not a race against others; it’s a race against our own doubts”.

    (Unknown)

  • Going alone with EmpowerMEnt

    “Solitude is independence”.

    (Herman Hesse)

    The Walk into the Future blog is ready to give a guest content creator shoutout to my friend Melissa Forges.  My first run at a topic suggested by Melissa was Make Every Second Count back in April.  She gave me a total of three topics to generate content and I’m ready to give topic #2 a run: Going Alone with EmpowerMEnt.

    We had a great chat while I drove over for the 2025 Town of Celebration Half Marathon.  I promised her I would put effort into bringing her topics to life.  There are days when I don’t know if I can pull off some of my articles, but I gladly take on this challenge Melissa! 😊

    Our discussion centered around the concept of ME in empowerment.  This play on the word was done on purpose to highlight that it is okay to do things for yourself.  We spend a lot of time taking care of the needs of others and forget to take care of ME (you) sometimes.

    When was the last time you took a walk on the beach by yourself?  It’s okay, I’ll wait for you to think of that time. 😊

    EmpowerMEnt allows you to see it’s okay to do things for yourself without feeling guilt.  We spend so much time doing things for others and this becomes embedded in our psyche, and it becomes the norm.  Please know that I’m not saying drop everything and forget the folks in your life.

    Really, I’m saying the opposite.  The time you spend by yourself to recharge CAN allow you to come back to your normal routines energized.  Yes, taking time for yourself can help you recharge.

    Sitting on the beach is one of my favorite activities.  I just need my beach towel, a good book and beer to entertain myself for hours.  A quick nap is always a possibility when I’m getting ME time on the beach.  I’m able to get a lot of uninterrupted thinking time when I’m on the beach too.  This is a place and mindset that allows me to generate content for the Walk into the Future blog.  Yes, I jot down ideas to come back to for blog article development.

    Running is another opportunity for empowerMEnt in my world. I write about my running tourism experiences in this blog format but running allows me to clear my mind daily.  I’m able to get lost in my run and this provides a different level of comfort and relaxation for me.  I’m empowered to tackle running distances and races to continue my personal development.  I’ve thought about joining run clubs but can’t bring myself to do it since this would eliminate the solitude I desire when I’m out for a run.  Yes, there are thousands of people who run half and full marathons, but I don’t engage with them until the finish line with beers in my hand.  Running may be the best place for me to gain empowerMEnt.

    Researching and generating content for the Walk into the Future blog is my happy place.  I love getting immersed in the writing process as I develop new projects.  I have to avoid writing too late in the evenings because I find myself up past my bedtime trying to complete an article.  The Walk into the Future blog is my major empowerMEnt flex where I get to discover new things about myself while writing.

    Well Melissa, this is article #2! 

    How do you leverage empowerMEnt in your daily life?

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

    “One can be instructed in society; one is inspired only by solitude”.

    (Goethe)

  • 2025 Negril, Jamaica (in pictures)

    “Wah gwaan”?

     

    My Walk into the Future ventured back down to Negril, Jamaica for spring break this year.  This is not a huge revelation since I make this trek yearly.  I’ve written about my adventures in Negril to include great food, reggae, snorkeling and enjoying irie vibes.

    This year was a little different since the water was choppy and there were days we were instructed to stay out of the water.  I still found ways to entertain myself and enjoy my time in my adopted hometown. 😊

    So, instead of writing about similar adventures I have each year, I’m sharing my Negril trip with pictures—enjoy! 😊

    Samsara views (Day 1)

    Negril sunsets

    Negril cliffs

    Samsara

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams