Walk Into the Future

Category: Lifestyle

Articles discussing lifestyle and walking into the future.

  • 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)

  • The Black Hammock (Oviedo, Florida)

    “What happens on the airboat, stays on the airboat.”

    (Unknown)

    My Walk into the Future allows me the freedom to find adventures wherever I happen to be.

    I added the Advent Health Watermelon 5k to my running calendar this year.  The race brought me back to Winter Park, Florida for a long 4th of July weekend getaway.  I enjoyed the race and seeing some of my Track Shack folks in the race village.  I needed to get some additional miles in to ensure I stayed on schedule for my Atlantic City Marathon preparation.

    I’m always looking for new adventures, so I decided to head over to The Black Hammock for an airboat ride.  I visited The Black Hammock on a regular basis when I lived in Oviedo back in the day.  It was always a laid-back place to hang out, people watch and listen to some good live music.  The Black Hammock is an off-the-beaten path type of place, but it is worth a visit if you are in the Oviedo area.

    My sole purpose for this visit was to get out on the water via an airboat.  The airboats run every 30 minutes and are a popular destination for locals and visitors.  Lake Jesup has one of the highest concentrations of alligators in the state of Florida.  There are an estimated 14,000+ alligators in the lake. 

    There were three families waiting to get on the airboat when I arrived.  The adventures on the water started once I paid my fee and got outfitted with ear protection.  Fun fact, airboats are loud, and ear protection is needed to ensure an enjoyable experience.

    Our captain has over 20 years of experience on Lake Jesup and had a route already created to highlight the wildlife on the lake. 

    We were able to see turtles, waterfowl, nesting ospreys and alligators.  The gators were not moving a lot since it was the middle of the day, and a storm was approaching.  The speed and maneuverability of the airboats was impressive, and we were able to get the complete tour in before the rain arrived.  The skies opened as we were getting off the airboat.  I normally stick around and take pictures from the shore but decided to head out since it didn’t look like the rain was going to stop anytime soon.

    I’m sure I will visit The Black Hammock again when I’m back in the Oviedo area.  I recommend it to anyone visiting and looking for an adventure: 

    Home

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams


  • 2025 Atlantic City Marathon training 

    “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

    (Lao Tzu)

    The 2025 Atlantic City Marathon will be my fourth full marathon.  I got this distance in my system with the 2022 Palm Beaches Marathon and continue to look to improve my training and finish time.

    The 2025 Chicago Marathon was my first run at a World Major Marathon, and I loved the race atmosphere so much that I instantly wanted to give it another run.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get accepted this year but will try to get in again in 2026.  I quickly pivoted to find another October full marathon and decided to give the 2025 Atlantic City Marathon a run.

    The race is described as the third oldest continuing marathon in the United States.  The race is much smaller than the 54,000+ runners in Chicago with about 1,000 finishers in 2024.  The distance is still the same and I expect a lot of crowd support on the Atlantic City boardwalk.

    An added feature for this year is my friend Lauren will come over from Philly and run the marathon.  We ran the 2022 Atlantic City Rock N Roll Half marathon together and this will be the first race we are back on the same course.  It should be fun! 😊

    I leveraged the Hal Higdon marathon training plan for my previous full marathons and see no reason to find a new training plan.  I set my marathon personal record (PR) in Chicago and took 25 minutes off my previous best.  I attribute this to better mental and physical preparation and not missing training sessions.  I also changed my mental approach to running by focusing on positive outcomes when running (example: less than 3 miles left instead of 3 more miles).  This seems like a very small thing, but it helped me change my focus and improved my mental approach when running. 

    I’m happy to report that I hit every training session goal so far during this cycle.  I’ve included three sessions in the gym to complement my running program.  Yoga, chiropractic adjustments and massage help me keep up my running routine too.  My bedtime during this cycle has been consistent at 8:30 pm or earlier.  This was one area I needed to improve, and I have been very consistent to include Friday nights so I can get up early for my Saturday morning long runs.

    Here’s my weekly mileage so far:

    Week 130.58
    Week 235.83
    Week 330.86
    Week 440.42
    Week 540.5
    Week 632.57
    Week 758.2
    Week 835.21
    Week 9*12.28
    Week 1036.16

    Total                      352.61 

    *Indian River State College New Student Orientation week*

    I include my gym cardio miles in these numbers but have hit every running mileage point outlined in the training program so far.  I also added some extra running miles just in case I experience bad weather and can’t get out as much as I need to.  I’ve been lucky so far and have not missed a session due to the rain.  Not sure how long this luck will last but I’m putting in the necessary road work to run fast in October. 

    I want to get in the 4:45 (four hours, 45 minutes) range and know my training program and mental approach will be key to running faster. 

    I will provide a few more training updates as we get closer to showtime in Atlantic City.  This program has been fun so far and I’m going to put in the work to ensure I see results.

    Lauren, how’s your training program going? 😊

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

    “Running is not about being better than someone else…it’s about being better than you used to be.”

    (Unknown)

  • 2025 Advent Health Watermelon 5k

    “Running is a mental sport and we’re all insane.”

    (Unknown)

    Fun fact, summers in Florida are hot!  Ok, that’s not much of a revelation since we all know the summer months are the hottest everywhere. 😊

    I continue to train and chronicle my running adventures with the Walk into the Future blog.  I’m not sure when I will stop writing about my progress but 2025 is not the year.  I bring up the summer heat in Florida because I have stayed away from Florida races in May, June and July.  I still train and get my miles in to prepare for fall races but signing up for summer races just didn’t catch my attention.  Well, 2025 is the year where I accepted new challenges and summer races were added to my schedule this year.

    I added the Fargo Half Marathon to my race calendar at the end of May.  I know this is not in Florida but the temperatures on race weekend were about 10 degrees warmer than normal.  There was no humidity, so I was able to handle the temperatures and run a good tactical race.  I finished the Fargo Half Marathon in a time of 2:11 which is my fastest half marathon so far in 2025.  I view this time as a great predictor of faster times to come when we get to fall races.

    I’ve added the Madison Mini Marathon (Wisconsin) to my August race calendar.  This will provide me with a new running tourist adventure and allow me to visit a new city and state.  There will be more on the Madison Mini Marathon in a later article but let’s get back to Florida races in August. 😊

    I am proud of my running schedule, but I have never run a race on the 4th of July.  I’m normally traveling or sightseeing on the 4th but decided to take on a new challenge and signed up for the Track Shack Advent Health Watermelon 5k in Winter Park.  This was the 30th year for this event but it never made it on my running calendar.  Again, July races in Florida were never attractive to me so I never paid attention to this race.  I guess I thought I wouldn’t be able to perform well with the heat, but I have improved my training program to combat heat and humidity.

    I love Track Shack races, so I decided to give this race a run (pun attended).  I took a day of vacation time to make sure I could pick up my race bib the day before (Thursday) the race.  I got to Track Shack around 2:30 pm and avoided the crowd in the store for bib pick up.  I was able to get some shopping done while in Track Shack and picked up a new race top.  I may reveal the new top when I head up to Madison in August.

    I made my way back over to East Orlando close to the University of Central Florida campus.  My destination was Buffalo Wild Wings so I could get wings, potato wedges and beer.  This is my go-to meal the night before a 5k.  The hotel is across University Boulevard from Buffalo Wild Wings, so I headed over to check-in and get off my feet.  I didn’t need to get to bed super early but wanted to ensure I got 8 hours of rest prior to the 5k—mission accomplished.

    There was rain in the forecast for race day but I’m happy the rain held off so we could enjoy the race and race village.  The humidity was thick, and I started sweating as soon as I got out of my vehicle.  I wanted to get in a good warmup to ensure I stretch out my legs and get acclimated to the humidity and the Park Avenue bricks.  Park Avenue is a great place to visit in Winter Park, but the bricks can be tough if you have never run on them before. 

    I made my way to the start line without a set race time in mind but wanted to go as fast as possible.  I’m in Week #3 of Atlantic City Marathon training and my training plan called for a 6-mile-long run.  The plan was to leverage the warm-up, 5k and treadmill session to get the required miles in to stay on track with marathon training.

    The event had corrals setup based on projected times (6-minute mile, 7-minute mile, etc.) so I lined up with the 8-minute crew.  There were over 2,500 runners so the start was congested but the runners were mindful of each other and there were no issues getting out on the course.

    I was able to get out on the course and find open space, so I didn’t have to weave around other runners.  There were a few runners close by who were running at a good pace so I tucked in behind them to draft and see how long I could keep up with them. My mile splits were:

    • Mile 1: 8:47 (fastest mile split in 2025)
    • Mile 2: 8:53
    • Mile 3: 9:17
    • Mile .13: 1:01
    • 5k: 27:58

    I was able to cross the finish line with a little kick and a smile on my face.  I felt the humidity a bit more in Mile 3 but I’m happy my pace didn’t completely fall apart at the end of the race.  This provides me with foundational information to improve my training and conditioning as I move closer to the longer distances to prepare for Atlantic City.

    I got some watermelon and sat for a bit to enjoy the race village and say hello to Track Shack folks that I know.  I made my way back to my hotel so I could get additional miles in on the treadmill to complete my required 6 miles for the day.

    This was an outstanding Central Florida run adventure and I’m looking forward to my return to Winter Park for the 2025 Celebration of Running 5k on 8/16/2025. 

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

    “The body achieves what the mind believes.”

    (Napoleon Hill)

  • Fargo in pictures

    My Walk into the Future allowed me to venture to Fargo, North Dakota to tackle another half marathon and live that running tourism life.

    Here are a few shots from my trip:

    Fargo Dome

    Downtown Fargo

    More of downtown Fargo

    Fargo alley art and a meal at the Jasper Hotel (I’m from Jasper, Florida) 🙂

    (Meal at the Pizza Ranch)

    (Pre-race views)

    (Victory!) 🙂

    Running season is here!

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

  • Racing season is here!

    “Running is a gift.”

    (Amy Burfoot)

    My Walk into the Future got an early start to the 2025 running season this year.  I ventured up for the 2025 Fargo Half Marathon in May and back over to Winter Park for the 2025 Watermelon 5k for July 4th.  I rarely race in May, June or July but decided this was my year to expand my race portfolio and get in more running tourist activities.

    I don’t know when I made the decision, but the rest of 2025 will showcase the most aggressive running schedule I have created for myself.  The quote above is poetic and I’ve embraced the total gift of running.  The running tourist moniker will continue to pop up considering I’m looking to travel to 7 new states this year while visiting several of my old favorites.

    The official running season starts for me in Madison, Wisconsin.  They host the 2025 Midwest Financial Group Madison Mini-Marathon (13.1) this weekend, and this seems like a great way to see the city.  The Wisconsin Badgers play in Camp Randall stadium and I’ve seen how passionate the fans are when they all get together and sing The House of Pain song Jump Around.  The Badgers will not be in town when I get there but I’m hoping the race organizers allow runners to get in the stadium and jump around a bit—pun intended! 😊

    http://bit.ly/458QjqQ

    My marathon training plan calls for a 15-mile long run while in Madison and the Madison Mini-Marathon will allow me to get in the first 13 miles—I will get the other two miles in via my warmup for the race.

    I return to Winter Park, Florida the following week for the 2025 Celebration of Running 5k.  This race normally kicks off my racing season, but I wanted the challenge of a half marathon to gauge my progress towards my Atlantic City Marathon goals. 

    The Virginia Beach 10-miler is back on the race schedule, and I love the weekend music lineup they always have.  It’s a four-day running and music festival on the Virginia Beach board walk and the people are friendly.  I plan to keep this race on my running calendar because it is a great location and course.  They normally bring in at least one national music headliner, so I’m excited to see who they have scheduled this year. 

    I scale down a bit in September for the 2025 Outrun Hunger 5k back home in Fort Pierce.  This race is hosted by the Treasure Coast Food Bank, and they reached out to see if I would be interested in joining their team this year.  I accepted because of all the great work this organization has done in the local community.  Not sure how the team concept works for the 5k but didn’t see any harm in joining the team. 😊

    October will be the largest test for me during this running season. I am travelling to New Hampshire for the first time to tackle the 2025 Smuttynose Rockfest Half Marathon.  This is a new state for me, and I plan to visit Vermont and Maine while I’m in that part of the country.  These are my last New England states to visit so I’m happy to cross them off. 

    The 2025 Atlantic City Marathon is two weeks later, and I’m excited to test myself against the 26.2-mile course.  My friend Lauren Apgar is running this race, and it will be great to see my friend in New Jersey.  My goal time is in the 4:45 range and I’m feeling good so far in this training cycle. 😊

    Here’s my full running schedule so far:

    5/31/20252025 Fargo Half Marathon *Fargo, ND
    7/4/20252025 Watermelon 5kWinter Park
    8/9/20252025 Madison Mini Marathon (Half) *Madison, WI
    8/16/20252025 Celebration of Running 5kWinter Park
    8/31/20252025 Virginia Beach 10-MilerVirginia Beach, VA
    9/20/20252025 Outrun HungerFort Pierce
    10/5/20252025 Smuttynose Rockfest Half Marathon *Hampton, NH
    10/19/20252025 Atlantic City Marathon *Atlantic City
    11/9/20252025 Fort Lauderdale Half Marathon *Fort Lauderdale
    12/6/20252025 OUC Half MarathonOrlando, FL
    12/13/20252025 Palm Beaches Half MarathonWest Palm Beach
    1/25/20262025 Town of Celebration Half MarathonCelebration, FL
    2/14/20262026 Fleet Feet Run for your Heart 10kJensen Beach, FL
    3/1/20262026 Marathon of the Treasure Coast (Half)Stuart, FL
    4/4/20262026 Louisville 10 miler *Louisville, KY
    4/25/20262026 Rock N Roll Nashville Half Marathon (Half Marathon #50) 😊 😊 😊Nashville, TN

    (*) denotes a new race for me

    I’m still looking for additional half marathons to add to the list.  The 2026 Rock N Roll Nashville Half Marathon will serve as the end for my official racing season.  The goal is to see progress with each race AND enjoy the process.  The gift in running is I’m staying active, traveling and having fun with the process.  I wake up in the morning looking forward to my training runs and count the miles as I go.  Fun fact—I’m on pace to going over 1,500+ miles again in 2025.  Let’s see how far these old legs can take me. 😊

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

    “Take a deep breath and just enjoy your run.”

    (MonitortheBeat)

  • Seaway Drive Bridge

    My Walk into the Future allows for numerous adventures I can share with my readers.

    Most of these adventures have something to do with travel for races and simply enjoying life.

    One of my newer adventures is leveraging the Seaway Drive Bridge as part of my race preparation.  I’ve written about this bridge briefly in a few blog articles.  There were days when I dreaded seeing or crossing the bridge in my training program.  My mindset saw this part of my training as a chore.  I decided to flip my mindset in 2025 and embrace the bridge as part of my regular training program.  I stopped dreading the bridge and started finding new ways to incorporate it into my race preparation.

    Most training plans call for runners to complete hill repeats to prepare for races.  There are no hills in Fort Pierce but there are several bridges. I began leveraging the Seaway Drive Bridge to complete my hill repeats last year.  The simple view is I would run from the west side of the bridge to the east side.  I take a short rest on the east side and then head back west.  Up and over, then back again—simple concept.  My goal most days is to repeat this process 10 times before I’m done.  One time over the bridge is approximately .75 miles.  I’m never concerned about time but need to get over and back to complete this workout.  I leverage the hill repeats on Sundays because Saturdays are for my long runs.

    I also incorporate the Seaway Drive Bridge as part of normal runs between 4 to 6 miles.  This is a good way to test my endurance as I start and finish these sessions with bridge incline work.  Some of my best run view photos have been taken at the top of this bridge.

    The results have been positive.  I completed the Nashville Half Marathon this year with minimal leg soreness.  I have also been faster with my race times this year.  I attribute both outcomes to added hill repeats to my training program.  No more days of avoiding the bridge—I’m excited to get my bridge repeats in now and will add more for future training sessions.

    What have you been avoiding that may help you move forward?  Time to get your hill repeats in!

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

  • 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

  • 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)

  • Poetic Flow: Life

    Photo by Nur Yilmaz on Pexels.com

    Living the life I lead

    Has more depth than it seems

    Daily flexibility to pursue my dreams

    Regardless of where they lead or seem

    To take me

    I succeed

    This life I lead

    Allows for unlimited adventures on my timeline

    No need to delay gratification while I move forward in the world

    Basic tranquility and happiness

    Allow me to live this life I lead