“The writer is the explorer. Every step is an advance into a new land”.
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)
The Walk into The Future blog continues to serve as a vehicle for my creative expression. I started this blogging process to share my thoughts, travels, and adventures. I find it easy to write about my adventures and then share with my loyal readers.
There are days when I don’t think I have the inspiration to write another blog article and then I sit down with a specific prompt and the words just come to me. I would like to say writing these articles is an easy daily process, but I find myself struggling to generate content that I think others will read from time to time. I write, edit, delete, and then write again to create something worth reading. This is not all the time but figured I would share I have writing distractions to keep me away from me cranking away on my laptop.
Today is not one of those days! 😊
I went back to a tried-and-true process of identifying a writing prompt to generate a new concept to write about. One of the prompts I found a while ago was called: Five Minute Friday. The intent is to pick a specific word and then write about it for five minutes to create content. Well, I modified the prompt into Five Minute Thursday since I post on Thursdays at 11:08 am—did you know that? 😊
My first prompt for Five Minute Thursday is: Leadership.
Leadership is a concept that I began to explore while I served in the Air Force. We were put through a series of leadership courses (Airmen Leadership School, Non-Commissioned Officer Leadership School, Senior Non-Commissioned Officer Academy, etc.) where principles of leadership were shared. The best leaders I worked with all went through these courses, but they had more than course leadership principles.
Three of my favorite Air Force Leaders: Chief Master Sergeant Roger Noyes, Chief Master Sergeant Janet Craton and Senior Master Sergeant Rich Gardner—thanks to them all!
Developing leadership skills became a priority for me and I explored this topic via books, online trainings, and lectures.
I discovered Authentic Leadership almost by mistake. I wanted my dissertation to focus on First Year Experience (FYE) courses for first generation students. This would have been an impactful study, but my dissertation mentor told me I couldn’t pursue this topic because it was Educational Psychology, and my program was Organizational Psychology. I hung my head for a few months before we discovered Authentic Leadership, and the rest is history.
My earlier introduction to leadership while in the Air Force allowed me to blend things I learned from wearing a uniform into my model of Authentic Leadership. The great leaders I worked with in the Air Force have been integrated into my version of Authentic Leadership as I incorporate their lessons into my current pursuit of leadership.
Well, my five minutes is up. I could keep going but will honor the concept of this writing prompt! 😊
What can you get done in the next five minutes? Ok, take off!
“The most important thing is to enjoy your life—to be happy. It’s all that matters.”
(Audrey Hepburn)
What did you celebrate today? What about yesterday?
I don’t ask these questions as a mind-bending riddle but to get you to understand every day is work celebrating!
Why do you say that? Great question, Mrs. Fouraker! 😊
I know I spend a lot of time planning for the future with my training and travel schedules. I decided to add a new category to my list of goals in 2026. The Walk into the Future blog provides me with a platform to ensure I live life daily. My new focus in 2026 is to wake up each morning with full intention to celebrate the day.
We don’t have to wait for a special occasion like a birthday or anniversary to celebrate. Life is worth celebrating and this is my reminder to each of my readers to wake up and celebrate daily.
I’ve started to share my daily celebrations with my friends and anyone who will stand still long enough for me to share my thoughts! 😊 This new approach started with me ringing in the new year with a new focus. I normally bring in the new year very low key and stay close to home. I decided to break my low-key pattern and went to dinner with my friend Lynn before the party crowds came out. This was not a huge production, but it was a great way to end an outstanding 2025 for me.
My next celebration was our first day back at school. We get a two-and-a-half-week break between the fall semester and the start of the spring semester. This was a much-needed break for me, and I relaxed more than I normally do. I booked a trip to the Dominican Republic in December 2024 but decided to simply relax over the break in 2025. I practiced sleeping in and not planning my days out where I had to be anywhere at a specific time. Yes, this is a new process for me. 😊
I was excited to come back to school on January 5th to get back to making a difference in the lives of my tree branches and our students. My first text of the day was to let everyone know that the day was worth celebrating and we should embrace it together. I’m sure my folks thought this was going to be a one off, but I was back to celebrating the next day too.
There was not a huge incident that made me decide to celebrate each day, but it was a simple mindset shift where I realized that framing the day as a celebration would allow me to continue to make a difference in the world.
This simple concept has enabled me to keep a positive mindset daily throughout the month of January. I wake up with a new focus on celebrating the day and make a point to ensure folks around me celebrate with me too. I’ve had folks come into my office with a problem (real or perceived) and I simply engage them with the need to celebrate the day regardless of what may have happened. We work in higher education and there are days of conflict. I have discovered most of our conflicts are simple misunderstandings that can be corrected with a simple follow-up conversation. No, I don’t celebrate conflict, but it can’t be completely avoided. I do celebrate the lessons we learn from workplace conflict, so we don’t repeat bad habits to keep the organization moving forward.
So, what did I celebrate today? Great question!
My family and friends are healthy, my tree branches are doing great things in the world and I’m thinking about signing up for another full marathon in 2026! There are a ton of other things to celebrate today, and I want to make sure I don’t lose sight of those things. Creating new content for the Walk into the Future blog is something I look forward to daily. Fun fact: celebrating daily is the new category in my list of goals.
Let’s celebrate me continuing to come up with new content to share with YOU!
Oh yeah, I’m celebrating every reader of the Walk into the Future blog! Thanks for walking with me!
What are you celebrating today?
Irie!
Calvin Williams
“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that counts. It’s life in your years.”
I know everyone starts a new year with the hope it will be their best year ever. We say it year after year but I’m not sure we know how a year will truly go. I start each new year with a set of goals I want to reach in multiple areas: health, fitness, reading, travel, etc. I wanted 2025 to be a huge year for me but looking back this week showed that this was an outstanding year for me and I’m going to claim my best year yet. 😊
Travel
I set an aggressive running schedule for myself in 2025. I targeted some new races which would allow me to bring my running tourist persona to new locales. I ran the 2025 Fargo Half Marathon in May and leveraged this race to add two new states to my visit list. North Dakota was the race state, but I made sure to drive down to South Dakota to check that off my list as well. I enjoyed the experience but I’m not sure I will run in Fargo again so I’m happy to have experienced the city, food, and culture.
Nashville, Tennessee is always on my running calendar in April. The 2025 Rock N Roll Half Marathon is one of my favorite races and I love the country music available in Nashville. I’m coming up on ten years running in the city and I don’t see a reason to stop now. Tennessee provides a lot of different adventures and Gatlinburg was my destination in November for Smoky Mountain hiking.
I made a Midwest trek for the 2025 Madison Mini-Marathon in August. Wisconsin was a state I always wanted to visit but I never put in the effort to get there. Running has turned into my vehicle to get up and travel, so I used my love of running to get to Wisconsin. I took advantage of proximity and made my way over to Dubuque, Iowa to experience the city that sits right on the Mississippi river. It was a quick trip over to Iowa, but I was able to have a fantastic catfish dinner while overlooking the Mississippi river.
I took my regular trip to Virginia Beach for the Labor Day weekend to run the 2025 Virginia Beach 10-Miler. This was my third run of this race, and I enjoyed my time on the boardwalk as this is a great place for people watching.
I ventured further north in October for the 2025 Smuttynose Half Marathon. This race took me back to New England and I crossed off North Hampshire and Maine as states I have visited. I enjoyed the race and environment so much I signed up for the 2026 race before I came back to Florida. The 2025 Atlantic City Marathon got me back to the northeast two weeks later in October. I’ve been to New Jersey multiple times, but this was my first marathon in the state.
That’s 8 states visited in 2025 with 6 of those being new states for the running tourist. I’m looking forward to being just as aggressive in 2026 and adding a few new states. There are races in Louisville, Kentucky, Lincoln, Nebraska and Morgantown, West Virginia that I’m researching, and I hope to book those early for new adventures. I will keep my normal Florida races on the schedule as well so get ready for more running tourism adventures. 😊
Negril, Jamaica is my go-to place to visit yearly. I write about this trip every year and will continue to visit. I would like to get down there twice in 2026 since I love the island and culture so much.
Running
I can’t call myself a running tourist without highlighting the running program. I’m always looking for ways to increase my yearly mileage but never put exact numbers on the total. I still need to balance regular life, work, travel and running. Running is a big part of my weekly life, but I do try to have balance and enjoy other aspects of life. I currently sit at 1,505 miles with three weeks left in December. I would like to get over the 1,600-mile marker as this would be my largest run total for a year. I’ve got to ensure I don’t miss any run or training sessions to make it to 1,600.
Fun fact—I completed a total of 18 races in 2025, which is my personal best for a calendar year.
Fun fact 2—I ran PRs over three distances in 2025: 2025 Virgina Beach 10-miler, 2025 Smuttynose Half Marathon and 2025 Atlantic City Marathon.
Reading
Reading has been my passion since I was a kid. I had a newspaper scription when I was twelve years old and read every book I could get my hands on. There were not a lot of distractions in Jasper, Florida so I developed a love for reading and I still have it. This love of reading followed me into adulthood, and I have multiple books on my reading list. My 2025 reading goal was to read daily and I have met that goal. I read articles, devotionals and have finished reading 15 books this year. I don’t know if that’s a record for me, but I’ve enjoyed the process and continue to be a life-long learner.
Target boycott 2025
Target was one of my favorite places to shop prior to 2025. The Target leadership decided to reverse multiple Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives due to political pressure. Well, a few folks decided to boycott Target until they put these initiatives back in place. Target has been consistent with the refusal to reverse the decisions—I respect that.
Fun fact 3—I have not spent one cent or step foot in a Target store in 2025. My contributions to this boycott will never make it into a history book but I’m standing firmly committed to this small step to demand better from a place I can choose to shop with or not.
Family and friends
My family members and friends are all healthy and thriving. I make it to Jasper, Florida to visit my mom monthly and this is a highlight of the month for me. I finally convinced her to visit me in Fort Pierce this year and it was a great visit for her. She needed a break from Jasper obligations and I’m happy I could help. I will look forward to getting her back down to Fort Pierce more in 2026. 😊 My friends continue to make me smile daily. I don’t run in a large circle, but my folks fit me, and we enjoy life to the fullest.
Creating content for the Walk into the Future blog is a huge part of my life. I continue to look for ways to become better at writing and provide a platform my readers enjoy visiting. I fine-tuned a few of my writing prompts in 2025 and I’m happy with my overall content production. 2026 should bring better content for my readers!
Well, I can continue to rattle off things from 2025, but I’ve made my point—at least to myself! 😊 2025 has been an outstanding year for me.
I’m excited to see what 2026 will bring!
What moments are you proud of in 2025? What will 2026 bring?
Irie!
Calvin Williams
“The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you’re not going to stay where you are.”
The Walk into the Future blog is designed to highlight my thoughts and adventures. There are days when I have more to say than others but I’m always searching for new content to keep me engaged with this writing process.
My friend Lauren and I discussed creating a blog post to highlight how running is a metaphor for life. 26.2 is life—catchy, huh? 😊 Well, here’s my run at comparing running to Walking into the Future (living life).
Marathon training is a detailed and long process. I normally put myself through an 18-week training program, so the marathon is the last step in this process. I must mentally and physically prepare myself for the grind and I’ve found that I enjoy the training. The grind is real: 4:30 am alarms, 8:30 pm bedtimes, short runs, long runs and physical therapy. I’m always searching for small wins during the training cycle and celebrating them as much as possible.
You don’t have to be an avid runner like me or Lauren to understand marathon training. We all run some type of marathon daily, but you may call it by another name: Life. Marathon training is a perfect metaphor for life as the lessons overlap and there’s growth throughout the process. Let’s explore!
Most folks think of the starting line when discussing a marathon. The starting line is never the hardest part, it’s getting there. I find the starting line to be the most enjoyable part of the marathon. The work put in just to make it to the starting line is something that most runners are proud of. The excitement for the event is high, and you’re surrounded by fresh possibilities for the race outcome. Daily life works in a similar way. New jobs, new goals, and new relationships always feel motivating at first. The ultimate tests come later when the excitement fades, and the work starts to become routine. This is when you must dig deep to ensure you are moving forward with daily activities. Discipline is extremely important in marathon training and life. Discipline carries you further than motivation will.
Marathon training plans come in many different formats. I picked the 18-week version because it provides enough flexibility to fit into my schedule. There are weeks when I feel strong and unstoppable and then there are weeks when my legs are concrete. This is a normal part of the ebb and flow of marathon training. Daily life can resemble this same cycle. We all have good and bad weeks, but progress is never measured in a straight line. You just need to keep showing up daily to make the most out of life.
Dr. Henry Cloud’s book 9 Things You Simply Must Do to Succeed in Love and Life has a chapter titled Work Like an Ant. This chapter highlights how small things can lead to large things. The ants move one grain of sand at a time to build their home. Marathon runners find race day success because of consistent choices throughout the training cycle. Drinking water, getting consistent sleep, easy runs, tempo runs, long runs and recovery are all things needed for running success. Mile after mile is leveraged to build an effective base that leads to marathon success. Daily life can resemble this process. Small things lead to big things—planning, managing your time and setting goals can help you win in life.
I make it a point to never compare my training program to others. My goal is to run my own race, so I never get caught up in how other runners prepare. I toe the marathon starting line looking to run my best race and not trying to beat someone else’s time. This helps me enjoy the training and marathon process. Life can mirror this process. Comparing yourself to others is a fast way to lose joy in things. Everyone has something they are trying to overcome so don’t get caught up in worrying about others—we all have a race (life) to run.
The marathon is a test of will, mental toughness and physical ability. Each component is critical to preparing and completing a marathon. Mile 23 is always the toughest for me as I battle mentally to keep pressing forward. Training for a marathon is one thing but the work during a marathon makes you question life choices. 😊 This is where I need to dig deep and keep putting one foot in front of the other. There are Mile 23 moments in life too. We all face challenges that stretch us and force us to choose what we want to get out of life. These moments help us grow, teach resilience and prove what we are truly capable of.
I don’t remember every mile in my training program, but I can tell you how I felt each time I crossed a marathon finish line. This moment of accomplishment stays with me forever and I love telling people that I am a marathoner. Finishing a difficult chapter in life, overcoming a challenge or reaching a long-term goal can bring the same level of accomplishment. The finish line is something to celebrate not because of the big victory but because the journey was hard.
Regardless of whether you run or not, we all have days filled with obstacles, discipline, growth opportunities and grit. We tackle these challenges, fight through mental and physical fatigues, celebrate small wins and continue to move forward through hard times. That’s the same energy that gets me through the marathon. Call it marathon energy! Keep moving forward and training for the life you want to live. We’re all stronger than we think and can-do hard things. Marathon or life—they both require you to put in the work to be successful.
Who’s ready!
Irie!
Calvin Williams
“Running is the greatest metaphor for life because you get out of it what you put into it.”
“Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.”
(Elbert Hubbard)
Work hard and play hard!
I’ve heard this quote multiple times and decided to look it up to see who originated it. Well, it turns out that it is a bit more complicated than I thought. There is a lot written about the quote and it looks like it goes back to the 19th Century and Racine College’s motto. It was interesting to see this quote associated with the famed poet, Wiz Khalifa and his 2012 hit song, Work Hard Play Hard. 😊 Okay, that’s enough with me trying to be funny and working another Wiz Khalifa mention into a Walk into the Future blog post.
The Indian River State College Student Success Division started hosting an annual Fall Celebration in October 2021. It started as a joke between me and a coworker on the premise we should have a dance battle at work. It was funny at the time but then staff kept asking us when we were dancing. Fast forward and we hosted our 5th Annual Student Success Fall Celebration in October with a Honky Tonk theme.
We work extremely hard on enrollment, retention and completion for our students (work hard) but I want to ensure we have a semblance of balance (play hard). The Fall Celebrations allow us to relax, unwind and just have fun at work. The event continues to grow each year, and we invite our campus partners to join us and have fun.
The Honky Tonk theme was selected back in November 2024 with designs to have everyone wear their best Honky Tonk gear (think western gear with flair) and come ready to have a good time. We added karaoke to our fall celebrations two years ago and it remains a major draw for our staff members and campus partners. I never knew people love to sing karaoke as much as our folks do.
We are always looking for ways to expand our fun levels, and I reached out on a whim to a local dance organization to see if they would come in and give us some line dancing lessons. I love to line dance when I’m in Nashville and thought this would allow more folks to get involved with the fall celebration. I know everyone is not going to sing karaoke but wanted to see if the line dance aspect would get more folks up and having fun—it did! 😊
My Vice President, Beth Gaskin and I are always the opening act, and this year was no different. It took us awhile to figure out how we wanted to start the show and we went back and forth on the song we wanted to open with. I’m not a real singer so I vetoed quite a few songs before we settled on Garth Brooks, Friends in Low Places. We wanted songs that would keep everyone engaged so we added criteria for upbeat songs or party anthems. The singers did not have to perform a country song, but we wanted folks to enjoy a good party while at work. We had several folks follow our grand opening and I was impressed with the singing talent our coworkers displayed.
We stopped singing after an hour and introduced our special guest from the Wild Roses Dance Foundation. This is a local group of dance instructors who teach line dance lessons across the Treasure Coast. I found them through a local Fort Pierce brewery where they host line dance lessons every Thursday night. I went by one Thursday to check them out and then asked if they would be willing to come to our event to get our folks up and dancing. They accepted my request and were a surprise addition to the Fall Celebration.
The Wild Roses instructors provided step by step dance instructions to two separate dances and then turned the entire crew loose to dance to multiple songs. I don’t think I have seen that many smiles on the faces of my teammates! People were enjoying themselves and truly having fun at work. The ultimate image from this portion of our celebration was our President in a full suit and tie line dancing with the team. He normally comes by to see what we are up to during our Fall Celebrations. I never expected him to join the line dancing, but he was spinning and kicking like the rest of us—epic scene from the event this year! 😊
We got back to the karaoke party after line dancing and had several great performances. Beth and I wrapped up the event with our rendition of It’s 5 O’clock Somewhere by Alan Jackson and Jimmie Buffet. It was a fitting way to end the Fall Celebration and allow the crowd to sing along with us as we ended the day.
There were several folks asking what we were going to do next year. It’s a bit early to identify the 2026 Fall Celebration theme but I’m sure we will come up with something HUGE—we always do! 😊
How do you have fun at work?
Irie!
Calvin Williams
“No man goes before his time—unless the boss leaves early.”
I love running with Track Shack! This is not a startling revelation, but I like to share it with my readers. 😊
I started running with Track Shack when I moved to Oviedo, Florida in October 2010. There’s another running organization, Front Running Sports, in the area but the Track Shack races always appealed to me and were closer to my home. I ran as a Track Shack Fanatic for several years since this saved me money for races I was going to run in anyway. I’m no longer a Fanatic but still make my way ‘home’ for 3 races each year.
The Celebration of Running 5k is one of my regular Track Shack races and I made my way back over for the 2025 Celebration of Running 5k in Winter Park, Florida in August. This race normally starts my running season, but I got an early start with races in North Dakota, Wisconsin, and the Watermelon 5k in Winter Park.
My times in this race have been decent, but the humidity and early part of the running season never allowed me to maximize my finish times. I know this is all just another excuse, but this race provides me with the data I need to determine how much I need to push myself to train for longer distance races in the fall.
I’m happy to report I took 31 seconds off my 2024 time and finished in 28:34 (twenty-eight minutes and 34 seconds) with a 9:10 per mile pace. I have run faster times but I’m happy to hit this time marker considering the time of year, heat and humidity we had on race day. My mile splints were:
I felt good throughout the race, but Mile 2 was a tough transition because of the new course design. We normally run on a wider street for this portion, but the new design was narrow and created bottleneck areas for runners. This was not a huge problem, but I felt boxed in a lot more this year which slowed my pace a bit. I didn’t fall off a cliff in Mile 2 but would have liked to run a faster split here since I was feeling good. I got back on track during Mile 3 and started smiling with half a mile to go. I was tracking a few other runners and began to reel them one by one. I crossed the finish line with a smile and still felt fresh after competing in Orlando humidity. 😊
I was able to catch up with a few Track Shack friends, get my beers and take a few pictures in the race village. I decided not to head over to the Seminole Cross Trail this year to complete my long run. The humidity was thick, so I pivoted back to my hotel and got some extra miles in on the treadmill. I snuck in a quick full body workout since the day was still young.
I’m happy with my training progress so far and look forward to my longer races during this season. I’ve still got work to do but I can see progress with my time, weight and mental approach.
Happy running! 😊
Irie!
Calvin Williams
“What seems hard now will one day be your warmup.”
“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.”
“Persistence and resilience only come from having been given the chance to work through difficult problems.”
(Gever Tulley)
What’s a Triple H Day? Great question and I’m more than happy to share my definition with you. 😊
I discovered or encountered a Triple H Day (heat, humidity and hills) during the 2025 Midwest Financial Group Mini-Marathon when I ventured up to Madison, Wisconsin. I selected this race to further my running tourist adventures and run in Wisconsin. Madison is close enough to the Iowa border, so it was an ideal location to drive over to Iowa to explore while I was in the Midwest again.
August can be a tricky month for racing but the normal average temperatures for Madison range from a high of 81 to a low of 57. Well, I didn’t get average temperatures for my weekend visit. I watched the temperatures before heading up with hopes that they would get back down to the average range, but I left Florida knowing the high on race was expected to be 85 degrees. The race time temperature was projected to be around 67.
Well, let’s fast forward and the race time temperature was 71 with humidity and it felt warmer than that when I made my way downtown.
I came to Madison with intentions of running fast but understood early that the heat and humidity would provide a different outcome for my race day. The racecourse eventually factored into my race outcome as well. The hills came early and often for this race. The best part of the day was being around other runners who were experiencing the same agony, and we laughed together on the course when we encountered a new hill. FYI—the course designers are diabolical because the last 2 miles are on a steep incline and there were a lot of runners cursing as we made our way towards the finish line. 😊
The racecourse and scenery were beautiful! I don’t want to come across as complaining about the race or setup. It was a challenging course and gave me a barometer on my training progress and things I need to work on to keep improving. The race does show I have a level of resilience that I didn’t know existed. I was able to battle from start to finish and get up and over every hill I faced. I’m proud of my ability to focus on the goal of completing this race and enjoying the process (as much as possible) so I could get to the finish line party. I knew at Mile #5 it was going to be a tough run day but kept moving forward towards my goal.
I started to chunk the race into manageable pieces after Mile #5 to keep myself motivated and moving forward. I noticed at this point that my run outfit was completely soaked in sweat—so much so that sweat was falling off my run shorts onto my shoes. My shoes started feeling like I had been running in the rain and got heavy as the race progressed.
My focus switched from a specific finish time to running even mile splits for the rest of the race. I wanted to test myself against the elements and see how I would respond. I started to enjoy the race more once I released myself from a specific time and just enjoyed the Wisconsin scenery and the folks who were out cheering for random runners. I started to smile again around Mile #10 and soaked in downtown Madison as we passed through the University of Wisconsin. Camp Randall Stadium was not open so I never got a chance to Jump Around—not sure I had enough energy, but it would have been a cool experience.
I lost my smile at Mile #12 as we faced the largest incline on the racecourse. This was not a fun part of the race, but I never stopped moving forward even though I was cursing as loud as the people next to me. 😊 A reprieve came as we got a nice downhill run to the finish line. My sprint was subdued but my smile was big as I finished this race and collected my race medal. I got a few pictures at the end and headed to the lake to get my beer and soak in the atmosphere.
How hot was it? The race day high was 91 degrees and a lot of humidity. I’m pretty sure I sweated away 10 pounds during this adventure based on how wet my run outfit was at the end. Luckily, I carb loaded the week prior. 😊
I survived a Triple H Day in Madison, Wisconsin and look forward to new running adventures soon. I’m not sure if I will run this race again but would love to get back up to Wisconsin to explore multiple areas because it is beautiful. I may look at the University of Wisconsin’s football schedule to see if I can get tickets to a football game so I can experience the Jump Around portion of the game and explore more areas. We will see! 😊
Irie!
“Life does not get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient.”
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.
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!
Walk Into the Future 