Monday morning coffee and chat with the Coach

Monday, October 06, 2014 · Mike Davis

Good morning! With a crazy schedule I have not been able to sit and sip coffee nor blog as usual. Life certainly has its challenges sometimes and for a while my schedule will certainly be quite challenging. No complaints on my part as most of the business is due to working with some great runners both with groups and individuals. Thankfully some of my individual clients are early morning people so I am able to balance between morning and afternoon when I need to spend time with them. When my days of wearing the uniform come to an end I will really enjoy the additional time in my day that can allow me to focus on the administrative aspects of No Finish Line Running. For now my primary focus is my runners and groups, and after that I try to blog regularly, work on resources to help runner and try to keep up with the administrative aspects of running a business. While NFLR is a wonderful part of my life, it is in fact a thriving business that requires much of the same attention as other small businesses. The other day I got a short lecture (thank you) from a client about becoming an LLC. Coincidentally I have it on my schedule this Friday to go to Concord and get that done. Something I should have done long ago but kept putting off. Now the debate will be over trademarking "No Finish Line Running"? Yesterday Sarah, one of NFLR's clients ran her first marathon in Maine and not surprising to me she not only finished but did quite well. Sarah did not have a time goal but she understood my plan for her and based on her finish time, I would guess she followed it precisely. We will sit down when she is ready and I will be able to get greater detail and that data will be another building block for NFLR. Every runner that we work with is a building block in the ever evolving philosophy of NFLR. Most runners like Sarah come to us with unique circumstances and we approach their training solely based on their uniqueness. Sarah was a great example of what many runners do today in that she found a generic plan and attempted to follow it. Half way through her training she felt strongly that this plan wasn't preparing her properly and came to us. After reviewing her plan I agreed that it wasn't preparing her for a successful marathon and we changed her training considerably. Honestly I am not a fan of training plans that are not designed for the individual and while many can be successful, I believe that training should be personal. Congratulations Sara Grazier on your first marathon! You showed me great strength, determination and a passion for running that was a great joy to work with. Your trust in NFLR is exactly the type of relationship that is required to have the ultimate success. Now take this advice to heart Sarah and take time to let your body heal. The rule is a day of rest for every mile you raced. That may be old school, but we care about your lifetime of running and taking care of your body will insure greater and healthy running ahead! Well done! Time to move along. Have a great day! Mike