Secrets and Christy Brown!

Sunday, December 18, 2011 · Mike Davis

A week from today is Santa’s big day; he’ll lace up those Asics and slide down millions of chimneys to deliver us the warmth and spirit of Christmas. I hope that each of you is overcoming the craziness of the season to enjoy what it’s meant to be. The splendor is wonderful, but there is far more to the celebration for me.

Thank you Jennifer for your post, it’s nice to read someone else’s thoughts on how to stay motivated. I checked in with Jennifer to see if she had a good week of running, and she in fact had a great week of running. Writing down a plan each week is a powerful way to motivate oneself to stay committed. What Jennifer also did was she shared her plan with others and too helped because of the accountability. As I have written about many times, having a weekly plan and sharing it (accountability), is very effective. My nature is one that if I tell someone I’m going to do something, I won’t let anything get in my way to go out and do it. Nothing brings me down more than not following through with a plan, so I use those qualities to my advantage when it comes to my running or workouts.

Did you have a good week? I know for a fact that a bunch of you ran the annual Coastal Jingle Bell pub run on Thursday and yesterday I couldn’t believe when I showed up at Runners Alley and there must have been over 60 runners there for the Saturday morning run. Wow, runners are finding time during this crazy time of year to lace up those shoes! I’m working with a group right now that’s determined to run right through these next months and toe the line for the Hampton Half marathon.

What’s the secret for these runners?

As Jennifer talked about last week, one way is to write down a plan and stick to it. She had a great week with that strategy and a few of you used that same method as well. So write down your plan for the week right now! Mine is this: Monday- strength workout in the AM, run in the afternoon, Tuesday- Run in the AM, Wednesday- strength train in the AM, run in the afternoon, Thursday- run in the AM, Friday- strength train in the AM, run in the afternoon, Saturday- run in the AM. There you go, someone please ask me nicely how I’m doing or did?

Another successful method for getting out on the road is the group dynamic approach. Some of you are using that concept with tremendous success and with some added benefits. My wife and a bunch of other ladies trade emails starting on Monday about running together and by weeks end they have often run a few times together. Great way to get yourself out running and the added benefit of friendship time. This past week a bunch of ladies that run together had a party to say goodbye to Christy who is going off for 8 months. How special is that? Christy is quite a special person and through running, we have all come to love her. My thoughts and prayers will be with you Christy! Hopefully this group of ladies will keep the momentum going over the winter despite the absence of a key facilitator.

Thursday night my wife and I were out to dinner and we ran into a guy that from our church who I’ve only ever spoken to ever so briefly. I did remember seeing him buying shoes at Runners Alley once, so I asked about his running. He told me that he had run a race, but not so much lately. I gave him my business card and told him to email me about getting together to run. Apparently he lives fairly close to us, so there’s another potential running partner that may help me get on the road on a tough day. We have all run with each other, so use that knowledge to seek out a partner or a group. The benefits will go far beyond running I promise.

What are the secrets? Reach out to someone or a group. If you can’t do that, write down a plan for the week and send it to someone. It all helps to be accountable and offers great benefits.

This week’s blog post is dedicated to Christy Brown. Christy exemplifies what running is all about and had it not been for running, I would not have the blessings of Christy in my life. One week from now Christy will be off to serve our country and your only chance to see her between now and then; will most likely be to lace up your shoes. Be safe and God’s speed Christy! Love you

Have a great week everyone!

mike