Spring Break!

Friday, March 10, 2017 · Mike Davis

Good morning!

Been a crazy week! Kathy and I flew out to Colorado Monday early, only to get hung up in Salt Lake City for nearly 5 hours, before finally being blown around and landing at our final destination. We then spent 3 days with our daughter Brittany, grandson Talon and our newest grandson Knox. Not a misprint, our youngest grandson’s given name is Knox. While it was a quick 3 days and some cramped flights, it was wonderful to see our daughter and our grandchildren. True blessings from God.

While we were in Colorado, Kathy got me out for a short run that felt like a hill workout without, though we didn’t have much incline. For sure, the altitude was as advertised and we both did not take long to feel lactic acid forming. We saw a sign that said that we were at something like 5,600 feet above sea level! I was extremely pleased that Kathy was motivated to get out, as it would have been easy for me to pass. As we were walking to cooldown (and catch our breath), I told Kath how great it is to get a workout in when we are away from home. I always have good intentions but, workouts do not happen much when it is such a short trip.

This week is spring break for us college kids, so it was a great time to take a quick trip but, now my focus is on our Exercise Science test we have next Wednesday. This next test will mark the mid-point of our test schedule and that will be a relief. I am not smart enough to be able to relax and be confident so, each test brings a heightened level of anxiety. I am still undecided about what is next at the end of this semester but, I will leave that to divine direction. Whether it is more formal education or some other challenge, I am pleased with knowledge I have gained through these courses. Understanding all the intricate connections within our anatomy gives me much greater insight into how we function as runners or more importantly; not function.

While this spring break has been nice because of our time in Colorado, it has not been a week of fitness. Thankfully we did get the workout in on Wednesday, as well as quite a bit of walking, but outside of that, it has been more a week of over indulgent. Too many deserts and probably carbs altogether. Kathy continues to educate me on nutrition and while I do okay at times, I want to be more consistent. Kathy and I have discussed the possibility of her writing a piece on nutrition that we can share on the website but, that must wait for enough time in her schedule. I am definitely lacking in knowledge but, portion control, fats and understanding working out does not negate enough caloric intake are all things that Kathy is stressing to me. We all have some knowledge, or at least concept of nutrition but, despite what I read, I am still ignorant to much of what Kathy is talking to me about. While ignorance might give me an excuse for making poor choices, my body is not apathetic to my ignorance. Running and working out are an important part of my life but, they are not going to balance out poor diet decisions.

Staying on the nutrition subject. I read a caption of a story that said that overweight people are giving up on weight loss. While that sounds terrible, I can understand why that may be happening. We (me included), all struggle with overcoming various challenges and while I might have overcome the challenge of drinking soda fairly quickly, I have taken longer to eliminate other things. In fact, I am still working at eliminating or better controlling nutritional choices. I won’t get deep but, I most definitely believe that self-improvement is what living is about and yet, I can get stuck at times and easily give in to giving up. That is why I can easily understand why people that struggle with their weight may give up and while it might be easy for me to be judgmental, it would be more productive to be loving and help those that I have the opportunity to.

As running coaches, we are much more effective if we embrace each runner with compassion and understanding of their unique challenges. The NFLR brand is centered on a 2 degree of change philosophy (though I may be the only one who knows that). This means that we take each runner where they are at and while it may seem like they need to make big changes, we instead focus on smaller changes (2 degrees), that gives them greater chances of success. Ultimately the success helps to develop greater improvement and thus that initial 2 degrees webs out and becomes limitless. Try it on yourself on any aspect of your life and it can make a huge difference. Nutrition, running, strength training, relationships, vices and on and on…

Okay, now that I have delved into motivational speaking, I better quit before I get silly. Have a great Friday and a super weekend! Thanks for having coffee with me!

God Bless!

Mike