Stress and Mike

Friday, January 09, 2015 · Mike Davis

Good morning! It is Friday and most of you are saying Yeah, I am say yeah for another reason! This is my weekend to work at the base, but today is also the start of a major inspection that has been at the forefront of our focus for over a year now. Inspections are never fun in the military, but as I get older I definitely stress much less. In general I am not a person that appears to stress a lot, but truth be told; inwardly I can stress with the best of them, if not worse. The blessings that I have to combat stress are my faith and running, both allow for me to sort through the stresses in my life and either find a solution or release them. Using my time on the road when running may be the second most useful time in my life as I often sort through all that is going on and work through solutions and ideas. This time is so perfect because of the minimal distractions and the ability to focus solely on a single issue. Typically I start out my individual runs with thinking about my running form, then I settle in and sort through my file of stresses and current activities. From those I try to let go of those stresses or issues that I have no control (more to come on those) and then prioritize the issues that I have some control over. Around mile 2 I usually have my list prioritized and now I pick one to focus on and it isn’t always necessarily the highest priority, but I let one thought kind of grab me. Initially I think pretty out of the box extreme and then attack it from every possible angle until an idea or solution starts to make sense. This goes on until I get within my final mile and usually I am pretty excited that I have a plan of action for something or a solution to a problem. Much of what you see at No Finish Line Running is the result of a long run or from ideas through a group run. You cannot begin to imagine some of the crazier ideas that I have thought through during a run, but because the run was long enough I was able to determine nix them! Some like the “No Finish Line Running Coaching & Endurance Resource Center” were derived while making my way around Dover in running shoes. The second and most useful time in my life (but not used enough) is when I take a problem or a stress to God in prayer. This is a running blog so I am not here to get you to church, though that’s not a bad idea. Thankfully I was raised to understand that I have little if any control and through faith I have learned that a little prayer goes a long ways. Through the years I have been up and down with my faith, but when I am actually able to turn most of my fears and worries over to God through a simple prayer I have freed myself of some burdens and been able to focus on the few things I have some control over. Sounds simple? It really is but it requires me to have faith and to drop the arrogant part of me that I can control my life. For me running is very spiritual but not as valuable as a faith in someone greater than me that can move mountains while I have to run around the mountain. Praise the Lord! Okay, just kidding, well not kidding, but just a little hint into another part of my life. Sorry this wasn’t your typical Friday “Quick Intervals”, but I felt like talking about stress a little today. Hopefully I didn’t offend anyone as my only intent was to talk about how I deal with stress on various levels. I hope you have a great Friday and an even better weekend! Mike