Why we empower

Sunday, May 01, 2016 · Mike Davis

Good morning and happy May! Grab a mug of coffee and pull up stool. This past week has been a crazy one for me as I dawned the uniform for the last time and have had to endure a week of recovering from oral surgery. As tough as it was to say goodbye to the uniform and all it represented; I think the recovery from the oral surgery was actually worse! No physical activity, lots of soup and no coffee for the week! Each day has been a little better but, the last couple are definitely better. Tomorrow I will go in for my post-op and get the stiches out from both the roof of my mouth and the area where they injected the tissue. Been not such an easy week both physically and mentally. Better days ahead! Yesterday we began our “NFLR Community Spring/Summer” training group and we are super excited about it! This group is going to primarily be led by Coaches Doug, Julie and Jennifer and will allow for various levels all the way down to someone that put their first steps forward for a run. Because of our training methods we will be able to accept additions to the group for up till week 3, so if you are unable to get there early on, come join any time before the end of week 3 and you’ll be fine! We actually have some folks that aren’t available and will join in a week a too late and they well understand from past experience that they will be fine! Often we are trying to re-address our mission statement or our tag line that best represents what “No Finish Line Running” is. “NFLR” has been in existence for 5 years now and the tag line that we have had on our website has been: “Running to Empower.” That certainly fits what our focus is very well because we truly work to help every level of runner to empower themselves through strong, healthy and enjoyable running. That empowerment allows for a running life that is predicated on a deeper almost spiritual fulfillment that comes from not a particular finish but, a physical and mental pleasure. Pretty deep for sure and yet it is at the heart of our belief in running being a lifetime activity. A great example is one of our runners who trained tremendously hard for Boston this year and yet due to a viral infection he had to change his intensions from shoot for a specific time to running with some friends for purely fun. Knowing the desire to excel of this runner I wondered how he would feel with a far slower time than we spent months training for. A few days after the race this incredibly hard working runner dropped me an email and he could not have been more uplifted by his enjoyment that hot day in Boston. In fact his thoughts are that he may always approach Boston in the future just the way he ran it this particular time. It is truly great to qualify for Boston and that is truly indicative of hard work but, to actually get to Boston and just enjoy it without worry of a particular time; now that is really cool! “Running to Empower!” Well I have to go meet with another marathoner this morning and she would like to talk about her future goals and yes a “BQ” (Boston qualifying time) is one of them. I enjoy that challenge in working with our runners but, we are sneaky in that we try to also help them gain a greater empowerment through our working with them. I do not know if we will work with this woman but, it is always fun to meet and get to know someone. Our consultations are free and fun, and whether or not a partnership is established is usually determined by the ultimate goals of the individual blend with “NFLR.” Like the gentlemen mentioned above, we worked to improve his time but, more importantly we trained to empower him. Have a great May! God Bless! Mike