Tag: running

LITMUS TEST 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️

This is my lady and I enjoying an ice cold refreshment after running a 5K. I do this once a year for 2 very good reasons. First, it supports the Wisconsin State Fair Park Foundation. I enjoy the great Wisconsin State Fair and this Foundation raises money to make improvements to the Park as well as other great causes.

The second reason is even more personal. I use it as a litmus test to see what kind of shape I am in. I see how my body feels when I’m done (usually like I swallowed a flaming charcoal briquette) how long it takes me (women with strollers often pass me) and how long it takes me to recover.

Knowing this personal test of my fitness is coming up, it motivates me to get back to my fitness goals. Sometimes it is only a week before, but other times I am a little more diligent. That is yet another thing to compare year to year.

How about you and your life? What litmus test do you give yourself? Is it in the area of fitness or some other important area of your life? Having these tests in our lives can keep us focused and driving to our goal.

I’M DOING WHAT?!😲

Today I am doing something that I like to do every year, I am going to run a 5K. This may not sound too crazy. Especially to any of my friends who are runners. Let me explain, I do not fit into that category. My body is better equipped to cheer on runners than do any of the running myself. This is exactly why I do it. It is important to test and push yourself.

This year will be a little bit different than the last 5 years I have done this run. In addition to my asthma, and the fear of hyperventilating, I am only 6 months removed from open heart surgery. Some people think I am crazy, but I am excited to not give up on the idea of self-improvement due to a set back like heart surgery.

I am not advocating being foolish with your health. My doctor advised me to listen to my body. There is a certain growth and self-realization that only comes when you push yourself and become uncomfortable. There is also a feeling of pride and accomplishment when you complete the task.

Think of ways in which you can push yourself, and step outside of your comfort zone. Think of ways you have done this in the past. What growth came out of that?

30 DAYS OF GRATITUDE (DAY #6)

Welcome back to our celebration of 30 days of gratitude. Each day we will focus on one area of our life to be grateful for. If this is your first day doing this I invite you to go back and do the days before this. You can do them in your head, write them down and home, but it is my hope you decide to share what you are grateful for with our community here on Secret2anamazinglife.com. There are no rules. Do one day or do all 30. Let us now look at today’s area of gratitude.

This is a bit tricky for me as I love nature in general. I will try to narrow down some of my favorite aspects for sake of this post. Without a doubt, sunshine leads the way here. I love the feel of sun on my skin. I find it both relaxing and energizing at the same time. The fact that I live in a city that was recently named one of the 10 gloomiest cities in the United States, means it is also rare here. That makes me even more grateful when it does arrive. I really enjoying seeing deer grazing along the side of the road as Margie and I drive through the park. I love green, which again is rare this time of year. I like watching fish in fish tanks. I find it kind of sounding and hypnotic. I love a good summer thunderstorm. I find it so primal and moving. The smell of the earth after a spring rain is amazing. The sound of leaves rustling in the breeze.

Nature, like so many of these topics we are highlighting in these 30 days, has so many things to be grateful for. We are only on day #6 and I have already learned something and had a profound insight. Once we begin to focus on being grateful for a certain subject, it seems to expand. You may try to pick your favorite thing in nature to be grateful for, and then one thing leads to another and then another. I could literally spend an afternoon thinking of things I am grateful for in nature.

How about you? What in nature inspires you to feel gratitude? I have friends that are runners, cyclists, campers, hunters and fisherman. I am sure they all love nature and would probably have a different thing they are most thankful for. I look forward to hearing yours. Whether you live near the redwoods, the Amazon or even on the coast of Greenland, nature is all around us and very beautiful.

CLICK HERE TO GET NEIL’S BOOK FILLED WITH IDEAS TO MAKE YOUR LIFE AMAZING

WHAT I LEARNED FROM THE 4-MINUTE MILE

Let me start by letting you all in on a few secrets. First, I do not, nor have I ever run a 4-minute mile. After eating all of the delicious meals Margie makes, I would be lucky to run a 40-minute mile. Also this post is not about running, it is about the power of belief.

You may have heard how powerful your beliefs are. You may have even heard they have a large influence in your life. You may have even scoffed at these two ideas. I am here to take this one step further and tell you that your beliefs can not only influence your life, but influence the entire world! Sound a little crazy and far-fetched?  Let us look at the history of the 4-minute mile and I will let you decide for yourself.

Humans have existed on this planet for a very long time in some form for fashion. Depending on your belief the length varies, but at the very least it has been many thousands of years. In that time, prior to the above date in 1954, no human had ever run a 4-minute mile. In fact, until that date, it was believed (there is that word again) that is was physically impossible for a human to run that fast. We were told our heart would explode, lungs could not handle it and that the physical make-up would not allow it. After much pizza and rum that still holds true for me, but I digress.

Enter Roger Bannister, a British athlete set to compete in the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki where he finished fourth in the 1500 meters. This strengthened his resolve to break the 4-minute mile which he did at Oxford on May 6th, 1954, running 3 minutes 59.4 seconds. He proved what many had said was impossible.

That is not the coolest part of the story. As we discussed the amount of people who ran that fast prior to that day in May were zero. Roger Bannister’s record, however, fell after only 46 days! Since then over 1000 people have raced at less than a 4-minute mile. How is this possible? Did human genetics suddenly change? Did the world suddenly get faster? How do we go from zero people doing it for thousands of years, to over a thousand in a little over 50? What changed?

The only thing that changed was the belief that it was possible. This was first done by Roger Bannister visualizing himself doing it so much that it became believable to him. After he accomplished it people everywhere now could believe it was possible for them as well. If this is true about an athletic accomplishment that has stood since the evolution of man, isn’t it true about your own life as well?  That business you want to start is not impossible. The weight loss you want to achieve, it is possible. You want to beat that addiction? It is possible! When others, or maybe even the person in the mirror, tell you something is impossible for you to do remember the story of the 4-minute mile.If you see me at the gym, forget all about a 4-minute mile.