Silver Linings to My Marathon Woes

I have run 13 marathons.  Nine of those marathons were actual races.  Eight of those races were Boston Marathon Qualifiers, and in every attempt, I failed to qualify for the elite Boston Race.

In a recent Blog Post, I did my best to identify whatever silver linings (life lessons) I could find in the midst of feeling very disappointed at having failed in my ultimate marathon goal I had been working on since January 2011.  

Last Saturday, in New Braunfels, Texas, I found another silver lining by recording a new personal best for the half-marathon race distance.
I also finished first in my age group (I love small town road races!  SMILE)  My time was 1 hour 32 minutes and 36 seconds (1:32.36).  I am making progress toward reaching my mid-term goal (sub 1:30), and my ultimate goal (sub 1:20).

The BEST part about the entire race was that I was able to avoid the dreaded "WALL" that almost always cuts my legs off somewhere during the second 13 miles of a full marathon.  I cannot adequately express how much more I like running half marathons than marathons.  It was wonderful beyond words to be able to finish after 13.1 miles instead of merely being half done with the race with a growing knowledge that the "WALL" is looming.  While a marathon is twice as long as a half-marathon, it often feels about 10 times harder.  

Chances are good that someday (perhaps in my 50s or 60s), I will have the time and opportunity to put in the necessary training to finally accomplish my elusive Boston Marathon goal.  In the meantime, I am genuinely enjoying the next chapter of my running career, which will not include races beyond 13 miles.  I can hardly wait to keep working and improving at shorter distances, which I have more talent in anyway.  I am having more fun and enjoying running more since my retirement from the marathon distance.  I love half-marathons!  Thank God for the silver linings in the storm clouds of life.

Chapter 1 Starts on Monday!

A Personal Letter from the Author...

To my Dear Readers,

I want to take this opportunity to thank you for whatever time you have invested in following my blog.  I hope you have found the information I have shared so far to be relevant and meaningful.

The purpose of this post is to announce some important changes to my initial plans to publish my book serially beginning early next year on its official, hard-copy publication date.

Instead of waiting until January, I have decided to go ahead and start sharing the actual text, beginning with Chapter 1, next week (Monday, October 27).  From that point on, instead of sending out two longer posts a week that may take up to 20 minutes to read, I have decided to send out three shorter posts a week that can be read much more quickly.  My reading audience is filled with busy people leading productive lives.  As such, I want to make this journey as convenient as possible, so instead of posting entire chapters, I am going to publish single sections at a time.

Experts will tell you that maintaining basic levels of physical fitness requires that you work out a minimum of three times per week.  If this is true for our physical bodies, it is surely true for other areas of our life as well (e.g., mental, emotional, social, spiritual, etc.).  These brief, but powerful, blog posts that will be published weekly on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, will provide a means of keeping you fit intellectually and existentially.  If you enjoy these "Workouts," and find them helpful, please tell others about them, that the positive message of Self-Action Leadership may begin to proliferate to increasing numbers of people who seek self-improvement and personal growth.

My next blog will be published tomorrow (Friday), and will contain the final installment of "Pre-text" information.  Beginning Monday, the Book BEGINS.  I hope you will join me on this journey, and I hope that reading this book will be as beneficial in your life as writing it has been in mine.

With Gratitude,

-Dr. JJ