I never really knew much about running when I started. In fact I used to (and still do at some points) hate it. I didn't enjoy it for most of my life and actually threw javelin on my college track and field team so I could hang out with my track buddies without having to run. I hated it that much. I just started to do it as a byproduct of triathlons and like I said, I really didn't know much. I had run exactly 1 5k about 6 months before before I started ...
Archives for October 2012
25 Things To Do With 25 Dollars
Greetings from NYC. I'm here meeting with the crew from Pencils of Promise for a few days and visiting the city for the first time in over a decade before coming back to Chicago tomorrow and running the 50k ultramarathon this weekend. Things are busy! --- If you're like me, you rarely use cash anymore. Nevertheless, I probably have about $25 on me at all times for random purchases, cash fare, or in case of emergency, etc. Here's 25 things to do with the ...
Do What You Hate
Do what you love. I think if I hear that one more time I'm going to throw up. It's not necessarily bad advice, but it's so overused there are legioins of people running around waiting for something they love to show up in their laps and change their life and are disappointed when that doesn't happen. I'm going to offer alternative advice. Do what you hate. Pick something you hate. Learn to love it anyways. Here's why: Do what you love makes it ...
Adventures In Wadi Rum
One of the major goals of this blog is to live a story worth writing about. That involves quite a few different adventures and experiences. A few months ago I spent 8 days in the country of Jordan – here's one of the adventures I had there. ---- Wadi Rum might be one of my favorite places on earth. Over the course of 24 hours, we went on a jeep tour throughout the desert, went skydiving on mars. On our way back to the desert waiting tent where we waited ...
A Brief Guide To Bravery
Spoiler alert: You don't have to be brave to do brave things. How Bravery Works There's this misconception that you have to be brave to do brave things. That's a bunch of crap. There aren't brave people – there are just people who do stuff that scares them and people who let fear tell keep them from doing things. Most people assume "brave" people accomplish "brave" things this way: Born without fear. Do something incredible. In reality, it usually ...
Running Back To Back Marathons
A few years ago, I had never run more than 3 miles. After a few triathlons and some other short distance races, I ended up running my first marathon – barefoot. When I finished that, I basically told myself I never want to do that again – I was done running marathons – at least that's what I thought... Sometime after my legs had forgotten how much pain they experienced during my first marathon, the idea of running an ultra got planted in my mind. I ...
How You Can Help Sponsor The Ultra & Get A Personalized Video From Me
A little over 6 weeks ago, we announced we were going to build an #impossible school through a partnership with Pencils of Promise. The goal was big – really big – $25,000 to build a school by the end of the year. As part of the effort, I'll be running my first ultra marathon at the end of the month and running a 50k along the south short of Lake Michigan in Chicago and invited everyone to join in and do something impossible, set a goal and raise money for ...
First World Problems
First World Problems. The meme has thousands of hashtags, youtube videos and tumblr blogs devoted to first world citizens contemplating the inner turmoil caused by their daily latte taking too long to prepare or troublesome inconsistent wifi networks. It's a meme I usually am able to tune it out, but I saw one this weekend that caught my attention: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxyhfiCO_XQ I'm not the most empathetic person in the world. Nate says ...
Why Simple Is Hard and Why Easy Sucks
Why Simple Is Hard Lots of things are incredibly hard, but relatively simple to accomplish. Running a marathon is hard, but it's simple. Just don't stop until you've moved 26.2 miles from the starting point. Losing weight is simple. Cut out processed foods and move frequently. Starting a business is simple. Sell a product or service that people will give you money for. It's all very simple. But that doesn't mean it will be easy. There are a ton of ...
