Category: Motivation

Running is Hard. Life is Hard. It’s all Good!

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I like to run.  A lot.  I like running very much (so I like running a lot).  I also like to run a lot of miles (so I like running a lot).   (I like when a sentence such as “I like running a lot” can be interpreted two different ways.)

When I run, which is most often on a treadmill at irrational hours of the early morning, I usually listen to music on my iPod.  I often get inspired by inspiring songs.  (I wonder how many other obvious statements I can write in this passage.)

I find every run, no matter what the distance, to be hard.  Every single run presents a challenge.

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What Classical Music Can Teach About Quality Instruction

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I enjoy music. Most people do, of course.  Depending on our mood or purpose for listening, we enjoy different music styles at different times. When I run, I usually like up-beat fast paced music that will energize or inspire me. I look for songs with motivational lyrics or songs with a great beat. (Or songs from the Rocky movies.)  Other times, other music will suffice.  Sometimes a little Sinatra goes a long way as I complete some of my daily routines.

Over the past few years, I have found that listening to classical music also provides me with a certain peace and tranquility. I have found that the more I listen to classical music, the more I enjoy it.

For much of my life, I tried to enjoy classical music, but a few things got in the way.

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The Story of a Sax

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I was eight years old.  A third grader.  Elementary school…

We had to choose an instrument to play.

I picked the saxophone.

The sax is a very cool instrument.

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It Can’t Be Done

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These might be old stories, but they are all worth repeating because they speak to a common theme.

(For added enjoyment, follow the hyperlinks embedded in this post.)

***

The year was 1954.  In athletics there was a sense that a human could not physically run faster than a four minute mile.  “It’s impossible,” many said.  Athlete after athlete trained and tried – and all fell short.  The four minute mile seemed to be an impassible barrier.

And then, on May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister did it.  Bannister ran a sub-four minute mile!  He did something no human being had ever done before.  The impossible had occurred – like catching lightning in a bottle.  Many thought that Bannister’s feat was fluke, a one-in-a-million occurrence.

Six weeks later, an Australian, John Landy, bested Roger Bannister’s time.

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Just Start Writing

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Recently I ran into one of my biggest fears. The week was drawing to a close and I did not have any thoughts or new material for a weekly passage that I write for teachers. (Those weekly passages helped give birth to this blog.)

I am a believer in a theory I termed, “Just Start Writing.”  I find that when I start to put words to the page, my creative juices start to flow, the blank page disappears, and a passage (at least in rough draft form) is completed.

What follows is a reflection that I originally wrote for teachers, but I believe the bigger message can be applied for all.

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The Story of a Winner (Meb Keflezighi)

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It is probably somewhat normal, even for adults, to have favorite sports figures that they root for.  Baseball, football, and hockey players, tennis and golf stars, auto racers, and others come to mind.  With that being said, there are probably few people who have a professional marathoner for whom they root.

I am one of those people.  I am fan of Meb Keflezighi.  He’s a champion marathoner.

But it hasn’t always been that way.

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26.2

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For a short time, I was going to title this blog 26.2.  Why 26.2?  It’s simple, that’s the distance of a marathon.

I run marathons.

I’m not fast.  I don’t ever win.  If I finish in the top 20% of all runners in a given race, I am thrilled. Lately, as I get get older, I am becoming happy to finish in the top 50% of all runners.

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