Three miles in the gym on the Stairmaster. Today I realized it’s not actually a Stairmaster, but a stepping machine built by Lifecycle. My calf felt pretty good today. The one difference is I applied KT tape yesterday. That stuff is AMAZING. I haven’t run with it (other than today’s gym experience), but within 5 minutes of putting it on my calf, the pain in my Achilles disappeared. As a result, I was tempted to hit the road but decided to play it safe and save up for thirteen miles on Saturday. Thirteen miles. Wow.

I started two hours later than I hoped, and realized I’m a hypocrite. I’m preaching to the kids the importance of setting good habits by first realizing what’s important to you. And I’m not practicing what I’m preaching. A few small changes can ave an amazing impact, and I need to make those changes. Writing down goals and plans is INCREDIBLY important. It’s a proven approach. While I’ve been telling that to the kids, I haven’t been practicing it myself.

Overall, the single greatest flaw in the program so far is consistency. I’m putting in the work, but it’s not at the same time which affects the rest of the day. It involves planning things the night before so everything is ready. It involves getting enough sleep. It involves getting the feet on the floor once the alarm goes off, and not THINKING. Just do.

It’s a new month. The second month of the quarter means new resolutions for the month of August. My goal for August is to complete a 16 mile run without stopping. The plan for getting there involves a focus on sleep and set routines. The challenge this month includes dealing with the beginning of school for the kids – which means finishing my runs by 6:30am. That’ll mean once the Wednesday run increases to 10 miles, I’ll need to start somewhere around 4am to be certain I complete it. I should start that time anyway – which means waking up at 3:30am and preparing the night before. Starting tonight, I’ll write down what I accomplished, the goals for the week, and the plan for the next day. Immediately upon waking, I’ll stretch and make coffee, get dressed, and start whatever workout I planned.

Tomorrow is an “off” day on the marathon training program, which means I’ll get up and do yoga. YouTube has been a blessing with several “Yoga for Runners” routines out there that do the trick. It’s more difficult to shut out the world when at home, but that just means more focus.

That’s boring. Consistency is boring. Being a hamster on a wheel in the gym is boring. But getting results is not boring. In order to deliver on my “Wait, wait, watch THIS” approach to life, consistency needs to be at the heart of what happens. That’s true with the marathon, and every other goal. Habits, habits, habits. Get better every day.

Today was brutal. Six miles. Because of my right Achilles, I couldn’t do it on the road so I took it to the gym. The first mile and a half was rough getting the heart rate up, and getting my head into the workout. Even when I was into it, it was tough to get “into it.” That’s when I thought of Newton’s First Law of Motion: “Every body continues in its state of rest, or of uniform motion in a right line, unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed upon it.”

Feeding off yesterday’s thoughts, the force compelling a change – moving from a state of motion toward the goal of running in Chicago to a state of rest – would be that weak voice. And that weak voice was loud this morning. Fortunately, it wasn’t as loud as the STRONG voice telling me to keep running. Because that’s what I do. That’s now who I am.

I'm not a science guy. I’m not a physics guy. In fact I’ve never taken a single physics class. I am a quotes guy, though. And Newton's First Law of Motion is dead on. Paraphrasing that law. I like to say Momentum is Magic. We know when we have it. Things click. The right things happen. Everything works. There is energy. Things are moving. For that reason, our job every morning is to get up and establish momentum. Once we have it we must do everything we can to maintain it. Keep moving because that feeling of things moving - momentum - in a “right line” is an incredible feeling. Everyone also knows the misery of losing momentum. When things stand still. When things AREN’T moving.

Another scientific concept that applies in every day life is Activation Energy. A term from chemistry, activation energy is the minimal amount of energy required to create a chemical reaction. Applied to life, activation energy is what allows you to create the magic of momentum. Shaun Achor in his book The Happiness Advantage applies the concept of activation energy in establishing habits that create an environment of achievement and happiness in his life. Or, as I coach the kids in Orlando, they’re tricks. An example Achor uses includes putting his workout clothes at the end of his bed to ensure when he awakens, his tools are there for him to use without forcing him to think. He also took his guitar out of the closet and placed it in the middle of the floor of his apartment, making it much easier for him to learn how to play guitar. To stop watching television as soon as he arrived home from work, Achor took the batteries out of the remote control and placed both the batteries and the remote control away from the television. Those small steps were tricks making it easier for Achor to establish habits that created an environment of accomplishment.

The battle this morning was an awareness that my mind wasn’t “into it,” and that I needed to keep moving. Keep running. Keep moving. Keep running. Make sure the weak voice wasn’t strong enough to compel change to a state of rest. Unthinkingly, the trick I developed is awareness of times when the weak voice is loud (and those times do come). At that point it's time to awaken the STRONG voice in order to kick the weak voice's ass. Because Momentum is Magic, and Failure is Not an Option. Wait. Another quote . . .

This week has been a “step-back” week in the Hal Higdon training program. That means the long run is shorter than the normal cycle would dictate. Instead of running eleven miles, this weekend’s long run is seven miles. Since my calves are causing trouble (undoubtedly from pushing too hard in an effort to run a faster per mile pace), the program needed to change a bit. I turned to Facebook for feedback, and received a lot of good advice.

Since next Saturday’s run is twelve miles, I’ll be working at the gym this week – starting with my seven mile run today. I’ll also be stretching like crazy, and using Tiger Balm religiously, my new favorite remedy suggested by a cousin and a friend of my wife. After applying it over the weekend, I was pain free for the first time in weeks.

While at the gym this evening, I continued listening to The Power of Habit, which is coloring the Achieve Your Dream! summer program I’m holding for the older kids at New Image Youth Center in downtown Orlando. The program coaches the kids on how to get anything in the world they want. The lesson today from The Power of Habit is that self-discipline is critical in realizing success, and it’s like a muscle that can be over-trained. Self-discipline is a finite resource, but it can be expanded with the right approach.

So, I’ll be applying as much self-discipline as I possibly can so I can get through this training program without pushing myself too hard, and then getting injured. The thing that stinks about getting older is realizing what you grew up understanding now doesn’t work. Pushing yourself as hard as you can doesn’t necessarily make you stronger. Yes, that stinks. No longer invincible.

Time for bed, then up and at it in the morning.

A friend invited me to run with him and a group of other fellow runners this Saturday. My run this Saturday is 7 miles, and they’re running 8 at a pace that’s a bit quicker than my comfort zone. I gave it serious thought, and agreed I’d meet him on the other side of town. As I gave it more thought, I realized a couple things. First, because of how tight my lower body still is, I’m not sure I’m ready to push myself outside my comfort zone. Second, thus far running is very personal.

Why is it so personal? I think because my runs are not at a pace where I’m proud. So yes, vanity plays a role. I am proud of my progress. Every run gets a bit better. The pace isn’t blisteringly fast, but it’s improving. But I’m not quite ready to go “prime time.” I’ll get there, but it won’t be happening overnight. So, I was looking forward to getting together with my friend and meeting some new people, but not looking forward to showing off my Clydesdale pace. He called this morning to let me know he needs to be out of town this weekend, so the run won’t happen. That buys me at least another week to find my athletic self. Or at least to shave a couple minutes off my per mile time.

Being Wednesday, today was the mid-week long run. Five miles, and it wasn’t bad. I waited until the end of the day so I could loosen my calf. The strategy worked pretty well. Last week my left calf was tight. This week it’s the right calf. Hopefully soon I’ll just be sailing along without having to worry about either of my calves. Until then, I’m obsessive about loosening the bottoms of my feet with a lacrosse ball which I do while on calls during the day at work. It’s helping.

What passed through my mind tonight? The sunset was beautiful. It was a bit darker on the way back than what I prefer, but that’s my own damn fault. I’m re-listening to The Power of Habit for material for a goal setting class I’m holding for disadvantaged kids in downtown Orlando. I thought about my own experience training for the marathon, and wondered if it’s a habit for me at this point. I’m doing it. I’m sticking to it. But I’m not sure it’s solidified into an actual habit. Writing after a run hasn’t developed into a habit yet either. Sticking to a particular point in the day would help, and then a reward for running, and then logging the experience. I did picture the run itself, and what it’ll be like seeing Chicago again. It’s getting there. In another couple weeks, it’ll be enough a part of the routine that we’ll call it a habit. Another couple long runs will help get it there.