Beyond the Bellin

With race day only a day and half away, there is at this point nothing more you can really do to prepare yourself, except get some proper rest. With the work you have put in, you deserve it and will want to be fresh come Saturday morning. Take a few moments over the next day or so and take a look back and appreciate what you have done. Many of you committed early to the Bellin Run and no doubt that commitment helped fuel your training.

After you are done appreciating how far you have come, put that in the memory bank for safe keeping. But then I want to look at where you are when you cross that finish line and realize that this is now the new you. Looking beyond the Bellin Run, what can you do to either maintain who you are and your fitness level, or even better yet, improve it? When you signed up for the Bellin Run, you started on a journey. It was a decision to add, continue, or enhance the physical activity in your life. More than once we have told you that the actual race is just icing on the cake, the reward is the journey. It sounds so cliché but I really believe it. You can go out there on race morning, having not put in a single training mile, and somehow get through the finish, but what has that got you; A t-shirt. I say that in jest and I say that in all seriousness as well. If the goal is about getting healthier and my fit, then one day of activity is not going to make any difference. It’s what you do the day after, the week after, and the year after, etc. So if you haven’t had the best training season this year, or you have been struggling, that is ok. Then think of this year’s Bellin as a jumping off point and keep trekking on the journey. Find another race to sign up for, or even a different activity all together, just don’t stop.

"You also need to look back, not just at the people who are running behind you but especially at those who don't run and never will... those who run but don't race...those who started training for a race but didn't carry through...those who got to the starting line but didn't to the finish line...those who once raced better than you but no longer run at all. You're still here. Take pride in wherever you finish. Look at all the people you've outlasted."
- Joe Henderson

LIMITS

How often do you face something challenging in your life, whether it be an athletic endeavor or not, and before you even started you said, “I just can’t do this.” Before you even gave it a chance you have already placed a limit on what you can do. Let’s be clear, I am not talking about things that endanger our lives, or put ourselves at high risk. I am talking about things that present a challenge or an opportunity to grow and we shy away from them because we just think we don’t have the ability. Today’s message is going to be short and simple, but I hope it sticks with you. I would like you to say to yourself, “I have no limits, only things I haven’t done yet.” Then the next time you are faced with an obstacle, don’t let the challenge or perceived limit get in your way.

Now go out there and get it done. We are less than 16 days from the Bellin.

WHY ATHLETES ARE IMPORTANT TO COMPANIES

I read this article last October on Forbes.com and I immediately thought of the Corporate Challenge. I think that the article highlights some important qualities of Athletes that make them great employees. I will highlight the main points. If you want to read the whole article, click on the link below. And for a bonus, many of these align nicely with one or more of our Integrys Commitments.

1. They have the drive to practice a task rigorously, relentlessly, and even in the midst of failure until they succeed. Athletes are tenacious—they seldom or never give up. They also have a strong work ethic and the ability to respect and deal with the inevitable issues of temporary pain (along with the intuition to know when the cause of the pain is an issue too serious to safely ignore.)

2. Athletes achieve their goals. If one avenue is blocked, they find another path to success. If their physical strength has given out, they learn to work smarter, not harder. As they learn to become more effective they become more efficient.

3. Athletes develop new skills. Even though an athlete is highly specialized at certain skills, such as speed, blocking, or hand-eye coordination, they are also good at adapting to scenarios that call for cross-functional skills.

4. Athletes are exceptional entrepreneurs. As you consider new hires, you will likely discover that business athletes are often former (or current) entrepreneurs. Whereas people from large corporate environments may tend to be specialized in their skills and single-minded in their objectives, a business athlete is equipped to see the bigger vision of all that goes into making a company thrive. They can think strategically and are tuned in to the “big picture” and the long-term goals. They also know how to put the strategy into action.

5. Athletes strive for balance. Too much junk food and too little sleep will not contribute to a healthy company or a winning performance. Their bodies must be strong and in good condition, so athletes understand that they can’t cheat the system for long and expect positive results. A true business athlete will respect the laws of balance in energy, health, sleep, and nutrition (as well as the business corollaries) that will allow them to succeed and to do so not only in the present but for the long term as well.

6. Athletes work well with partners and in teams. Athletes know how to leverage the unique and complementary strengths of each member of their team. They know that cutting down a teammate or disrespecting a partner will only contribute to an organization’s demise. In fact, an athlete will typically put the needs of the team or a partner on equal par or even ahead of their own needs. How do you find and hire these athletes? Consider the questions you ask in interviews about outside projects, other interests, community service, the ability to focus on pet tasks, and the concepts of teamwork. And, as always, be keen to the ways you can recognize and hire for propensity instead of for current demonstrable traits. Many of my own strongest players have never previously excelled at a physical sport. They never knew they were athletes. That’s an important aspect of hiring athletes: The world’s best athletes are not necessarily discovered; they are trained.


http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidkwilliams/2013/10/02/why-you-should-fill-your-company-with-athletes/

Goals

Last year this was also a topic that I touched on and because I think it is really important, I want to talk about goal setting briefly again this year. In the Interchange, there was a short article about eliminating complacency; I think that fits in really well into goal setting. As the article stated, “We can become satisfied and perform our tasks on “autopilot” expecting a familiar result while we unconsciously zip through potential hazards.” While this is focused rightly so on safety, I want to also add, “We can unconsciously zip through life.”

We want to be living on purpose and a great way to do that is to set goals for yourself. We have a finite amount of time and while we don’t know exactly how much, we can proactivity make the best of whatever time we have. There are definitely days that just making it through is enough and an accomplishment. Days like that here and there are ok. Days like that turning into weeks, months, or even years are not. So take some time to sit back and decide, what to do I want to accomplish over the next week, month, year, 10 years etc. Give some meaning to your days and allow yourself the time to start checking some of these off the list. I am not strictly talking about athletic goals like completing the Bellin Run. Maybe your goal is go back to school, get some sort of certification, a promotion, or whatever. As a parent one of the most important lessons I have learned is that there is almost never a perfect time to do something. So if you are waiting for that magic moment where it all falls into place, stop waiting and just make it happen. While now may not be the perfect time, it is the right time and once you get started with whatever you want to accomplish you will build momentum.

YOU HAVE TO DO THE HARD THINGS

I came across this list through social media and I think it is really good. Some of them you can quickly link to running or walking the Bellin, but all of them apply at one point or another throughout life. So in this week’s newsletter I wanted to share them.

• You have to make the call you’re afraid to make.
• You have to get up earlier than you want to get up.
• You have to give more than you get in return right away.
• You have to care more about others than they care about you.
• You have to fight when you are already injured, bloody, and sore.
• You have to feel unsure and insecure when playing it safe seems smarter.
• You have to lead when no one else is following you yet.
• You have to invest in yourself even though no one else is.
• You have to look like a fool while you’re looking for answers you don’t have.
• You have to grind out the details when it’s easier to shrug them off.
• You have to deliver results when making excuses is an option.
• You have to search for your own explanations even when you’re told to accept the “facts.”
• You have to make mistakes and look like an idiot.
• You have to try, fail and try again.
• You have to run faster even though you’re out of breath.
• You have to be kind to people who have been cruel to you.
• You have to meet deadlines that are unreasonable and deliver results that are unparalleled.
• You have to be accountable for your actions even when things go wrong.
• You have to keep moving towards where you want to be no matter what’s in front of you.

To quote Jimmy Dugan from the movie League of Their Own, “It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great.”

CLARK KENT OR SUPERMAN?

Gender aside, I think that this is a very simple analogy we can all relate to.. As most of us know, Clark Kent is the alter ego of Superman. (Or is the other way around? We will let the comic fans debate that.) As Clark Kent, Superman tried to make himself to be an ordinary individual to blend in with the crowd, even though he was far from it. In order to distance himself from Superman, he adopted a largely passive and introverted personality, changed his voice and even walked with a slight slouch. BUT he always was Superman underneath, wearing his costume under his clothes. At a moment’s notice he could dash away saving the world. In other worlds, it wasn’t that hard to become Superman.

While we may not have super human powers, we all have the ability to be like Superman. In the list of participants I know many of you spend lots of hours volunteering your time to help others (Superman wasn’t paid). Others wouldn’t hesitate to stop whatever they were doing to help someone stranded on the side of the road (Superman was always available). At least a few of you have participated with My Team Triumph helping others fly down the road (Superman could fly). Many of you have children, which we know require our constant love, time and attention and more often than not, we would make huge sacrifices for without thinking twice (Superman was selfless). The point is that in reality it doesn’t take a lot to be a superhero.

What does any of this have to do with running or walking the Bellin Run? While there are a lot of us that have done many Bellin Runs and other races, perhaps this is your first one. Or maybe it is just the first one that you have done that others are noticing. Whether you are a novice or seasoned athlete, to many people you are like Superman. You have taken action, taken back your life and committed to bettering your health. Believe me, this is no easy task. Everyone has the same amount of time in the day. It’s up to you to use that time for good, for others and yourself. While we all need time to unwind (Even Superman has been quoted to say "I am Clark. I need to be Clark. I'd go crazy if I had to be Superman all the time!"), we can find ways to do that that are not detrimental to our health or life, and rather enhance it. At the end of the day, participating in the Bellin Run is an excellent way to let go of the passive side of us and move over to the active side. What may seem ordinary to us, may seem extraordinary to someone else. So don’t discount your journey, and don’t forget to pick up someone along the way.

CROSS TRAINING

Last week I talked to you about what a week of running training might look like. Obviously that is very important to success of running or walking the Bellin Run and cardiovascular fitness. However very often runners neglect the other component of fitness, strength. Strength is a very important component of fitness for many reasons, only a couple being that having strong muscles can help prevent injuries and that strong healthy muscles burn additional calories. I am not talking about Arnold during his body building days, unless of course you are going for that look, I am just talking about incorporating a few strength building exercises into your fitness routine. The good news is that you already have the tools to complete all of these exercises. Just your body. The quantity and sets I will leave up to you, but here are some of the best in my opinion. To see demonstrations, type any of the exercises into You Tube.

1. Standard Push-up: With hands shoulder-width apart, keep the feet flexed at hip distance, and tighten the core. Bend the elbows until the chest reaches the ground, and then push back up (make sure to keep the elbows tucked close to the body).
2. Plank: Lie face down with forearms on the floor and hands clasped. Extend the legs behind the body and rise up on the toes. Keeping the back straight, tighten the core and hold the position for 30-60 seconds (or as long as you can hang).
3. Lunge: Stand with the hands on the hips and feet hip-width apart. Step the right leg forward and slowly lower your body until the right knee is close to or touching the floor and bent at least 90 degrees. Return to the starting position and repeat with the left leg.
4. Squat: Stand with the feet parallel or turned out 15 degrees — whatever is most comfortable. Slowly start to crouch by bending the hips and knees until the thighs are at least parallel to the floor. Make sure the heels do not rise off the floor. Press through the heels to return to a standing position.
5. Flutter Kick: Start lying on your back with arms at your sides and palms facing down. With legs extended, lift the heels off the floor (about six inches). Make quick, small up-and-down pulses with the legs, while keeping the core engaged.
6. Crunch: Lie on your back with the knees bent and feet flat on the floor. With hands behind the head, place the chin down slightly and peel the head and shoulders off the mat while engaging the core. Continue curling up until the upper back is off the mat. Hold briefly, then lower the torso back toward the mat slowly. DO NOT PULL ON YOUR NECK!
7. Pull-Up: Grab an overhead bar, with your hands more than shoulder width apart. Lift your body until your chin is above the bar. Slowly let yourself down and repeat. If you can’t do a standard pull-up, you can use a chair to assist you.
8. Burpees: This one I love and hate all at the same time, but by far, one of the best full body exercises you can do. Start standing up, go into a low squat position and put your hands on the floor in front of you. Kick your legs back into push-up position, complete one pushup, pull your legs back to squat position and leap up back to standing position.

You can do these as its own work out, or incorporate them into your runs. For example, you can run a half or a full mile and then do 15 burpees, then continue on. Perhaps you might look funny to your neighbors or other passer bys, but in doing this you will see your overall fitness improve leaps and bounds. Again these are only a few, there are many others, as well as many variations of the above.

Training

So we have been encouraging you to start training, but what does training really look like. I apologize in advance to the walkers, if this seems weighted a little more on the running side.

The Bellin Run Training schedule calls for 4 running sessions a week and 1 cross training session. If you look at the schedule you will notice that activity for each of the days is different. Right off the bat we should understand this to mean that each session should not be the same and that every time we hit the road or treadmill, we shouldn’t be going the same speed for the same distance. More importantly, not every training run should be at the pace at which you hope to run the Bellin at (you are training, not racing!).

This is how I would break out the four training sessions during the week if I were following the schedule:
1. Presumably early in the week this run should be a shorter run, Starting between 1 and 2 miles and probably peaking not more than 2.5 miles. This should be at a very easy pace, as much as 1.5-2 minutes above your race pace. Because this run is likely either Sunday or Monday after your long run for the week, this should be treated as a “recovery” session.
2. This is a medium distance run. As a rule of thumb for a 10K training program, you could say that this distance is 2/3rds of the distance of that week’s long run. So if your long run is 4.5 miles for the week, make this run about 3 miles. Run this one at race pace. You want to get your body used to running at your desired speed and learn what that feels like.
3. This can be 1 of 2 things depending on your goals.
a. The first option is that this is another medium distance run, but at a comfortable pace, not as slow as recovery run, but this doesn’t have to be at race pace either. This option is focused on conditioning and getting in the miles.
b. The second option is to do some sort of interval training. The goal here is to help increase your speed. Some people like to do this on the treadmill, because it is easy to control speeding up and slowing down and the distance, but it can also be done outside by using fixed distances like utility poles for example, or setting your GPS watch for interval training. Basically, after you have warmed up, for a certain distance or time, run at a speed that is faster than your race pace, followed by a period of “recovery”. As your conditioning gets better you can increase the distance of your hard interval compared to the recovery interval. Repeat this cycle until you have reached your desired total distance for the day. For a 10K, this workout, should peak at no more than 3-4 miles in total.
4. Finally you have your weekend long run. This is a medium pace, in other words, not a race pace, but not a slow recovery type pace either. This run is geared to getting your body to understand what it is like to cover the required distance. Look to the Bellin Run Training Plan for long run distances.

This is just one example of a typical week. You can find many other training plans online at websites like Runner’s World, or just by typing in 10K training plan into Google. Most importantly if you take nothing else away from this, just remember that every training session is not going to be “Great.” Some will make you feel like you are a world champion and some will leave you thinking “why did I ever sign up for this?” Just know that this is natural and everyone has good and bad workouts. Even more importantly than that is just to make sure you are listening to your body and if you need to take a step back, do just that. Make this an enjoyable experience and get in great shape while doing so!

Next week, the newsletter will focus on cross training.

Who are they to tell you that you can’t?

In yesterday’s lunch and learn with My Team Triumph we heard from Joey Christensen. He was born 12 week prematurely and with CP (Cerebral Palsy). From an early age doctors told his parents that he would never even be able to sit up on his own, much less walk. He was born almost entirely deaf and relies on lip reading and sign language to understand other people. He has had so many surgeries that he literally said he lost count. Yet none of these things are what defines him. As a child he wanted to and did attend school. And while it took some time to adapt to the different stages, he made friends, was able to participate fully and earn his high school diploma. If you were there yesterday you saw that he walked into the room, under his own power and is even a participant in the Triumph Mile. After graduation from High School he has worked dozens of different jobs and 4 years ago he started his own not for profit, Handicapped From the Heart. Further he has become the Captain Advocate for My Team Triumph and does motivational speeches all over the area promoting the abilities, rather than the disabilities of certain individuals. The point is that he has faced some undoubtedly difficult circumstances, but rather than approaching them negatively, he wears one of the biggest smiles on his face I have ever seen. Attitude is a choice and attitude is contagious. He is also one of the most grateful person’s I have ever met. He is grateful to be alive, he is grateful for his family and friends, and he is grateful to be able to share his gift with others. There is a lesson in all of this for each one of us.

So what is standing between you and the finish line? Who is telling you that you are crazy or that you’ll never be able to do it? Are you going to let it or them stop you from achieving your goals. While the Bellin Run/Walk is a timed event, whether you are the first person or the absolute last person to cross the finish line, you have earned every step and everyone covers the same distance. So don’t let your speed or time be a factor. Don’t let the stereotypes of a perfect runners body get in your head. A runner is a runner is a runner. Don’t ever say, “well I am not a real runner.” If you are moving forward you are really running.

When it comes to achieving our health and fitness, educational, career, or family goals, the only person who is fully qualified to tell you can’t is you. But you don’t have to listen.

Have a great week, get out there, get moving and do it with a smile on your face just because you can.

If you would like more information on how to get involved with My Team Triumph and/or the Triumph Mile, please visit their website or contact me and I will send you in the right direction.

What is your mountain?

First off, welcome to Spring, it may still be hiding, but I promise it is here. With Spring comes the official start of the 2014 Bellin Run Training Schedule. If you haven’t gotten a schedule in the mail, you can either contact me and I will send you one, or you can find one online by clicking here. For those that have already signed up, Thank you! If you haven’t already done so, please do. While you may be thinking there is plenty of time to sign up, know that by signing up now you are more likely to follow through and have a successful training season and race day. Everyone who signs up before May 1st will receive an extra gift for doing so. We all like free stuff, right?!

If you haven’t already seen the Powernet post we are once again hosting My Team Triumph for a lunch and learn. The event details are as follows:

Lunch 'N Learn: April 2
Conf Room G1-2
Noon to 1 p.m.

PLEASE plan on attending as Christian Jensen (Executive Director of the Wisconsin Chapter and the Green Bay Press Gazette’s Person of the Year) will again be bringing one of the MTT captains to help share what MTT means to him and more information about the Triumph Mile of which we are a sponsor. You will no doubt be inspired to set new goals for yourself and even how to help others achieve theirs.

What is your mountain?

I think we all know that we should have a plan to achieve or maintain the level of health and fitness over the course of our lives. For some of us, it is no doubt a struggle as stress, lack of time, motivation all can get in the way of the plan we laid out for ourselves. Things get out of control and pretty soon not only have we missed our goals, but maybe we have even backslid. Now we start to stress out about how much more work we need to do and just give up. It is SO easy to fall into this cycle. The good news is that we can do something about it. There are so many things that are out of our control, so why are we letting those things hinder our progress. Focus on what you can control. We can control what we eat, our attitude, our amount of exercise. I know we have all heard it before, but everyone has the same 24 hours in a day. It is time to take control of that and take some of it for yourself. By using Google, you can find thousands of sites with exercise tips for busy people just like you.

So I challenge you to make a plan for yourself. Start with small and easy steps. Along the way make goals for yourself that are challenging but achievable. You may have a long term goal in mind, but focus on the next twelve to thirteen weeks to start. No one climbs a mountain by jumping out of a helicopter onto a vertical wall and starts climbing. We start at the bottom where the terrain is only a gradual climb. As we go along we achieve new milestones and get stronger. The terrain gets more challenging but we are prepared to tackle it because we started at the beginning and put in the work. That is one of the reasons why I think the Bellin Run training schedule is so perfect because it starts at the beginning. It asks you to go 1 mile. Walk, run or crawl, go that one mile. It could be the one mile that changes your life. This Sunday it is going to be nearly 50 degrees and after the winter we have had we couldn’t ask for a nicer day to start our training.