Worse than "Hockey Parents"?

Growing up in a sports environment where parents, could, on occasion....[note sarcasm] get a little too involved in the on ice/field/court action, this "rant" made me laugh - albeit ruefully.

One of the nice things about racing as an adult (at best, I would like to think of myself as an adult, which many around me would tend to argue is stretching the truth) is that i don't have to often witness the diatribes, etc. of the "helicopter" parent who so desperately wants to live vicariously through their kids. Sure, every once in a while I may have to race against some wankers, but at least they are only idiots themselves - not too or around their kids.

But, I have to say, I would have loved to have seen/heard this "rant" (the one above) live. And if you do not think this is the BEST BLOG YOU HAVE EVER - EVER - read, "I WILL FIGHT YOU".

Happy Halloween,

Johnny boy 

New Gear for Ironman - or those long runs - gotta get one now!

When training for distance events like an Ironman, or an ultra-marathon, or hell, even a pansy assed marathon, you gotta eat on the fly. I have always relied upon gels, Powerbars, liquid carbs, even the ever-deliciuos Grape Gatorade ("hmmmm - Gatorade").
But, now, all those seem so yesterday when considering nutrition as an endurance athlete: just think of the new PB's (personal bests) you are going to nail with your (click the blue - seriously, click the blue) new Doughnut-To-Go.

Instead of Powerbars etc, you can now carry doughnuts. Or, carry doughnut-sized bagels. Carry the One Ring, after it has expanded to fit Sauron’s gigantic finger.

Once again proving that the Japanese are awesome, if not as environmentally friendly as some might hope, they’ve filled a need you didn’t even know you had.

The folding plastic case includes a “passive ventilation system” (because one presumes that an “active” ventilation system would require a fan built in to the case) and a convenient hole that allows you to slip a padlock through the case.

Seriously. Do the Japanese love doughnuts this much? Are they stealing doughnuts from each other? With their economy heading south faster than the Titanic, do they have nothing better to do with their time and resources. Oh, wait, can you say "Hello Kitty"??!

It costs $11.85 at current exchange rates. But do be warned – Doughnut-To-Go “corresponds to most” doughnuts. Ah, the ever present marketing "caveat emptor".

peace out,

johnny boy

"You, sir, are an infidel bastard fornicator"

Having just been married recently - and might I add, it was a perfect day - we were really pleased with the ceremony, as it went off exactly as my beautiful wife had (written and) planned.

Guess not everyone is so lucky...couple cursed out in ceremony. 
wow. 
peace out (which is Maldive for "f*ck you, swine fornicator"), 
Johnny Boy

The Iceman cometh - or should he?

So, with apologies to those who have to put up with me when I am injured, my achilles - both - have become an absolute pain in my ass (actually, mainly the achilles region, but you get my point).

They have precluded me from any real running or racing for over a month now - I raced a 5km a couple of weekends ago, and while I took first overall in a pretty respectable time, I paid for it the next few days. I am doing it all - weekly, I have been in physio, chiro and massage (and god damn the deep tissue on the achilles, gastrox and soleus HURTS); ART, laser, and Advils (eat 'em like like smarties) - thank god I have a flexible schedule these days. And ICE - lots and LOTS of ice on each achilles - a good thing, right?

Not so fast, Grasshopper - Pete Magill wrote a recent article in Running Times (click next) - to ice or not?- relying upon extensive research by 2 very well respected Ph. D.'s in exercise physiology (who also have an amazing website, Sports Scientists) - that concludes that ice may not be the answer we have all thought. They write: "...inflammation, far from being a form of possession exerted by sadistic demons, triggers specialized cells (neutrophils, macrophages and monocytes) to clear away damaged muscle tissue. This paves the way for the creation of stronger, more durable muscle fibers. Interrupting the process derails our body’s ability to recover and adapt".

And then (click the next phrase), just when I read that icing is not necessary (see above) Nike comes along with Cryotherapy.

I am so confused...

so, screw it; I am heading off to ice both achilles - damn the torpedoes. What can be the worst that happens?

if the video doesn't make you hurl, the absolutely crappy music will!

see ya on the roads

Johnny Boy

Men are from Mars and Women get into Boston wayyyy easier

So, my good friend Monica L (who is an awesome athlete in her own right, so none of the article below is about her) is getting ready to rip it up at a marathon next week (and, I hope she goes sub 3:20 in Hamilton!!); I sent her a note letting her know that if Boston fills up, well, she could easily nail a qualifying time for the upcoming ING New York Marathon (**LOTS more to write about that, but later!). Then to no one's real surprise, news broke late last week that the 115^th Boston Marathon sold out in less than eight hours. 8 HOURS! [damn, I can remember the 1st Ironman I did "back in the day" - 1996 Ironman Canada; I entered like 6 months before the race, trained my butt off and was hooked [sure, the Ironman, at least on North American soil, now all fill up day of when registration opens - but Ironman Canada is now re-dic-u-lous! Ya gotta actually be there, line up, and sign up the day after [or before - who cares - I ain't gonna do that, esp. when there are over 25 Ironmans around the world!!]. When I did Austria, or the others, no worries about getting in.

But, I digress...

Last year, the fabled Boston marathon filled to capacity in November and that was shocking. The previous year it was topped off in January and many were left out in the cold thinking it would be open for a few more weeks. Obviously the popularity of the event is growing and the state of running in America is strong. As such, now is the time to make it harder to get into Boston.

It has become quite clear that standards for obtaining a Boston Qualifying time need to be harder. And by “harder”, I simply mean more difficult than the current standard – not impossible for most to reach. Without a doubt, if 20,000 people with a BQ can fill the race in eight hours, the demand has far exceeded the supply.

Not too long ago the qualifying standards were 2:50 for men and 3:15 for women. While I don’t think the move to those very tough standards is necessary, changes need to be made. First and foremost, the female standards are disparagingly slow, almost to the point of insulting women. Women had a large disadvantage in the sport by simply not being allowed to compete in the marathon (or any long distance race) until the past 30 years or so. We have found out what the fairer sex can do and while the female elites may never be in the same class as male elites, the evidence is there that they needn’t be handled with kid gloves anymore. These women are runners and the difference between corresponding age groups should reflect that. The fittest and fastest women out there should not have to only run a time that a 50-54 year old man is required to run.

On the flipside, it is clear that the men’s standards need to drop as well. A full ten minutes per age group might be a little too much but five minutes is completely reasonable. For the 18-34 year old males, running a 3:05:59 is entirely reachable. The same drop would work well for each corresponding group. I mean, hell, my age group - 45-49 - only has to run a 3:30:59 - seriously, that is a 5min km/8 min mile pace - really, an easy long run. Lets make it 3:20 for my age group and get rid of the fluff.

For those that bemoan charity runners, I needn’t really even get into whether they belong or not at Boston. This is an article talking about speeding up the times for those wishing to earn their way into the race with their feet. While 10 years ago distance running seemed to be in a major funk, we can see it has made a major resurgence. Boston is the pinnacle of the marathoning world for its history, prestige, and fans. It should be difficult to get into.

Someone told me recently that Boston is a dream for every runner and it shouldn’t be hard or exclusive. I could not disagree more. If one’s dream is easy to obtain and inclusive then why even have that dream in the first place?

And, before you shoot the messenger here - read the following article I found in Running Times (which I might add is THE best running mag out there): Men/Women & Boston Times - it just ain't fair

see ya on the roads,

Johnny boy

Never, Ever, Say "no" to a Panda. Ever

I was cruisin' around You Tube and stumbled across this vid.

As the kids these days are wont to say (and no, none of them has ever said "wont"): W.T.F.*

Now, damn it, when I head out the door for a run, I have to know how to:
1. wrestle down a wild wild mountain goat;
2. avoid leaping cougars; and,
3. remember to never say "no" to the panda. Pandas? Cute and cuddly my ass.

see ya on the roads (if you dare!) 

johnny boy

A Heaping Slice of Humble Pie

I was heading home the other night from what i thought, given that I have been battling a long and very annoying achilles injury, was a pretty good run down near the beach.
I was dressed in my usual "runner garb" - which, I might add, is pretty sleek.
So, doing my cool down, I walked slowly up the last block to our house, stretching my achilles with each exaggerated step.
Needless to say, what with the sun out, no wind, and wearing my fancy duds, I was feelin' mighty impressive.
Across the street, parallel to me and walking at my same ambling pace, was a little girl - of about 4 or 5 - and (who I presumed was) her mother. She kept looking over at me and I smiled and gave a small wave; she waved back, but after like the 5th glance over, stopped walking. No doubt (I thought) she is in awe of the majesty of my running physique and ever-so-fast looking presence....at which point she looked directly at me, and tugging at her mom's hand, pronounced in a not-too-sotto-voce tone, "Mommy, that man looks silly!!" And, just to make sure all heard her, including her mother, me, and probably everyone within a 100 mile radius, she repeated this, even louder - whilest pointing right at me: "MOMMY - THAT MAN LOOKS SILLY".
wow. Out of the mouth's of babes.
I really wanted to look around as if there was someone else walking behind me that was really "The Loser" - but I maintained my tattered dignity, and refused to allow the little brat the satisfaction.
As I skulked home, I wished there had been a wild mountain goat or cougar around to pounce on her.

peace out,
Johnny Boy

Mountain Goats, Cougars and Eastern paradigms

What should you do if you're attacked by a mountain goat? - By Brian Palmer - Slate Magazine

Seriously - you gotta read the article above - it is one of those rare pieces of journalism that will capture you, and, best of all, leave with you potentially life saving information, esp. if you live in a big metropolitan city like, say, Toronto, Paris, Chicago or Beijing.
Because you just never know when you will need to know exactly how to defend yourself from a raging angry billy goat (one of my favourite tv shows is in fact "When Billy Goats go Bad").
I also found it amusing (ironic) that the author of this piece is a resident of New York City - see the tag line at the end of the article.
Really, there wasn't one staff writer in all of Washington who could have pumped this piece out? Not one? And people out West are always complaining aboout the East, esp. the Big Apple (where I had the true good fortune of living for nearly 3 years), as being insensitive to the uniqueness of those living in the mountains. Well, they had their chance here - if a local from Olympic National Park doesn't know more about how to fend off an irate billy goat than an urban dweller form the East, well then, that's gruff. As in "billy goat gruff".
But, like all things in this blog, there is a relationship to running:
once, a short time ago (it was like 7 years ago, but in dog or goat years, that in only 1 year), I spent 2 glorious years in the Rockies, living in Calgary.
I was in HEAVEN - I lived moments from the trail system that runs through the city so could do all my runs thru the woods; I could ride for hours - when training for Ironman Austria (a course with several long, leg crushing 9% mountain climbs and Hayter-like fast descents), I would go out my front door and turn right on Highway 22, riding thru Kanasaskis to the mtns; when I was training for Ironman Florida (a wicked fast flat course) I would go left on Highway 22 and ride towards the flat roads leading to Saskatchewan. The latter was, by design, boring - but effective.
Ah, you say devilishly, Calgary is land locked: where did you practice your open water swims? Not so fast, Grasshopper, I reply: the gods were smiling on that move West. I lived 2 blocks from a private lake our house shared with only those in our little private (read: "gated") utopia - 4km around its edges, no motor boats, spring fed....as I said, HEAVEN! (and for what it's worth, both Ironmans that year went really well, with pb's at both). But I digress.
So - our first week out West, we stayed with friend's at their mtn cabin in Canmore. Aside from seriously sucking O2 on my runs, as the lowlands of Toronto had NOT prepared me for the change in altitude, I also experienced more culture shock that was based on the East/West paradigm - to wit:
I was running my 1st day in jaw dropping beauty of the mountains, reveling in the vistas of the peaks and desperately ignoring the searing agony in my oxygen starved lungs, when I came across an idling RCMP car at the entrance to a further series of trails I was hoping to cruise. Being the polite and highly social guy I am, I stopped and said hi. The two cops in the car were quite pleasant, esp. on learning I was a lawyer from Toronto [or should I note "in spite of" being a lawyer from Toronto] ; one even offered the inside tip that I suspected would be quite useful in the Calgary social scene: "watch out for Cougars when on the trails here" the female officer suggested wryly. I laughed it off, noting how I was a T.O. boy and was sure i could handle some 40 yr old female (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=cougar) trying to hustle me on the running trails ...hell, might even make for an epic: "Dear Forum" story. The 2 cops looked at me like the idiot I am and the other, raised his hands to his chest and mimicking a pouncing animal, gave a fair rendition of animal roaring (as in "RRRRRR"). It was at that point that, using all the deductive skills I gleaned from 3 yrs in law school (albeit in the East, which from the 2 cops' perspective probably explained everything), I realized they were actually not describing Demi Moore, but an actual, honest-to-god, rip-out-your-throat when it pounces, COUGAR.

Guess I could have used the article on how to protect myself from wild mtn goats.

peace out,
Johnny Boy

Hall Splits With Coach - NYTimes.com

Hall Splits With Coach and With Leave - NYTimes.com

wow...MAJOR news in the running world - a lot of great (American) runners have left their coaches for new horizons as of late, but, this is pretty big.

more later.

peace out,

Johnny boy

BEST quote of the week!!!

"'Usain might be quick on the track but he takes his time in bed. He knows how to treat a woman.'"

Barmaid Rebeckah Passley, 23, from West Norwood, tells of secret fling with sprint champion Usain Bolt | The Sun |News:

Wow. I wrote yesterday about famous movie quotes...but THIS quote has to be the week's best.

As an runner/triathlete aspiring to get faster, maybe I should concentrate on "going slower". Thank god i race the "long" stuff; unlike Bolt, I can honestly say i last for more than 9.53 seconds.

haha

peace out,

Johnny boy

"Looks like I picked the wrong week to give up amphetamines!"

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/movies/20lines.html?_r=1&ref=movies

so - ya gotta clink on the link above; great article on "famous movie quotes" - it is a good read, and, gives pause for thought on a number of fronts: has script writing gotten worse than it used to be? have movie audiences become so "web driven" that we/they lack the interest in Mamet like scripts that used to hold us on the edge of our collective seats ("Glengarry Glen Ross")? has the memorable one-liner — a brilliant epigram, a quirky mantra, a moment in a bottle — now found itself in danger of becoming a lost art?

It is, by analogy and extension, a lot like the current state of affairs in running - in that the "modern" crop of runners [Africans aside] arguably do not hold a candle to the runners of, say, 25 yrs ago. Look at American marathon times - collectively they are significantly slower as a percentage of the fields now signing up. Sure, the WR sits at 2:03:59 [Haille rocks!]; but look at Boston, for instance. Used to be several dozen American (and Canadian) runners would be under 2:20 - now, not so much. And in Canada - Jerome Drayton's marathon record from nearly 25 years ago continues to stand, untouched. No current Canadian marathoner has come close - Reid Coolseat nailed a 2:11 at Scotiabank in September, and yes, also met the Athletics Canada standard; but, he had set out, I believe, to surpass Drayton's long held record - and while his race was noble, gutsy and damned impressive, he missed [at least this time].

Maybe Simon Bairu will come close in NY in 3 weeks - he does hold the Can record for the 10,000, when he ran 27:23 [which was an EPIC RACE - one of my all time favourites, ever!; Just watch Solinsky go sub 27 (I mean, damn, he nails a sub 1:58 last 800!!), and the announcer goes absolutely ballistic!!!!](more on the Beast tomorrow - after all, the guy rips it up in white knee highs (see post below!!))...

So - what is the issue with 21st century writing and running? Funding? Saturation? Dumbing down of the ethic of "winning" vs "participating". Just dumbing down of all us?

Je ne sais pas.

enjoy,

Johnny boy

Do Or Do Not, There Is No Try!

I was mulling over  yesterdays blog on "Suffering" and the mental side of racing [more on that in particular tomorrow] when I drifted through some linear thinking, to wit: whether it be leaving the warmth of our bed to hit a cold run, facing the prospect of a tough day at work or getting up each day to face the world - whatever - where do we find the inspiration to not quit. And that got me thinking of the dreaded "dark zone" I talked about yesterday - which in turn led to more cerebral drifting: dark zone, Dark Side, Darth Vadar, Star Wars, Yoda...

Man, I am rippin' the segues this week...

So, my sister, an aspiring runner, asked me recently how I continue to motivate myself; how do I get out there, every day, rain, snow, sun - whatever - and train?

Sometimes even the most successful of athletes need to be inspired to go further and to remind themselves (ourselves!) of the goals that we have set.  Hopefully this reply inspires you all as well.

"Why do you do what you do?"

I find that when I am tired and depleted of todays strength and am at a momentary loss in understanding what I am doing and why I look for inspiration to renew my vigor. My inspiration comes in many forms of art and acts of kindness both simple and great, but one thing I do know is that I am inspired by humanity & this thing we call love. I am inspired by those that inspire hope in all. As I finish watching the movie "Invictus" I am amazed at the iron will and perseverance of Nelson Mandela a man imprisoned for so many years yet he held strong throughout one day at a time.

Yet I should not be amazed.  What Mandela has shown all of us is that the power of truth, the belief in mankind and the understanding that man's capability to grow and change the world are beyond what so many of us imagine. His never-ending pursuit to right the wrongs was met by years and years of defeat, yet he did not give up. For Mandela, spending nearly 3 decades in prison was but a drop of time compared to the eternity of equality that it would bring for his fellow man.

So I ask each one of us can we say the same of our character in our defeats? Have we truly been defeated? Are we not willing to dig deeper into our recesses to continue the fight? Is our explanation for doing what we do strong enough to carry us forth? If not, I ask you to search your heart and soul for a more true explanation for what you do or to find a new mission that meets up with your capacity as a human being to create positive change. Have we exasperated the depths of our wills, the capacity of our minds and the vastness of our hearts?

I think the answer would be a resounding "No" when comparing what we have gone through to that of Mandela, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and so many of the nameless that have lived and died everyday for these universal truths. I think we all have a much greater capacity to move mountains than we could ever imagine. We have the ability every day to be a positive or negative influence on our fellow man and on the world it all comes down to choice. A team of rugby players inspired a nation of millions by showing how they bonded together for victory. How many do you inspire?  I believe it is many more than you think and so many more than you will ever personally know. Each time you do this act you do this gift that has been given to you in one way or another you inspire. It is your choice as to how well you use this gift and how far you believe you can take it.

Time (going faster and slower), age (either too young or too old), experience (too much or not enough), talent (a blessing or a curse) are just a few of these limits that we place on ourselves in this sport. However, these barriers are broken every year by someone that decided they wanted to do more.  Do you want to do more? Do you want to achieve more for yourself and for others? Can you free yourself of this mind-forged prison so that you can clearly see what can be in store in the future if you make it happen in your mind today?

We all can.  We just need to understand what holds us back and keeps us from doing it. It is often a lack of clarity in our vision and a lack of belief in our hearts. These are both conscious road blocks that we can break free of with resolve and fortitude. Meditate, pray, reflect, increase your personal awareness or do whatever it is you know how to do to free your mind. If you are scared and need help in this quest that is a normal reaction. Do not be ashamed as we all are afraid at some time or other of what may come from success and failure. We will never know unless we try, so let's stop wasting time worrying about it until we get there.

Take a look at those that have inspired you with strength and courage to go on. Study them, listen to them, watch them and learn from them. They are all around you. I have had many to inspire me in both moments of loss and glory and they have shown me the way to even greater heights. These individuals mold my work daily, challenge my mind constantly and continue to help me understand what we really can accomplish when we invest fully into what we do. At times I think that we cannot reach far enough, but from what I have seen by those I admire the most, I know that we can go even further. 

See ya on the roads...

Peace out

Johnny Boy

The Perfect Run

"John attacking the hills at the Binbrook Tri"


"John crossing 1st at the Binbrook Tri"

Those rare "perfect" runs - so fleeting, yet so memorable...

Have you ever been on a run where everything that was going on inside your head was completely tuned in with everything that was going on with your body?  It is when running just seems effortless.  You can go faster or slower with ease.  You feel like you could just run forever that day, and never fatigue.  A run when you feel like you are more machine then human.  You tell yourself to pick it up and automatically you are going faster...and faster seems effortless, seamless, perfect. Then you tell yourself to ease back, and enjoy the view, and suddenly you are seeing everything around you as if it is in slow motion.

This is what sports psychologists refer to as being in “the Zone.”  It is that sense of having total control and total freedom all at once.  Your mind and body are one and the same and the transition from thought to action is instantaneous.  Most personal best performances come when an athlete is able to tap into this “zone”.  These athletes will speak of how the run was just effortless and how they were running totally within themselves the whole time – even though they were running faster than they had ever gone before – and for some, faster than anyone has ever gone before.

If you have been running long enough, then you are sure to have had a few of these “zone” experiences.  Unfortunately they seem to be quite random and quite rare.  The dilemma is that once you have one of these runs you begin to chase for them with each subsequent effort.  It is this chasing that often begins the downward spiral of one bad running performance after another.  The pressure builds with each new run to find this magic place once again and is met each time with further loss and hardship.  The search to find this state once again immediately goes outward and becomes a never ending quest.

What was it that triggered this terrific experience you had out there on that most random of runs?  Maybe it was the shoes, or the music you were listening to, or the nice day, or the beautiful trail you were running on? On and on it goes.  You look everywhere to get it back, but to no avail because that search never takes place within.

This same feeling of “chasing” is depicted in the story of “Siddhartha” by Herman Hesse.  The main character leaves his family and home in search for enlightenment and what he believes to be the attainment of his most precious goal in life.  After years of wandering he comes to understand what it was that he was truly searching for:
“Slower, he walked along in his thoughts and asked himself: “But what is this, what you have sought to learn from teachings and from teachers, and what they, who have taught you much, were still unable to teach you?” And he found: “It was the self, the purpose and essence of which I sought to learn. It was the self, I wanted to free myself from, which I sought to overcome. But I was not able to overcome it, could only deceive it, could only flee from it, only hide from it. Truly, no thing in this world has kept my thoughts thus busy, as this my very own self, this mystery of me being alive, of me being one and being separated and isolated from all others, of me being Siddhartha! And there is no thing in this world I know less about than about me, about Siddhartha!”

Running "within" is about staying in tune with the moment. Running "within" is about entering into a place when you run that is free of searching, solving, finding or chasing.  It is about nothing more than running.  It is about the internal and external harmony of putting one foot in front of the other a thousand times over.  What you find when you run within is that you don’t come upon the “zone,” rather it comes upon you.  By not searching, you arrive exactly where you want to be.  By not trying to run faster through extraneous effort you find fluidity in your stride and calmness in your breath.  Running within is about respecting the beauty of the sport you love, respecting the body you have that allows you to run and realizing the honor that both deserve.  The more you practice running in this state of mind the better you get at it.  The more often you can just run the more the “zone” becomes a daily state of being.

We are all left in awe when we see great runners like Chris Solinsky or Ryan Hall cruise along with seamless ease - at a pace few of us could match.  But what is it we are in awe about?  It is not about how amazing they are at running fast- it is about how amazing they are at running easy.

Look within, and I will see ya on the roads,
Johnny Boy

p.s. A big thank you for the photos  to my good friend and race photographer par excellence,
Mike Cheliak @ www.mysportsshooter.com

World Halfmarathon Championship 2010 - Men's Race

seriously- how great was this too watch.

THIS is running...

Why Do You Run?

                                                    crossing 1st at the B & O Yorkville 5km

new racing friends – B & O 5km

Lion or Gazelle: Who Are You?

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.
It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up.
It knows that it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve.
It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle
when the sun comes up you'd better be running.
-Anon




Why Do You Run?

A running friend of mine asked me if I was ever going to “just concentrate on trying to run one fast marathon” instead of racing all the time like I presently do. This is a question I have heard on numerous occasions, and I have many ready-made answers for it. What struck me as ironic in this instance is how this friend, a pretty fast runner in their own right, tends to run the vast majority of their races on trail. If you are unfamiliar with trail racing, you know that for the most part, you can throw away the clock when trying to compare one trail 50K to another. I felt like pointing out the inconsistency when the question was asked as given their own personal running preference, there is obviously no way that they ever just concentrated on running one fast (trail) race either. Instead, I told them the various reasons why I currently run and race how I do. (If you ever wish to sit down and listen to those reasons someday, I would be happy to tell you that they are. But be forewarned...boooorrrrinnnngggg!!) However, what it all boils down to isrunning for yourself.

This sounds selfish but my meaning here is to run for reasons that are personal. Running is such a personalized sport, rarely done with any teammates to speak of and almost always practiced alone. Your goals and reasons for running and racing should be just as personalized. Those reasons could be because you wish to raise money for charity (as I do, the Asthma Society of Canada: www.asthma.ca ). 

Other reasons could be because you are hoping to lose weight. Perhaps you like running because of the good feeling it gives you when you complete a run. Maybe the reason you lace up your running shoes is because it is a far better addiction than one you previously had. The main thing is that you have your own reasons. Do not run for anyone else. This is why if I meet a non-runner who has no desire to begin running I do not waste a single breath telling them about why I do. If they do not want to go for a run, I most assuredly have not been put on this planet to convince them to do so. I would much rather talk to those who already share my passion or those who are curious about joining our ranks.

When you run for reasons all your own, you have a stake in your running. You do not need to prove anyone wrong, you do not need to justify your passions and your grip on your happiness becomes that much stronger. When asked if I enjoy showing those who feel certain things cannot be done are actually achievable, I can say with almost 100-percent accuracy that I could not care less if a naysayer now thinks twice about doubting me. My running is, to me, a means to explore my own limits, done on my timetable, in the method I wish to achieve it. Besides a small and select group of people, approval is something I rarely seek from others.

I have found that my harshest critic, and the one who will also be most pleased with why I run in the first place is me, and tailoring my running to make me happy is the most important thing.

See ya on the roads,

Johnny Boy

And so it begins

I have been writing a blog for over a year now (http://www.asthma.ca/global/healyblog.php) - on a different site - and decided that this would be a good way to write the thoughts, stuff etc that I can't write "over there".
This blog will be a random collection of thoughts, updates on the world - and the world of road racing, Ironman, etc - as I see it.
There will be cool pictures and links to even cooler blogs. Stay tuned - this is going to be a blast!


Here goes nothing...

johnny boy