Some Momentum

Good morning. Myles and I are writing a short post this morning. Ran 5.25 miles this morning and finished with 21.25 miles for the week. I'm happy with that as its my first week over 20 miles run in a long time. I feel good. Two weeks ago I posted my first blog in quite some time. Two weeks later I feel like I'm starting to live a runners life again. I love our new house and where we live. A personal favorite aspect is that I live a half mile from running trails that span over 30 miles. If I want, I can run on soft gravel trails (much easier on the legs) or run on pavement/roads. My favorite route is the gravel path that runs along a river. It is beautiful and it weaves by the Indiana Museum of Art, Butler, and the International School. Nothing compares to Annadel State Park in Sonoma County, but these trails are awesome. Have a great week! Happy running to you!

Myles Turns Two: A Tribute!

Good Morning! Just sitting outside with Myles enjoying a cup of coffee after a 6.25 mile run. Sarah is sleeping on her last Saturday before residency begins.  Running has been going well and I'm on track to hit 20 miles for the week. I'm excited about that. Today, though, is dedicated to my Myles.

Baby Myles

It's hard to believe that Myles turns two on June 26. We got him in August of 2010 and I had no idea how much he'd change my life. If you are my Facebook friend or follow this blog or Myles on Twitter, then you know how crazy I am about him. And...Myles is crazy about his Mommy and Daddy. Myles has helped make me a better person and therefore I thought I'd share a couple things I've learned from him.

Be Happy: One comment I hear a great deal from others about Myles is that he seems to smile perpetually. You see, he has this overbite and it looks like he's smiling--all the time. It's quite cute and I cannot help but become happier every time I look at him. Myles has a great life, but I'm sure he has bad days. Like...when it rains and he has to go outside to potty, or when it's vet time, or grooming time. Yet, no matter what the occasion, Myles smiles. And that...is a great lesson for all. We cannot change what happens in life, but we can always choose our response. 

Myles Smiles!

Love What You Do: I've said often that I wish everyone could be greeted just once in their life the way that Myles greets me when I come home from work. It's clear, Myles loves being our dog. He absolutely loves it. He follows us around, he sleeps between us at night, he watches TV with us, and he's even sleeping in my lap as I type at this very moment. In life, to really enjoy it, you have to love what you are doing and Myles serves as a great example of that. I try each day to approach my job and running with unparalleled enthusiasm and positivity and it makes a huge difference in my performance and how I impact others. While I've always kind of been that way, Myles is my accountability buddy because I see him give 100% each day to being our beloved boy.


He Loves His Mom and Pop

Patience: A major weakness that I have (just ask Sarah) is patience. I'm awful in traffic and unbearable when frustrated. It's something I struggle with and work on daily. Early on when we first adopted Myles, it became evident that "Myles Time" and "Josh Time" were different. And...often times it meant that "Josh Time" revolved around "Myles Time." At first, it was difficult for me because I'm a go, go, go type of guy. But...I've realized that being a go, go, go type of person negatively impacts my ability to be patient. Myles has taught me a whole new level of patience because in order to raise him to be a well mannered and well potty trained boy, I had to be patient. I'm still working on that, but he helps me daily.


Patience:  Myles refusing to walk when it was time for grooming and I needed to go to work.

There you have it. Be happy. Love what you do. Exercise Patience.

To My Myles (AKA Prince Myles, Bubba, Myles-E-Dise, Myles-E, Myles-Myles):

Thank you for being more like a son than a dog and for the way you love your Mom and Dad.  Happy Birthday! I love you! You are my Myles-E-Dise!

Monday Ramblings

Good evening! Woo! Busy day! Woke up at 5:30a for a 4.75 mile run, worked until 5p, mowed the yard, cleaned the house. Busy, busy day. Here's a short, quick, brief post (more like rambling). Running has been going well. I ran four days last week and ran this morning. Mentally, I feel myself recommitting to being a "runner" again. It feels good and provides grounding. I talked in my last post about "living a runner's life" and I am getting back to that point. It's so easy to slide away from it. Not as easy to get going again. Last weekend Sarah and I headed to Owensboro and visited with all kinds of family! It was great to see so many family members and it reminded me of how blessed I am to be a part of four outstanding families (Skillman, Gorrell, Speer, Laupus). As I get older I think I've become more appreciative of my family and how lucky I am. Maybe that happens to everyone as they age. Sarah and I were able to babysit our 6 week old niece, Lucy, and it was awesome! My sister and her husband Randy have a precious baby girl. Heck, I even changed a diaper. Have a great evening. Enjoy your loved ones. Thanks for reading! Go run tomorrow!

Living A Runner's Life

Our New House

Good morning! Went out for a very nice 4.75 mile run today. It's amazing how the body just responds to old habits. Let's be honest. My running this year has been anything but Josh-like. Today, though, it felt good. Felt right. I'll expand on that a bit later.

2012 on the whole has been WONDERFUL! The blessings Sarah, Myles, & I have received have been incredible. While these blessings have made it more difficult to find time to run, I would not trade them for anything. In March Sarah matched with IU Dermatology for residency, we bought a house, and Indiana made a Sweet 16 run. In April, I received increased job responsibilities at work and my niece, Lucy, was born. In May, Sarah graduated from medical school and we moved to our new place. Therefore, it's been one crazy couple of months.  Looking forward to the rest of 2012 as the best has yet to come.

I'll admit that running has been hard to dedicate myself to this year, especially when we were moving and learning to take care of our new place. Even when I would get up to go run, Myles would throw a fit and wake up Sarah (he had a difficult adjustment to his new environment). I have felt that pang of guilt about not running and not blogging and the more that the guilt grew the harder it was to get out the door.  I became discouraged about not running and even stopped wearing shirts from old races becuase it reminded me of what I was not doing.  And...that's hard because my wardrobe is 30% running shirts, 30% IU shirts, and 40% work stuff.  Today, though, the stars aligned, I woke up ready to run, Myles was calm, and I just went for it. On my run I got to thinking about how mentally it takes focus while running to complete the run successfully. And...when I'm running well on a daily basis, I'm able to string that focus from one day to the next day and so forth.  I'm better at running when I live the time inbetween my runs as a "runner" rather than "a guy that runs from time to time."  I need to be wearing those running shirts, blogging, and planning my weekly runs because the only way to get back on track is to live a runners life.  It's time to start stringing days together so that it once again becomes more difficult to not run than to run. For those of you who run and follow my blog, I hope this helps in the sense that even the most dedicated runners who love it sometimes struggle with motivation or life balance. We are all human and as runners in this together.

Happy running to you. Enjoy the photo of the house (with the IU flag of course). Hope to write again soon.