Training Camp for This Runner

Good morning!  Hope that you have had a wonderful first half of July.  I ran seven miles this morning, 33 miles this week, and now Myles is comfortably resting next to me as a type my blog post for the week. 

On June 10th I wrote about "Living a Runners Life" and how it had been so easy to become derailed from that life.  It was tough to admit and I recall writing that I just needed to "string a few days together" in order to get my running back on track.  I'm pleased to say that five weeks later I'm back on track.  It started slow with me running about 16 miles total that first week.  Now, I've put weeks together of 21, 28, 32, and 33 miles run.  I am feeling better and I've already run more miles in July than I ran in all of June.  I'm very, very pleased and hope to keep stringing days together because days become weeks and weeks become months.

I'm reading a great book by Jon Gordon titled "Training Camp."  Gordon is the same author that wrote "The Energy Bus" and that book is one that I used last spring to make a few key leadership points with our staff team in Housing & Residence Life at IUPUI.  I have to say that Training Camp is quite good and I'm looking forward to using it with our Res Life staff when they return from summer fun later this month.  So far my favorite part of the book is a point the author makes about continuous improvement.  The setting for the book is in a NFL training camp and there is an undrafted player trying to make the team.  His coach makes the point to him that the difference between average/good players and great players is that the great players NEVER stop trying to improve.  The idea of "continuous improvement" is one that resonates strongly with me.  One, in  running I'm always trying to get better and better is something that is limitless.  I still believe that my fastest running days are in front of me and that if I continue to try and improve that I'll get there.  Two, at work I really believe in trying to improve and expand my knowledge and talents so that I do not become obsolete.  It's easy for Res Life Staff with multiple years of experience to just sort of rest on what they know and put less effort into building training sessions, attending training sessions, and doing the job.  I find that the best staff are the ones that never stop looking for that edge, never stop trying to implement the next best thing, and always put a unique spin on what they are doing.  Continuous improvement leads to different.  Different is interesting. Interesting keeps people engaged.  Engaged people do good work.  So...get out there and do what you can to continually improve.

I hope that you have a great week.  Enjoy my latest Myles photo.  He's a treasure and he makes my day...everyday.  Happy running to you.


I continually try to improve my parenting skills so I can be the BEST Dad for Myles