It was an exciting morning — early October in the middle of nowhere Illinois. Today was going to be a test, and one of the hardest physical tests of my life. To run a 100-mile race. There’s nothing like getting up when it’s still dark out. The race kicked off…

Running can become enjoyable even if you hate it now — There are a lot of people that wish they liked running but have never been able to get into it. Many complaints go like this: “I need to stop.” “My ankles hurt.” “My knee hurts.” “I can’t even run for 5 minutes.” “I get so out of breath.” “I’ll never…

Run your best race yet! — Have you run a 5K and are looking to take it to the next level with a 10K but you’re not sure what to do next? A 10K can be hard if you are planning to run it for a PR. In fact, almost every race from 5K to ultra…

It can build so much more — Are you hesitant to join a running community or group? Does the idea of running with a bunch of strangers with running being the only thing you have in common seem weird? Running groups often intimidate me. I’m afraid of looking slow or being outdone by other runners. My ego…

“Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them.”- Ann Landers Opportunities for us are everywhere. Most of the time we don’t see them staring right in front of our faces. When I started to get involved in running ultra marathons about 7 years ago, I…

Become a better version of yourself through your personal journey. — There are hundreds of books on the market that talk about goal setting. You should have S.M.A.R.T. goals, the five C’s, the four R’s, or any other acronym that you could make up and sound like you’re dialed into setting goals. While having a structure around the goals you set…

Get outside of your comfort zone. — The older you become, the more you realize how swiftly the years go by. It felt like yesterday that you were in “this” place in your life but the reality is it was 7 years ago. Maybe it was as simple as driving to work and realizing you can’t recall…

See evidence of your thought patterns. — With 2,207 entries and over a million words written in my journal, there have been a few lessons that I have picked up along the way. I started journaling in 2013 with an old paper journal. Eventually, I had 10 journals filled cover to cover…

We all have a deep desire to be happy. Who wouldn’t want to be happy? We all cherish those moments when we experience deep satisfaction and want to live in a moment forever. This is the problem. These moments won’t last forever and we end up chasing them. We fill…