by Dan | Apr 17, 2016 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
As Sarah’s shirt says, “Marathon”…the true picture of endurance: the ability or strength to continue despite fatigue, stress, or other adverse conditions. Things don’t just get handed to us. If they are especially important, then it takes even more work to achieve it. To earn it!
Tom and Sarah have been at this for many years as well, as the sign above them states, half marathon. They were getting ready to sign in for the race at Fargo. Training partners and friends, through thick and thin!
Those 2 have had my back for many years…and not just with running. Just like these races and events are not a sprint, for either entering in, or getting ready for, just like life. Life is an endurance event, and there will be many peaks and valleys throughout our life. We have to convince ourselves to keep going, and to work through those times that are tough…there are many more good times to experience.
Those challenges in life go much smoother when you have other people supporting you, encouraging you, and just being there for you.
Steve and I worked at it to go to Disney and do the Goofy race…half marathon on Saturday, marathon on Sunday, for a total of 39.3 miles! How much more endurance can there be! We proved we could do it, and with this, what in life would we not be able to handle? Some of the things in life we think are difficult now seem easy compared to this. But, we proved to ourselves that we did not have to be limited, not only physically, but especially mentally. If we can convince our minds of these challenges, the physical part falls into place.
My kids have all shown what they can do with endurance as well…Megan with swimming, Nick with running, and Molly with a multitude of different sports. All this translates to their life now…putting there head down, and “enduring” all of the stress and challenges of college life and pressure. If they keep reminding themselves of what they have already done, what they can do will seem easy. Here are all 3 with their different sports.
Convince yourself of the strength you have to continue despite all of the pressures, fatigue, and even negative thinking that can get in our way. Life is a marathon, and we are in it for the long run. At the end of it, we can look back and realize what a success in life we really had.
Remember…You can do this! Don’t give up on yourself! You can do amazing things, just believe in yourself. Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3124
by Dan | Apr 10, 2016 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
Be true to yourself, help others, make each day your masterpiece, make friendships a fine art. Friends? Where would we be without them? They are some of the people closest to us, and for me, have also been training partners. Here Tom and I are after one of our early Grandma’s Marathon events. As I have said in the past, it is not the marathon itself that was important, it was all of the training runs and talks we had getting ready for the marathon. Tom just texted me this week telling me he thinks his “racing days are over”, as he is struggling to keep up with a pace that we had once done. I reminded him it does not matter the time anymore. We have already done it. As he said, it gets tough to admit that. We are competitive, and don’t want to admit we are “slowing down”. I reminded him of what I have on a poster of mine:
Who cares how slow we are anymore! I reminded him that it is just a way now to spend more time enjoying the scenery along the way…something we did not get to appreciate as much in the early days as we were worried about our time. Enjoy life…at a slower pace!
There was Steve, when he could not run at Fargo due to his heart. I still ran, but something was definitely missing. My competitive days are in the past. I missed running with my friend, talking, working things out, discussing all of life’s issues and problems. Friendship means so much more than a time!
Don’t take for granted those people who are important in your life now…we will not always get to have them. Appreciate life for what it is. Those people extend to many…
Sarah of course! My wife, my “always training partner”, and my best friend!
Chris…my nurse ever since I have been at Brown Clinic. She is now a runner, and loving it. I want her around for a long time too.
New friends develop by attempting things that may not be in our comfort zone. Rich is involved with me in our Fun Fit program, doing a lot of resistance/weight training. I got him going more into running now as well.
Then there are the new “runner” friends…made from the Watertown Area Running Club…who all have the enjoyment of just wanting to run. This first is one of the original ones of us all after competing at Fargo.
We hang together, and we love to run…but best of all, we have become friends. Over the past few years we continue to recruit others, and we love to show how much we love to be active, and stay healthy.
Never forget those people we meet along the way in our lives…they become friends…people we care about, like spending time with them, help them through things in life just like they help us. Working together helps to stay motivated to keep going, and working on staying healthy, and active. Bottom line though, it is not about the exercise. It is about those bonds of friendship we make along the way. Those are the things, and the people we will remember forever. Who cares what are time is, or what place we get, or who we beat. Enjoy the ride along the way, and don’t miss out on the good things, the good times, that are right in front of us. That is what life is all about. I would definitely say having friends is having Success in Life!
I can’t say it any better than this! Friendships are for a lifetime…Keep moving everybody, and enjoy these people who make your life a success!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #” 3117
by Dan | Mar 13, 2016 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
Happiness…something everybody wants, but we may not know how to achieve this. Look around at what you have and who you are…are you happy? If not, then why? Maybe an even more important question if you are not happy is “what are you going to do about it?” Are you going to sit back and wait for things to improve, or are you going to make an active effort to change it? Focus on those things in life that are important to you, and then start to figure out what you can do to make it even better. My family is my source of happiness, and I keep turning my attention back towards them.’\
Surround yourselves with family and friends that are going to make you happy! Sometimes it may be easier to sit back and complain, or be angry about the things that don’t make you happy. Take action into your own hands and decide what it is that is going to make you happy…what is going to help you be a success in life!
I have the best training partner ever in Sarah! It is a great way to spend time together by working out together, and hopefully help us be around longer to be able to spend even more time together, and be happy! We just went out on a 10 mile run this AM, and spent a lot of it talking…planning for future, solving problems, venting in general! That does not mean everybody has to go out and run 10 miles! But it does mean you need to get out and move, and there are many ways to exercise and be happy. But, it can be as individual as the individual themselves!
Bottom line…we are responsible for our own Happiness! Nobody is going to do it for us. We may rely on family and friends to help with this, but we are ultimately responsible. What is it going to take to make you happy?
Happiness is in your hands! Use them to your advantage. Over time, you never know what else your hands will help you with! They are great for hugging!
Wrap your hands and arms around those you care about. Many times those answers to life’s questions come much easier then. Figure out how your happiness will help make your life a success!
How better than this quote to sum it all up! Smile! Be happy! You are in the driver seat!
Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3089
by Dan | Mar 6, 2016 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Heart Health, Motivation, Wellness/Health
Courage is the ability to do something that frightens us, and to have strength in the face of adversity, whatever that adversity may be. For many of us, exercise brings out fears in us, and excuses! “There is no way I can do that!”, or “my body is just not designed to do that”. Find the courage to move past our own mind! Here Sarah is riding her bike in the triathlon, or I should say, restarting the triathlon. She had gone about 2 miles and had a flat tire, and had to be taken back to start line, where she got her tire fixed. Because she got help, she got disqualified. She did not let that stop her though. She got on her bike, and took off, in last place, knowing that her time would not be given, but she had trained for this, and was going to finish it regardless. That was her personal goal…and she did it. To me, that took courage. She could have just quit, and sat there, and been even more unhappy because she did not get to do it. She overcame that set back, and took off anyway.
Steve had the courage to overcome issues with his heart…serious issues…but he did not let that stop him from wanting to participate in, and complete a marathon. We are crossing the finish line at the Disney marathon, his first, and after an 8 month struggle with issues with his heart. He found strength in the face of adversity, and found the ability to do something that would have frightened many others…he too had courage!
Tom had his own issues with his heart as well. My first marathon partner. But he was out joining me in a run on those long run days to help me get through, and achieve my goal of doing another marathon. He continues to run as well…having the courage to do this, when many others would have long quit. He is another example of you “live your life”, and do what you want to do, and enjoy life, and don’t let things hold you back, or allow you to come up with excuses that hold you back. Find that courage! It is in all of us…and even though it may be located deeper in some of us than others, it is there. So this is why I remind you…find the courage to overcome your fears, and do what we as individuals are capable of! Our minds are our biggest obstacles…our bodies are ready to go, if are mind convinces us that we are capable. And we are!
Find the courage to move past that fear! Whether you are a regular to exercise or not, we all need to be moving. A body in motion stays in motion!
Take those risks! Live life to the fullest. Another future blog post will cover the topic of “risk” as well.
Be who your are! Do what is right and important for you. Have the courage to do the things you enjoy, and push yourselves into those things that you think your are not capable of doing. If you do, you will have Success in Life!
Keep moving everybody…find the courage!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3082
by Dan | Feb 28, 2016 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
We all need encouragement for things in our life at some time or another, and who better than to receive this from than your own family. We are missing Molly and Jeff in here, but the rest came along when Steve and I did the Disney Goofy. After all encouragement means “the action of giving someone support, confidence, or hope.” We all need it to keep going with our goals, especially our exercise goals.
When Steve could not run his first marathon at Fargo because of issues with his heart, he was there to support and encourage me. I ran it because I had been trying to help him participate in his first marathon. I still don’t know who was more disappointed, Steve because he could not run, or me because I could run, but without Steve! But we had each others back, and Steve was able to start running again, so we could do Disney together! He never gave up!
We all have challenges along the way that make it tough for us to keep going, or to stay motivated. Rely on your family and friends to help keep you going. They need help too! We can all be there for each, and in the process, have some fun, and create memories to last a lifetime!
Our run club may be small, but we are a close knit group. Here is a shot of the originals, completing a half or full marathon at Fargo. We all hung around to cheer each other on, and then got to show off our medals together. We create even tighter bonds amongst each other, and those friendships go a long way. Here Jill and Paula celebrate after the SF half marathon.
We may all be runners, but we are also friends. We care about each other, and the running has only created stronger bonds of friendship. Bonds of encouragement for each other! This can carry on to not only running but other forms of exercise. Here in our Fun Fit class Rich and I are encouraging Susan as she is completing her lifting routine.
Susan used to be one of my nurses, but now is one of my exercises “partners” in this class. We can still dish out things to each other, but bottom line, we are pushing each other as well, and challenging not only ourselves, but each other. It always helps working out with a group. I have also gotten to know Rich really well in this class, and we both work our butt off, and push each other. The motivation is higher when we are both there, not in a competitive kind of way, but to help encourage each other to keep going…to not quit, and especially to not quit on ourselves!
When it comes to exercise, I have stated this in numerous posts in the past. The perseverance, determination, drive, attitude…all of it gets better by encouragement! This last quote I think sums it up very well!
Enjoy Success in Life, and encourage others, and they will encourage you! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3075
by Dan | Feb 21, 2016 | Exercise, Family, Heart Health, Motivation, Wellness/Health
Persistence! That quality that allows someone to continue doing something or trying to do something, even though it is difficult or opposed by other people. For me, it shows in my consecutive exercise day streak. The hard part is convincing everybody else to get moving, and making an attempt also. The following quote by one of our former Presidents, Calvin Coolidge, hits it right on!
Persistence and Determination–what a combination! “Press on”, or as the ad for Nike states, “Just do it!”. Both have deep meaning and can solve a lot of our problems. Never give in—especially to our own minds! What it takes to be a success in life is Persistence!
How true this is! Simple, but true! Sarah and I went hiking out in Colorado, and the mountains can be a challenge. But, if you are persistent, you open the door to many more sites, and have a deeper appreciation for all of the things in life, especially the little things!
More important, I get to spend time with someone who is my world! How much more of a success in life can this be?
Next time that thought enters your head telling you that you can’t exercise, or come up with some other excuse to not do it, refuse to quit! It is much easier to step back and go at things at a slower pace then to quit altogether, only later to restart again, and face those struggles all over again as well. Exercise is one of my passions, and I believe in this with all of my heart. Hopefully, it is also doing my heart some good as well. But the ride along the way has been wonderful! Bottom line–Persistence! Believing in a cause, and being distracted by nothing! JUST KEEP GOING!
Keep moving everybody! Persistence is the Key!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day#: 3068
