Molecule by Molecule--February 22, 2017

Some days, we chase the unicorn like a bat out of Hades at full speed ahead, holding nothing back.  Other day, however, it's important to get back to the basics and just move to feel motion of the Earth underneath you.  Today was one of those days.  After feeling thoroughly beat up from the last few workouts, a 60 minute easy run was just what I needed.

I ran with Mindi this morning.  I love running with her because it gives us time to talk without being interrupted or overly distracted.

Mindi is a health coach.  She helps people achieve weight loss goals using a special food that facilitates weight loss.  But that's not really her job.  The food and meal schedule help people lose weight.  Mindi teaches her clients to prepare, cook and eat the healthy foods that will allow them to maintain the weightless after it comes off.  She teaches her clients healthy habits.

In his book, "Once A Runner," John L. Parker writes about Quinton Cassidy, a college track runner who excels.

“What was the secret, they wanted to know; in a thousand different ways they wanted to know The Secret. And not one of them was prepared, truly prepared to believe that it had not so much to do with chemicals and zippy mental tricks as with that most unprofound and sometimes heart-rending process of removing, molecule by molecule, the very tough rubber that comprised the bottoms of his training shoes. The Trial of Miles; Miles of Trials.”

People love and perpetually seek "the secret".  Whether its running, dieting, studying or hacky-sack we all want to know "the secret".  What makes the successful people successful?  What is the secret will open the same doorway of success to me?  But as Mr. Parker so tactfully put it, the secret is less profound and more heart-rending than most of us are willing to experience.  In the case of Quinton Cassidy, the secret was miles of trials.  For others, the secret may be consistently choosing to eat healthy, and proportional servings of food. For others, it may be placing family over devices by leaving your iPhone locked up in the room while you dedicate uninterrupted time to your children.

Molecule by molecule we remove the unnecessary impurities from our lives to become the men and women we want to be.  Fat becomes muscle, idleness become productivity, depression becomes joy, and so on and so forth.  There is no secret; only dedication and consistency to a worthy cause.

So I chased the unicorn this morning.  Not at top speed but in order to run at top steed occasionally it's necessary to pull back and coast for day.  This gives the body time to recover from the hard workouts and allows the muscles to rebuild and prepare for the next all out effort (which will be tomorrow).