Several years ago, my daughter Emma and I spent many miles on the roads together as we trained for her half marathon. I was her assistant and sherpa, as I carried all the hydration and “snacks” for those long runs. It was a special time for us; Emma had graduated from college and living at home, teaching and applying to grad school. She had options, choices in schools and also the direction she wanted to take in her academia life. But it was the miles that gave us time together. Now my married daughter, with her masters in the Classics, came for a visit this past weekend and I asked her about ideas for this very article. Boy, was I surprised!
I guess she was listening to me after all! Her suggestion was as follows, share my inspirational running mantras as I always shared with her:
• You can do anything for three minutes
• Think about your form, relax your shoulders
• Think how good you’ll feel the rest of the day
• Eat the hill! (nom,nom,nom)
• Push it! All the way to the end!
• Set a goal, one more light pole
• You look great!
• It is supposed to hurt
• Imagine the feeling of accomplishment as you cross the finish!
It seems every day we have to make choices. Thankfully we have lots of options, ways to research and educate ourselves. Before life, I mean before computers, we actually read books and magazines about running, about nutrition and even shoes. I appreciate helping a customer who might have questions, and has done some prior research. I love it when customers ask how we do our shoe fitting and evaluation because I know they know the importance of that. And the choices we have in 2014 are amazing ones! Our shoe buyer, Anthony has worked long and hard for 19 years with Track Shack and knows shoes better than anyone. He sees the new product first and determines what will work best for our customers. He helps us realize our ultimate goal, that of keeping our runners and walkers on the road for life, injury free. Long before we had our Florida Hospital Healthy Living Series with great speakers about knees, about proper fueling for training, and even foam rolling fun, Jon and I had to educate ourselves about our running, especially about nutrition. That was a biggie for me back in the mid 70’s. I was 17 the last time red meat touched my lips. It was a personal choice but affected my whole family. My mom totally supported me, dad, not so much. I come from a large family and typically our dinners were casseroles with ground chuck. I don’t even know if meat is called that anymore! Jon and our kids made my vegetarian choice as well since I made all our meals.
Now, choices are even tougher; gluten free, vegan, raw... what is right for one person may or may not be right for you. Educate yourself. Our website is a great informational site, plus you’ll find the calendar of the seminars and clinics we host. Jon and I are so grateful to our employees who make Track Shack and our events so awesome. We may be the ones receiving the accolades, winning awards or getting great press, but only because we surround ourselves with people who share our passion. Our son, Chris, also shares our passion. His passion for people and running equals Jon’s for sure. They also share a fascination with FSU football. (another story...) Jon and I made a huge choice this fall, one of our biggest business decisions ever, to hire Chris. Chris’ dream to work with us began in high school and we are excited to welcome him home.
Every year goes by faster than the one before. 2013 almost seems a blur to me. There were weddings, anniversaries (running and personal) babies and more! And then there was Boston. Well, I think we’ve all done our best to keep Boston Strong and running strong. Jon re-qualified and I bet he was one of the first to sign up for Boston 2014. I’ll be there with our family to cheer him on at the finish! I wonder which of my inspirational mantras I’ll use this time.
See you on the roads!
Betsy
