Moonshot 7

Ann Trason.  They call her the GOAT - 'Greatest ultra-runner Of All Time'.   Wikipedia says, " She has broken twenty world records  during her career", " fourteen time Western States Endurance Run winner and former female course record holder; 2-time winner of the Comrades Marathon ; formerly or currently holds numerous American and World Records;  American 100k  record holder" and more... Ann Trason recently came to the mid-west to run the Hennepin 100 mile ultra marathon on October 6th near Sterling, Illinois. I got the wonderful opportunity to spend a couple hours with Ann at my friend Scott Kummer's place in Chicago on the Thursday before the race weekend.  And I also spent over 4 hours pacing Ann at the Hennepin 100.  I kept telling to everyone I ran into leading up to this weekend, "If you don't know who Ann Trason is, Google her!!" During this time, we had a great conversation - from witty banter to jokes to race talk to perso...

It happened all of a sudden!  I was feeling good at mile-25, the sun had gone down, just passed an aid station with some crackers in my hand, shoved some aid station food (PB&J) into my mouth to get some calories in me, talking to Lynn who I had met around mile-18 and started running together... And then I just turned towards the side of the path and projectile threw up the entire food I had at the aid station...!!! PREMISE: I was contemplating to do a 100-miler in the fall of 2018 to measure where I am with my training and 100-mile running fitness.  I haven't run a 100-mile race this year, though I tried other distance races. I was looking at Mogollon Monster 100 (MM100), but I knew it is a tough mountain race and I am not ready for it. I also wanted to do Hallucination 100 which happens to be the week before MM100, as is was also on my birthday this year (September 7th), to get in some birthday miles.  My friends Scott and Adam have signed up for Mogollon...

This title makes no sense!  But its catchy and rhymes with a famous hip-hop song, just keeping it G-rated here. So, what's here?  Random thoughts. Nothing fancy. Just jotted down. Its fun to read. More fun to try.  Its positive. Its gratitude. Its being nice. Its calming down. Its being good. Its being human. If you have random thoughts like this, let's keep adding to the list. And before you go, try one thing today! You can thank me later :-) Smile. Take 5 deep breaths. Ask someone, "How is your day today?" Say "Thank You" to someone who helped you. Say "Thank You" to the person cleaning the streets, or your office hallway, or anyone who is just doing their job that makes your life a little better. Say "Good Job" to a someone you know (a coworker, your kid, partner, whoever...). Say "Good Job" with a follow-up comment, like "Good Job on getting me this document. You are a life saver".  You are assured t...

I had a few days off around the Christmas holidays and binge watched the Rocky movies, primarily for entertainment but also for motivating myself for the upcoming New Year to get in shape for a big race that I had signed up for.   You know you are in a downward spiral with fitness when you watch movies for inspiration... But hey, whatever it takes :-)  As I started watching the first Rocky movie, I realized the movies had a few life lessons.  When I continued with the series, it had a handful of life lessons...  I realized the 5 life lessons from the Rocky movies that are applicable to one's personal life as well to one's work life too.   Spoiler alert: If you haven't watched the Rocky movies, and really really don't want to know anything, stop now and come back later.  There may be some minor spoilers here. 1. People matter Rocky is who he is due to the people around him.  They make sacrifices for his success. They pus...