A Good Week to Start
Vol.5, No.3
If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl, but by all means, keep moving forward. - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The Opening Stride
Sometimes the world feels as though it’s in complete chaos and the steady stream of negative images, sounds, and stories feels like an unstoppable river reshaping the landscape of my life. However by the grace of God I’ve been blessed with nearly perpetual optimism and I do my best to find the “good” in life or at least find the pathway to peace and happiness and then orient my actions in that direction.
Running is so much more than the physical aspect of placing one foot in front of the other. I created this publication specifically to explore those other facets and when my world feels disrupted or thrown into discombobulation, it is running that regulates my emotions.
It often feels like there are bad actors and organizations that purposefully align their efforts to disrupt our society and our relationships with each other. The running community keeps me grounded in reality and appreciative of those personal relationships that develop from it. The culture of running is guided by an unyielding truth, that results are a reflection of discipline, positivity produces better performance, effort is respected and running with friends is better.
In the past seven days I’ve complete 10 separate runs, all but one of which was with a group of friends.
Has this week increased my running performance? Maybe, I’m unsure. What I do know is that running this week with friends and the Couch-to-5K (C25K) had a profound and tangible positive effect on my mental and emotional health.
What aspects of running do you find to have the most impact in your life?
The Foundation
It never gets easier, you just get stronger!
The hardest mile is the first one! This truth bubbled to the surface of my memory at the start of our Couch-to-5K (C25K) training group on Monday evening. My Run Club started a new community outreach effort by offering a free C25K program over the next 12 weeks. Our first information session and training session started on Monday with a turnout of 40+ new or returning runners. We had a big group with a wide spectrum of experience ranging from those who had never run before to former Collegiate Runners looking to get back into the sport.
Starting a new fitness regimen is hard, especially a running program. You are intentionally placing increased stress on your muscles, joints and ligaments. From that you’ll experience muscle soreness and possibly joint stiffness. Most, if not all of these things are uncomfortable and we as people generally try to avoid those things that make us uncomfortable.
In running, we all experience those “hard” miles. Whether it’s the first mile of a new C25K program or it’s the last mile of a Marathon, it’s still hard. Runners of all paces, distances and calibers experience those hard miles, even for me, sometimes the first two miles of a 10 mile run that are simply unbearable.
The reality is, running is physically hard and maybe that’s the appeal of it. We each want to take on something that is difficult and through that process of building strength and capacity we become not just better runners, but better people.
Running one mile is still difficult. It is a reality that I will keep in focus and one that will keep me humble. As you build strength and your pace improves or your distance lengthens, running a mile is still hard. It’s just a matter of when that mile hits, is it the first mile of a new C25K program, mile four of a 10K or mile 22 of a Marathon. In all cases, running a mile is hard, you just get stronger!
Mindset Matters
In just over 30-days I will be stepping off on a 24-hour race with hopes of completing 100-miles and earning that elusive Belt Buckle. Just like a 5K or the Marathon there are training plans that can be done leading up to a 100-mile race. However, I’m not doing any formal training. My plan is disciplined consistency. To keep showing up no matter how my legs or feet feel. To continue putting miles on my feet leading up to the race.
This mentality to “keep showing up” led to accumulating 40.25 miles last week. While this was my highest mileage week of 2026, it was also my easiest with an average pace of 10’59”. This average pace was reduced with two purposes behind it. The first that I wanted to keep my heart rate low at or below 120bpm and I wanted to help lead/coach our Couch-to-5K group throughout the week.
Show me a man’s friends, and I’ll show you his future.
It’s not a surprise why my running continues on the daily and I’ve made the mental decision to sign up for three Ultra Marathon’s this year. The overwhelming majority of my runs are with people who continually show up to improve themselves and sign up for races to test their mettle. Not everyone in the picture is a Marathoner or an Ultra Runner, yet each person puts forth incredible effort at every run and that effort is contagious.
I want to be better because my friends are doing better.
Positive Visualization
I am mentally training for my next race using a process referred to as “Mental Rehearsal and Positive Visualization”. I’m mentally preparing myself for the race by touching each of these four steps during any run and in the evenings when I’m thinking about the tasks and goals that lie ahead.
Outcome Visualization: I am continually visualizing a successful end result.
Crossing the Finish Line.
Hitting my target pace (14’00” or faster for the 100mi)
Finishing the last lap (4.167mi loop) strong and in control.
Process Visualization
Smooth Breathing to keep my HR low.
Relaxed Shoulders and strong back as the miles pile up.
Maintaining a strong forward progression
Staying Calm when discomfort sets in.
Performance Affirmations:
I will stay relaxed when things get uncomfortable.
I’ve done 24-hour missions before, I can do it again.
I will finish this race on my own two feet under my own control.
Stress Inoculation Imagery: I am intentionally thinking about the pain and stress challenges to come and how to overcome them.
I am in new territory beyond the 50-mile mark, don’t relax or feel accomplished. Keep going.
I will get very tired and cognitive ability will decline, stay calm, eat and keep moving.
I will be passed many times over the 25-loops. This isn’t a race against anyone else, only against the clock.
I think about each of these things and more throughout the day, especially at night when I’m tired. Often I’ve thought to myself at 10:00pm as I’m getting into bed “How the hell am I going to run for 24-hours when I’m this tired now?”
Going into a race with mental preparation is proven to result in better performance.
The Heart of the Run
I personally find healing through movement and joy in achievement. Over the past 4+ years I’ve written extensively about my run club and the people that make it so great. I hope it’s clear just how much they all mean to me. It is with this in mind that I am helping with our clubs Couch-to-5K training group that started this week.
Monday kicked off our 12-week, C25K free group training for our community. Our initial information session and first day of training drew out 40+ people. It was an incredible turnout! Then throughout the week we had a continued presence of C25K runners showing up for group training.
In just the one week of training, I’ve already seen great improvements in so many of our runners. For some, improvement happens quickly. For others like myself, improvements in running takes years of effort and repetition. I know for certain that every single person who sticks with this program and puts for the effort will be in a better place in 12-weeks than they were when they started.
It is my goal to share my love of running with the C25K group and I hope they get to experience the community and health benefits of sticking to the training and continuing to “show up”.
The Community Pace
Throughout the week I completed 10 separate runs covering 40.25 miles. Of that 90% was with fellow runners. The only solo miles were also the only miles spent on a treadmill. A 4-mile run on the curved “Assault Runner” where I spent nearly 40 minutes manually turning this running machine over and over. It was brutal.
Throughout the C25K training I was speaking to runners and a common theme continued to emerge. “I want to keep showing up because everyone else keeps showing up”. In our digital running world that connects people through apps and virtual races, none of that can properly or sufficiently replace or replicate what it’s like to talk to people in person and to run with others. Apps and virtual races rely on numbers and statistics to build community, running in person relies on interpersonal communication and teamwork. Individual relationships are established and community is fostered through a shared interest and the shared hardship of building up to that first 5K.
The Finish Line
It’s been nearly a year since I’ve ran all the trails at Williamson Preserve. I really do enjoy trail running and I’ve missed our monthly trail runs in the winter and fall. This past weekend we kicked off our Monthly Trail Runs again and had a great turnout with runners getting in miles ranging from 5-miles up to 16+.
These trail runs are not focused on speed or distance, but rather a group run through the woods and enjoying the morning with friends. I find there is something therapeutic in the woods. Connecting with nature does great things for the soul, rather that’s a run, walk, ride or ruck.
I’d like to close out by recognizing the hard work and accomplishment of my friend Justin who completed the 8.5 mile out-and-back trail run for the first time! Once we hit the River trail where the dirt trails end, we took a group picture to commemorate the accomplishment.
Great work Justin taking on this new distance on the trails!
Like you my friend, the mental aspect of running I was something I didn't understand until much later in my running "career". The physical aspect always takes the driver's seat for a new runner because it's the first thing to hit you, "Oh! This is uncomfortable!" Being able to callus over your mind to be able to push past that feeling is the the single hardest thing about running.
C.A.R. has made a profound impact on me. When you know others are coming out to run, why not me.