_SportyBrains_

Today we're going to get a little more real as I share some things that have been on my mind that probably has some application to you all as well. Okay, I know it does ;) So let's get dirty.  So I'll be honest, It;s been one of those seasons where I feel like my life has increasingly become an exercise of trying to fit as much activity, connection, and opportunity as possible into every week. Sometimes, it's quite fun. Other times, its quite exhausting. Part of this is intentional-as an athlete and business owner, you want to excel and make a difference, you have to put the time in. This is the part I love-taking what you have, who you're working with, and maximizing what's right in front of you  at that given time.  More is not always more.  The part I don't love is when my 'Off" switch gets jammed (I mean, don't you just hate that!?). Like many of you, I find myself so often falling into the trap that I constantly have to be 'do...

A podcast I can’t get enough of nowadays is the wonderful Michael Gervais’ ‘ Finding Mastery ’. Not only does Dr. Gervais possess qualities I want to find and fine tune in myself, his interviews with his guests are always interesting and a bit unpredictable. I mean, if you’re going to eavesdrop on two people talking for an hour-plus, you want some good juice and Mike and Co. haven’t failed me yet. This post was practically written on my 90-minute drive to see family as I listened to Mike’s episode interviewing NFL Rookie Quarterback Sam Darnold. Important side note: don’t worry guys-I wrote it in my head not actually as I was driving! Anyhow, back to the ‘cast; I don’t currently work with a ton of football players but am always curious to see how athletes across sports think and view their respective worlds. A few minutes in, I was hooked on this discussion; especially after a moment when the conversation turned to surfing, of all things. Surfing apparently is Dr. Gervais’ thin...

Ok not really, but I had to recently say that to my spring racing season.  Actually, it’s been weeks since I called it quits on racing for a bit (spoiler alert: this was a good decision). I’ve been wanting to write something about this for a while; but keep scrapping ideas and haven’t really known where to go with things at risk of sounding too narcissistic (I mean who really cares about my splits and times, etc.), or worse: too ‘fluffy’ (or is it extra?? Okay moving on). I am, however, a believer in finding something useful out of any experience if at all humanly possible. So a three-race season it is! I thought I’d share with you all some lessons and observations I made along the way from a short, but moderately successful racing season. I’m always learning things as I move along, and I hope at least a thing or two that someone may find useful and/or interesting as well. So let’s get into it. The best laid plans.... Are just plans; but we need to make them anyway...

I’ll start with the somewhat-disappointing fact that I have had no more than thirty seconds of interaction with Desi Linden while working at the 2012 Olympic Trials, so I am simply writing this from an observational stand point but I feel it’s pretty accurate. Now that my lack of real street cred has been established, let's get into it- What I will say about my 30 seconds with Ms. Linden is this: she radiates a quiet, confident intensity. Even after qualifying for the Olympic Team that year, she still carried herself quietly and confidently in a businesslike manner-as if she knew she was a force to be reckoned with yet felt no need to show it; because the world will soon find that out on its own. Desi has always stricken me as the type of athlete who mostly lets her work do the talking; that or she may actually be a mythical unicorn, but I doubt it. Now to the main content of this post: how we can be more like her-according to Adrienne, at least! In case you don’t follow ...

So after a long string of solid training and racing I was due for a little injury scare last week. This post will go into a little about it but mostly stuff on accurately reading pain levels and coping actively when things go awry physically. So this wasn't my first rodeo with this injury thing and I now fancy myself pretty savvy when it comes to dealing with getting hurt. Please note, if you are unfamiliar with dealing with getting hurt or in denial about being hurt-see a medical or other qualified professional before doing anything else. Okay, got that disclaimer outta the way now let's get into it!   Even though I more or less have a process for how to go about things when unfortunate events arise, I always try and learn something from a setback. And let's get one thing out in the open right now: hurting yourself never, ever happens at a convenient time. Probably because a convenient time to get hurt doesn't actually exist, but anyway!  Long story short, ...

So, this is another post about running (I know, shocking, right!?), however, I think there are some takeaways for anybody if you read long enough, so bear with me as I stay true-to-form and long-windedly unpack everything today. Today’s thoughts are a flip-side to a previous post where I discussed some mental errors I made racing a few weeks back; one of those errors was being Hella distracted by things around me and notably the timepiece and what it said on my wrist. Full disclosure: this post was pre-planned after making some adjustments and racing again at yesterday’s Bayou City Classic 10k in Houston.   And by adjustments, let’s say I basically did the runner’s equivalent of cutting my right hand off (or at least my right thumb, that thing’s important!) and running without a watch. Yep. Completely naked from the elbow down! No GPS, no Timex, no feedback whatsoever other than mile markers on the course and feel-you know, taking a more mindful approach. And it was every...

Flying home from a recent consulting trip in Omaha I picked up a copy of ‘Outside’ magazine. While the concept has always had my attention, I only crack open this mag occasionally. This time around, I had hours to spare and the March edition being the “Work Issue”. Ok… so what? And how boring. Not for me, at least at this point in my life. Given that I had just started my own practice back up just weeks ago from that moment I was intrigued as I am all about finding more ways to best serve others while doing things authentically and in-line with my athletic, outdoorsy personality. The theme of this issue was to “Work Smart”. What was cool about it was that it contained 4 sections giving us some methods of actually working smart. So helpful! Hoping to find some stories among the “new career rules’ (whatever that actually means) I liked the section on humanitarian-entrepreneur Jon Rose entitled “Make Yourself Useful”. I mean, I can hope I do that at least sometimes! In a section tit...