Watford 10K Both Humbled and Inspired.

Humble and Inspired

Today I took part in the Watford 10K along with approximately 900 other runners of varying skills and ages. We ranged from three to seventy five plus and varied in athletic abillity
from part run part walk, to club level almost sprint. The fastest time was a full 100% faster than my time which I might add I am still very proud of in 1 hour 12 minutes.

I feel humbled that given my age of 60 in August, there were athletes much stronger placed than I, some fifteen years my senior and I also feel inspired that I was able to be part of that experience.

There were mothers, fathers, grandparents and children and at least one athlete who was blind who inspired me all the more and again humbled me as she passed on my left holding the arm of her running partner.

The fastest time was 37 min 15 seconds and the final athlete to victoriously cross the line was 1 hour 5. The value was not in the time but n the taste of victory that we participated and rose to the challenge knowing others did not. Today many people took on their demons and beat them. For some it is physical for others age. There blind athletes and some in wheelchairs. Some of us are confronted with the voice of doubt that says "Quit" and others of us have that nagging little voice of self worth saying "Who do you think you are that you should take life by the tail and win?"

Everyone has a moment of doubt in their life and it is is the choice we make at that moment which determines the outcome of our future. I encourage you to make brave choices and live your dreams and if the voices of doubt and reason keep talking in the background, invite them along for the ride, just don't pay them any notice.

With aching legs and a soaring heart I will go to bed a happier person tonight.

Happy Running!

That Thing Called Prenthood

I have three children, they are 28,18 and 8. My life has been spread out over six decades and these are the gifts that I treasure the most. My partner in crime of course my wife, but I hope that goes with our saying after 25 years of marriage.

No one of these children are the same and yet they all three are so alike. There is some of me in all of them, something I find quite humbling and there are qualities and traits they all have common to the other. I have found that life is a short journey on the road of forever and parenthood is the most marvalous thing that has happened along the way.

A Brief Fleeting Moment of

Parenthood

Look to the farthest star

And brighter than that are you by far

Or quietly listen to the running brook

That gently passes like the book

The one you read to loose your self

Don’t leave your heart upon some shelf

But share the light that is that star

The one that shines within you

Brighter by far

Look

Look to the farthest star

Huffing loudly!

Big and proudly!

Like a storm in tea cup

Roaring at the world

Look at me. LOOK AT ME!

How do we make the leap

From child to woman or man?

How do we let the love of others

Mothers, Fathers, Sisters, Brothers

Guide us, through this sullen time?

Without surrender or bed at nine?

“I know! “ You say. "I know."

So quickly now the days have slipped away

And awkwardly I fumble, to find the things to

say

For a precious moment it was you, and me and

Pooh

So quickly have the days gone by

And I look for things to do

To try, and take my mind, off loosing you.

I know you’ll always be my little child.

But for one brief, fleeting, beautiful moment,

It was just you, and me, and Pooh.

We define ourselves by what we think, others define us by what we do.

Do I see the look of a believer?

I have started training for the Triathlon Season. I started early this year because the previous two years Angela, my trainer has killed me with a twelve week burst leading up to one event. This of course has been my choice and, given that for the prior part of the year I had not trained at all,  this was all she had to work with. This year I was determined to have two things happen. I would be ready to be able to use the twelve week training session that we have with Angela to it’s maximum and, I would have fun getting there.

Last week I had an epiphany; I was running my second 5K and I could hear all of the familiar little voices in my head saying quit, why are you doing this to yourself, you were a lousy runner when you were 20 why do you think you can be any good now you are nearly sixty. To silence the voices I thought, instead of thinking I could not do it why don’t I simply think that I could? In that instant my whole approach to running changed.It suddenly changed from the conversation being one of difficulty to one of ease. It changed from one of struggle to one of joy and from one of failure to one of success. 

Young people today are beset with the challenges of reaching a standard in school that is nothing short of painful and they are made to think from an early age that the successes and failures that they gain in what is a very short part of their lives, defines who they are now and who they will become in there future. Are you going to University? No?Then what that means is...You are going to University, then you will almost certainly be a success. All that has happened here is that the students choice has made the teacher feel better about themselves and not really helped the student at all.

My thinking has defined me all of my life and, while I have read many books and am an avid TED Talk enthusiast and I am told every day that I have a positive attitude, it was only last week as I turned the corner and faced an absolute bitch of a hill to finish the last 1 1/2K of my run that I understood the power of my own thoughts. Suddenly all of the doubts that I had brought along for company were replaced with the successes that I also have had over my lifetime. In that one thought I redefined who I was and proceeded to knock a minute and a half off my best time.

I know that this stuff works but I have never seen it work so well as it did that day because of one small equation; ‘Thought plus Action’. What I learned was the most important lesson  of all, one that is missed by even the best motivational thinkers; nothing changes for the better or worse until action follows thought. Usually a negative thought is followed by no action, however, that in of it’s self is action. Having a positive thought must be followed directly by the same value of positive action otherwise it is simply a warm and fussy thought leaving you just as unfulfilled on the other side. If we are to be the person we think we are, we must be willing to take action on those thoughts. As we take more and more action so we add to our bank account of confidence and we generate more and more equity in that account to spend on our future.

Live Passionately, Think Positive!

Do These Jeans Make My Butt Look Big?

I wrote this when I was 55 it still rings true.

Do these jeans make my butt look good? I mean; for crying out loud, I’m 59 not dead. I’m not asking for the attention of young women to feed my male ego, actually I would feel quite awkward if a woman young enough to be my daughter made a pass at me or my butt for that matter. No, what I really want is to look good in jeans again, just for a few more years.

The thing is, these days we all look better than our parents did, look what they had to go through, a war, rationing, and terrible working conditions. No wonder they all looked middle aged by the time they were 30. The problem is that we feel better, we have better diets and better health care, so it’s obvious that we are going to look better. So at 59 I still want to look good, at least to my wife and I still want my best feature to look good in a pair of Levis. The question is of course, how do we pull that off?

The challenge is to juggle a job and a family and still find time to take care of ones self. As the years roll by we see less and less of our knees due in part to the evidence of too many late night snacks and trips to McDonalds with the kids. For most men the largest and most exercised muscle in their body is their thumb from using the remote.

“Grab us a nuvver beer luv, sein as yer up” 

Hardly the sexual magnet she fell in love with. I think most guys are the same when it comes to it, when we strip off at night we want the woman we fell in love with to raise her eyebrows and look twice. In fairness we expect them to look great even after having given birth to a couple of times, maybe we should make some effort as well.

Live passionately, ask why!

The Thought Of Succeeding

There have been many times in life when we think about giving up. Sometimes it’s on school, sometimes on work, other times it’s on a relationship or trying to get a promotion. The thing is, most of the time it is just a thought and nothing else. However, if you have had that thought and then taken action on it, you will know how hollow it leaves you feeling.

Don’t get ‘Giving up’ mixed up with ‘Failing’ though, it is not one and the same. Failing is part of life and to fail often and sometimes in a grand way usually means that we are trying to achieve something big and giving your all and failing at something big and life changing big should be a badge of honour. All of the other failures in life are simply a way of regrouping and trying something different.

The thing is, a lot of the time failing, quitting and giving up simply start with a thought and nothing more. Likewise succeeding is the result of the same thing, it all starts with just a thought. We do not wake up one morning and find ourselves at the top of Everest and wonder how we got there. We do not suddenly find that we have a number one smash hit and wonder how that happened and we don't suddenly win an Olympic gold medal and say to the guy who is receiving the silver medal, “What is this celebration for and why are we here” All of these things and the many other events in our life all started as a thought and remained that way until action was taken to make that thought a reality.

We hear every day of people who against ridiculous odds achieve amazing things. Things such as; Sir Ranulph Fiennes, climbing Mount Everest at 65 after his third attempt. The first time he was stopped because  of a heart attack and the second time due to exhaustion. He is now the oldest British climber to make the ascent and also the first pensioner. Walt Disney went bankrupt after a failed deal in 1922, today Disney is one of the most successful and respected brands in the world. Einstein did not speak until he was four years old, Richard Branson did not attend University and has Dyslexia, Jim Carrie was homeless, Stephen Kings first novel was rejected 30 times and the richest person in the world, Bill Gates saw his fist business fail. The list goes on and on and has been the subject of many books but the point is, it was only a thought in the heads of these and many other people and it was only a thought that gave them the idea to be successful.

Three years ago I competed in the London Triathlon and this year will be my third one. All my life I have started the conversation about my running ability with the statement “I am not very good” going through my thoughts. This statement lead to, and therefore I will fail. Just a thought, a simple thought. This year I have started training early as part of my celebration of my 60th birthday in August, the difference is though, this year I have started with the thought that “I will succeed.” My running is so much easier, it was like lifting a weight from my shoulders and I feel tangibly better about myself. I have also found that because I own the success of my running I can bank it in my ‘Self Esteem’ bank account and the equity is measurable. It has taken on a physicality and it is changing my life.

This blog was originally titled ‘The Thought Of Failure’ but as I was running on Monday I changed that to ‘The Thought Of Succeeding’ and with it my entire attitude.

Think Big! Dare To Win!

VINYL IS MAKING A COMEBACK!

Vinyl is making a comeback, or is it that just that it never really left?

I have spent a lot of my life, as many of us do, trying to keep up with the times. What cloths are in fashion, what car is a cool one to drive, what music do I listen to, that sort of thing. What I have done however is two things that I now realise have been to the detriment of my failed attempt to keep in step with the times.

I have sacrificed in part, the quality that came with trading out many of the things I loved for efficiency and convenience and,

I have traded away a little part of who I am.

I know that the new 60 is the old 40 and my generation is doing things our parents would never have tried or been open to. We are living longer and looking younger (despite a diet off the McDonalds’ deal menu) but that does not guarantee that all of the advancements mean that we take along the quality that we previously had. I know it was a technological breakthrough to put 1,000 songs on to a pocket sized MP3 player, but the price we paid was the quality of the music and one thing I have discovered is that quantity in no way takes the place of quality.

Music has always been a very important part of my life, it brings back memories of times and places. My entry into acting was through musical theatre and in times of joy and sadness it has always been there to comfort me. It brings emotion to births , wedding and funerals and it's the link between words and pictures in films. There is nothing quite like seeing and hearing live music, everything after that is always second best. 

Vinyl records have always been available on places like 'e bay' and in retro shops but suddenly my daughters’ generation has rediscovered how cool it is all over again. Interestingly it is also the artists of that Vinyl generation that are in the forefront of the revival. I was in HMV today and noticed that it was James Taylor, Fleetwood Mac and the Ramones who were leading the charge and not the music of the present time. Suddenly there was a common link that I had with a young woman who had pink hair and piercings, is was the music and in this case the Vinyl. It was a bridge that has spanned several generations and allowing us to experience this common bond. 

The thing I have learned throughout this is that we all need a little quality in our lives. Quality of music, quality of books, films, cloths or whatever it is for you and most importantly, quality in our relationships. Convenience is great and it is needed in this time we live in, but we can always use quality. It will outlast everything.

If You Were Dying, Would You Share The Blood Of A Gay Person

On the subject of Gay people who are willing to serve and die for their countries: 

If you were dying and needed blood, if in one week you would be dead and never see your family again or if you chose to take the blood transfusion of a Gay person who says to you. "I am sorry, I made a mistake some years back and I am HIV Positive. Your life could go either way but you will at least live for five years, please let me help you." 

Imagine that you are one of those who quickly put down the Gay community with slanderous names, what would you do? Remember, this person is your only hope and will give you five more years of precious life. Of course, you could stand by your morals and kiss your wife or husband goodbye, and look at your little girl and let her know how you feel about Gay people.

Consider the comparison of the speech delivered by Shylock in Merchant Of Venice and substitute Jew with Gay or indeed any other human being willing to honour the dignity of service to others.

"He hath disgraced me, and hindered me half a million; laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies; and what's his reason? I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villany you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction. " 

I would be mightily impressed that those who dislike a person for their lifestyle would stick by their sad set of morals if they were in a hole on a battle field with a leg missing and bleeding to death, knowing you might never see your children again but for the aid of one of your team, now remember he's gay. Would you refuse that help knowing you would never be able to look into the eyes of those you loved? That little girl who sits on your knee at breakfast time to share you toast, the little boy who wants you to play with him in the first snow of the year. That beautiful woman who has given her life to you. All of this I am sure you would not give up because the medic who is about to give you a blood transfusion with bullets and shit flying everywhere. That brave soul who is willing to risk their life for yours irrespective of your beliefs....You should be ashamed of your so called morals and get on with your life and let others get on with theirs. Maybe they should be allowed to declare their choice of lifestyle on the battle ground prior to giving you medical attention.