Momentum... Keep it Going!

Physics textbooks say that the formula for momentum is Mass x Velocity. In other words, an object in motion tends to stay in motion. I've learned this lesson in my running and training many, many times. While I follow a 10 & 1 training program for running (which means that you run ten minutes and then walk one minute and repeat this process for the desired distance) I've learned that, especially nearing the end of a long race (1/2 marathon +) it becomes increasingly difficult to start running again after that one minute walk break. The body slows down to walk and then it wants to stay slowed down. It take more and more work to get moving again.

The same is true in a training program. I can't count the number of times that I have gotten myself into great shape preparing for an event and then, after the event is over, I take a break that becomes a hiatus and pretty soon I've lost my fitness level and have to start almost back at zero. This is an example of the law of Momentum and also the inverse law which is that an object at rest tends to stay at rest. In other words, it takes a lot more energy to get something moving than it does to keep it going once it's started. I recently finished another half marathon program and this time I've been continuing to train 3 times a week and getting a long run in fairly consistently. I'm trying hard to take advantage of the law of Momentum. I've already gotten into shape, so now I'm just trying to maintain it. While it took 4-5 days a week of fairly intense training to get here, it takes much less to keep it going. That's momentum.

If you study the lives of successful people in any field, you'll discover that what they are better at than others, is that they're really good at capitalizing on Momentum. They understand that it takes a TON of work to get a business, career or project off the ground, and relatively small amounts of energy to keep it going after that. That's why venture capitalists exit. They understand that while they could continue to start new companies, develop them, nurture them and then sell them for a profit, it's much more efficient to buy companies once they are already up and running and successful. We need to apply the same principal to our lives.

Too many of us experience success in some aspect of our lives and then rest on that success. We enjoy the feeling of having achieved something too long and don't capitalize on the momentum we've generated. Maybe you've just done a great job on a project at work. You've landed a big account, or finished a big report and you've been praised and recognized for your good work. There's a temptation to stop and bask in the glow of recognition, but if you do that, you'll be missing a great opportunity. instead of resting on your laurels, ask for another responsibility, or talk with your supervisor about your accomplishment to see if there something else that he or she can see you doing. Maybe it's even the time to ask for that raise or promotion.

Publicists know that once you've been able to generate a little interest or buzz about your client, the next step is to keep that person in the media as much and for as long as you can. In other words you use the recognition of the first media appearance to generate the next one. Momentum. Just like the little snowball at the top of the hill, once it gets moving and starts to gain speed and size, it becomes increasingly difficult to stop it. Your life and you success can be the same way.

So take advantage of whatever momentum you have currently generated in your life. If you've taken the first step toward a goal, hurry up and take the second step. It you've just lost ten pounds. Don't stop to enjoy those ten pounds, work on the next ten. After all, if Momentum = Mass x Velocity, your mass has just decreased so you need to increase your velocity that much more! :) Keep it going! Use Momentum to your advantage.

Trying a Tri

I made a decision this week. I need a new challenge. After finishing another half marathon this May, the drive to do another one wasn't as strong as it once was. I still love to run, but I feel like I need a change. So after toying with it for the better part of a year, I've decided to try a triathlon!

I'm not nearly as confident about it as I wish I were. My swimming leaves much to be desired and I'm not the world's strongest biker either, but the idea of completing a triathlon has a lure that is particularly attractive.

Let me be perfectly clear, this attempt is NOT a full triathlon. I've actually come to learn that triathlon's come in a variety of distances starting at with a "try a tri" distance all the way to Ironman distance. The traditional triathlon is what is known as the olympic distance: (1.5 km swim, 40 km ride, 10 km run); there is a shorter version known as the "sprint" which is - (750 m swim, 20 km bike, 5 km run); there is also the "long course or half-ironman distance" - (1.9 km swim, 90 km ride, 21.1 km run) and then the Full Ironman - (3.86 km swim, a 180.25 km bike and a marathon 42.2 km run).

I'll be attempting a sprint distance in August. My biggest concern is the swim. To do 750m in the ocean is very intimidating. My swimming will have to improve significantly in order for me to be able to do it, but with training, God-willing, I'll finish it.

Life is Beautiful

Life. What is it? Many people have defined it, many have tried to explain it and many have expressed their feelings about it but no one I've read or heard yet has been able to explain, express or define it's beauty. I won't be able to either, but today I want to remind you of the beauty, the wonder and the gift that is life. To do that, I want to share with you a perspective we can all appreciate, that of my two year old daughter, Emma.

Emma is a constant reminder to me that life is an awesome, beautiful and amazing thing. Because of her youth, she is amazed by nearly everything. We go for a walk and she sees an ant crawling on the ground, she stops, she examines it, she watched it walk along the pavement and she takes it all in. She is awestruck by this ant. To her, it is an amazing thing.

Later on our walk she will notice the sewer drain in the side of the road. She hears the sound of rushing water and she stops to listen and watch, to see what can be discovered from this interesting discovery.

A while later she'll ask to push her stroller with her baby doll in it. She'll walk along proudly pushing her baby and talking to her the whole length of the walk, describing what's happening, pointing things out to her (or at least that's what I assume she's doing since I can rarely make out more than a few words she says to her baby). Finally we come back to our driveway and Emma fights not to go inside. She loves to walk, to discover, to play and she doesn't want it to end. I bring her inside as she cries I try to re-assure her that we will go on other walks. There will be more discovering another day.

What Emma has taught me, and continues to teach me, is that life is amazing. There is so much to be discovered, appreciated and enjoyed. She doesn't need a good reason to laugh, she just does it. She doesn't need anything truly extraordinary (at least by adult standards) to be awestruck and amazed, she takes everything in with a true appreciation and amazement for the wonder that is life. And it's inspiring to watch.

Emma reminds me, and should remind us all, that life is a beautiful and amazing and it should be a valuable gift that we treasure and use to the best of our abilities. As adults it can be easy to forget this amongst the bills, work, responsibilities, stress, but we need to. We need to remember that life is short, and we shouldn't waste a minute of it complaining, worrying or doing anything but appreciating and using it.

Today may you be more open the wonder and beauty that is your life. Take a moment to breathe in the fresh morning air. Take a second to really SEE. Take in the blue sky, the sun and the rainbows. It's an amazing, beautiful and awe-inspiring world out there. Enjoy it!