Ordinary Marathoner

A short family vacation was some needed time away. Stefany and I took the girls to Cape Cod, and I had some moments to reflect on the past few months. Of note, the incredible amount of work we’ve been doing – ramping up our coaching business, starting Team Ordinary, LLC, but perhaps most notable to me, the slow deterioration of my personal workout discipline and routine.

Things have to change on that front, and fast. I thought about the schedule choices I’ve been making. Where have I been spending my time and has that been the most valuable usage of it? Answer: Not in the right places. When was I at my best with time management? Earlier this year when I was getting up early every morning and riding the bike. What was my mantra back then? “Fight For Your Routine!” Well, I haven’t been fighting for it lately, so I’m reinstating my morning workouts and live-streaming them over at the YouTube Channel. Hopefully that will keep me honest.

Lastly, I needed to take a few moments to talk about the recent success of a client, Denise Morris. “I want to get faster,” she said. For the last month we’ve been working together doing just that – overcoming physical barriers through training and mental barriers through our discussions. Yesterday she went out and re-ran her 1-mile run test, which is how we gauge her improvement. In just a little over a month, Denise improved her time by nearly TWO WHOLE MINUTES! (Ok, it’s 1:48 but I round up). In the process I think she learned a whole lot about her own mental toughness and pushed herself past limits she never thought she could cross. Understandably so, she was very happy with her performance. As for her coach… he’s super-proud, too. There’s going to be a lot more improvement in her future, too.

Well, it was good while it lasted. My streak of Thursday podcasts was going quite swimmingly until a 3-day power outage spoiled it. But I didn’t waste any time once power was restored and here I am, bright and early on Friday!

Earlier in the week Stefany and I watched a documentary called The Secret, which I think is based on a book. There was some good bits to it that I took with me and I will try to put to good use. But just as things were going well and I was starting to think that maybe there was something to this whole “Secret,” Tropical Storms and Tornado Warnings caused power outages, and power outages caused nuisances, delays, cancellations and spoiled meat. Luckily, I’m an ethical meat eater and found a solution to save my Costco haul from earlier this week.

Don’t forget tonight’s Happy Hour with guest, physical therapist and author Mike Swinger! Something NEW this week: In order to get into tonight’s meeting, you’ll have to pre-register, where you will then be emailed a link to the meeting that starts at 7:30PM Eastern Time. See you there!

Today started out a bit differently than my normal Thursdays lately. Instead of throwing on the ol’ headphones and doing the podcast in the morning, I threw on the kicks and went to run some hills. Team Ordinary member Denise Morris was in town, and we hit the park for some work.

Work we did – eating hills for breakfast and even climbing the Forest Park staircase. Finally, a good workout for me after a rather disappointing early part of the week due to an injury. But, now I’m back!

Last Friday’s Happy Hour guest was Ultrarunner, Jill Becker. We talked a lot about Ultrarunning, but perhaps the thing I thought about most since then is… I think I have to run an Ultra. Stay tuned.

Yesterday I hopped on the bike for an FTP Ramp Test. If you want to see an old man suffer, I livestreamed it on the YouTube channel. Tonight is our Thursday Night Zwift ride at 6:35PM EST and we should be live-streaming that as well.

Friday Night we will have our Team Ordinary Happy Hour and Coaching Panel with Ultrarunning Coach Jill Becker. I have a lot of questions for her about training for an ultra and maybe… just maybe… I can get talked into doing on myself.

Lastly, we have some organizational changes going on behind the scenes. Team Ordinary and its associate brands are now an official business structure – Team Ordinary, LLC. It all kinda feels official now, and we are looking forward to expanding and increasing the incredible inspiration you all provide us.

Who says good things can’t happen in the time of Covid? Our weekly Zwift ride is still going strong. Our most recent Happy Hour and Coaches Panel with Team Dietitian, Allison Knott of ANew Well Sports Nutrition, was a great success. The slideshow from this year’s Ordinary Marathon is finally up! Year in and year out, this is my most favorite part of the race – watching how we all come together and celebrate out sport in the name of charity.

It was also nice to see a race happen! That’s right – an actual, live in-person race! In certain parts of the country, smaller races are still taking place. Where there is racing, personal goals and accomplishments are happening. It’s refreshing to see, and for a minute I thought maybe we were starting to get our sport back.

And then Philly canceled their marathon.

It wasn’t unexpected, but it still felt like a gut-punch seeing it happen. There will be no Philly meet-up for Team Ordinary this year. The question then becomes… what do we do now? Some folks will embrace virtual racing. Some will look for other races that haven’t yet canceled. And some people, me included, will take their time and make their decisions as the future unfolds. The good news is, it is the very same qualities of mental toughness that push us to endeavor to succeed in this sport, that can help us deal with the racing fallout of 2020.

On Friday, I was ready to put my entire training plan on hold. There was a seemingly shiny little trophy I wanted to add to my wall. Zwift was hosting a virtual Tour de France, and I thought, “Now THAT would be an epic adventure.”

I tried to make room in my training schedule, pushing back an important long-run so that I could complete the first stage. When researching it further, it turned out “The Tour” wasn’t exactly the event I’d thought it would be. Then, my long-run results were completely disappointing. But… there are lessons to be learned and you can’t change the past. So, I move on with a clearer picture of my goals and where my focus should be.

We’ll also have a chat with June Walker, who is coming back from a brief (non-goat related) back injury to restart her Couch-To-5k program.

What if I told you that by adding walk-breaks into your workouts, you’d actually run FASTER!? I’ve personally used the Galloway Walk/Run method and seen it work. In fact, my marathon PR was set using a great deal of run/walk intervals. But I hadn’t seen evidence that it could work at a distance like the mile! And yet, this week I had a client do just that!

More Ironman cancellations – this time Ironman Muncie 70.3. At this point, just assume any race you are in is canceled. Train for it. Be ready for it. If it happens, consider it a bonus.

Zwift is taking the Tour de France online this year – and it will be held virtually. The super-cool part is that amateur cyclists can participate on the same course as the pros! I’m so tempted to join in the challenge, but training for me has been going great the last month or so, and “Doing the Tour de France,” while supercool, just isn’t in the plan. Wisdom dictates I stick to the plan. Temptation says otherwise. I have a day to make my choice.

As we say goodbye to the month of June, we also regret that there is no June Walker update today. An unfortunate accident involving a goat caused her some back pain and now we’re on hold for a bit. But we are hopeful it won’t be too bad and that she’ll be back at it with our Couch-to-5k program shortly.

Laziness never pays. In this case, trying to avoid a little work led to a bit of an ankle injury for me. It’s probably nothing, just a bruise, but I’ll have to be cautious moving forward.

A really busy past few days here. Our Stephanie Lueras podcast was awesome! Our Happy Hour with Ramon Bermo was great! Training has been going great and we have been doing a lot of coaching consults and other things behind-the-scenes as well.

Stephanie Lueras has come a long way. About 200 pounds ago, the light switch went on and she got moving. At first, it was just a short walk. Eventually the walk got longer, and then became a run. Then a race. Or two or three. A half-marathon, a few marathons and then triathlon followed, with an Ironman 70.3 looming in the near future.

She still cries at every finish line. It’s not finishing the race that makes her happy – it’s what finishing the race represents. Years of struggle followed by slowly changing bad habits and getting herself in gear. Now, she shares her knowledge and encourages others.

We hope your race takes place in the fall, Stephanie, and we hope it makes you cry… in the good way.

Rest In Peace, racing in 2020. The New York City Marathon and multiple Ironman races have been recently canceled due to the Covid outbreak. Whether you agree or disagree, whether you’re mad or glad, we can all agree that losing the 2020 Racing Season is just outright sad.

Personally, I was holding out some optimism that we’d still see some big races go off this year. I remain registered for the Philadelphia Marathon in late November, but I’m not holding my breath. My optimism fades as each of the dominoes fall.

Despite the disappointment, there’s one thing I know about our community. We’re tough. You don’t train for events like these without a bit of toughness in your soul. So what do we do? How do we react? Do we get all depressed and huddle in the corner with our thumbs in our mouths and a pint of ice cream? (Actually, the ice cream sounds good.) No… not us. We change. We adapt. We overcome. Always adjust the plan so you can be ready… no, not just ready. Be BETTER than you would have been if you took the starting line in 202o. June Walker is doing it – we’ll give you an update on her Couch-To-5k Status.

Need a coach? Our deal on coaching is still open. One month free with a 3-month commitment. Reach out to us today – consultations always free.

Join the Official Ordinary Marathoner team at TEAM ORDINARY!

Check out our homepage at www.ordinarymarathoner.com.

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Check out our annual virtual charity race, The Ordinary Marathon. Register early and be eligible for giveaways between now and race day.