It’s been a pretty busy few days. I find myself saying that a lot lately. Sometimes the work seems tedious. Doing the same thing over and over. Laying out tasks, then knocking them out. Staying at that base-level of thinking can drive you mad. Does it ever end? Is life just one small task at the other?

This line of thinking permeates through training as well. One workout gets planned, gets done, and then another one takes its place. Where does this all lead? Without an answer to that question, you’d have to wonder why we’d ever perform tasks you’d deem unpleasant?

As I was feeling overwhelmed with tasks this past week, I had the opportunity to talk to a few people I would call “top-down thinkers.” People who think about the big picture. These conversations were refreshing. While I’m sitting there paying bills and updating spreadsheets, it made me remember why I was doing these things. It wasn’t to pay a bill. It wasn’t to have an accurate spreadsheet. It was to lay the foundations for our charity‘s ultimate success. The big picture.

That kind of thinking can apply to training as well. Sometimes the day-to-day toil of training, both mentally and physically, can cause you to lose sense of the big picture. Why are you doing this? If you’ve been struggling with the day-to-day, do yourself a favor. Take some time to stop and think about the big picture. It may give you some clarity. It worked for me.

Need a triathlon or running coach? Reach out to Coach Scott at [email protected] and set up a free consultation.

DONATE to our nonprofit, The Ordinary Marathoner Foundation.

Become a Patron and help support the podcast! Check out our Patreon Page.

Join the Official Ordinary Marathoner team at TEAM ORDINARY!

Check out our homepage at www.ordinarymarathoner.com.

Or join the conversation at our Ordinary Marathoners Facebook Discussion Group.

I’ll also follow you back on Twitter if you follow me @OrdMarathoner.

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

We have lots to go over today. It doesn’t help that I missed Friday’s podcast! Thank you, New York City traffic. At least it’s good to see things getting back to normal.

We hit a fundraising milestone this morning. Thank you for all who have donated to the Ordinary Marathoner Foundation or registered for the Ordinary Marathon.

The Foundation’s programs are developing nicely. Our Running For Autism Program is currently seeking applicants. Specifically, we are looking for autistic athletes 16-24 years old in the Austin, TX area. Applications will be accepted through April 25th.

Last Thursday, I had a really awful workout. It has to be up there with one of the worst of all time. No strength. No power. Hell, barely any sweat. BUT… it was also one of the best. Why? Because I showed up! And I’m hopeful that it will help kickstart me on the next stretch of training.

Need a triathlon or running coach? Reach out to Coach Scott at [email protected] and set up a free consultation.

DONATE to our nonprofit, The Ordinary Marathoner Foundation.

Become a Patron and help support the podcast! Check out our Patreon Page.

Join the Official Ordinary Marathoner team at TEAM ORDINARY!

Check out our homepage at www.ordinarymarathoner.com.

Or join the conversation at our Ordinary Marathoners Facebook Discussion Group.

I’ll also follow you back on Twitter if you follow me @OrdMarathoner.

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

Not much to discuss today, so I’ll keep it short. We are very excited about the Ordinary Marathon this year. Especially for the Run For the Fallen. We have gotten a number of requests for time slots to run miles for your fallen loved ones. We are currently building the infrastructure, including policies and webpages, to make sure we give this event the proper respect.

If you intend to participate in this year’s race, please get registered soon! Next Monday we will place orders for shirts and personalized bibs, so you need to be registered in order to take full advantage.

Personally, I have been suffering from a cold the past few days. It may be allergy-related. I’m trying to figure things out. Hopefully it doesn’t last long, though. We have our USA Triathlon ride tonight – come join us on Zwift at 6PM Eastern. Hope to see you there!

Need a triathlon or running coach? Reach out to Coach Scott at [email protected] and set up a free consultation.

DONATE to our nonprofit, The Ordinary Marathoner Foundation.

Become a Patron and help support the podcast! Check out our Patreon Page.

Join the Official Ordinary Marathoner team at TEAM ORDINARY!

Check out our homepage at www.ordinarymarathoner.com.

Or join the conversation at our Ordinary Marathoners Facebook Discussion Group.

I’ll also follow you back on Twitter if you follow me @OrdMarathoner.

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

Another area where we think The Ordinary Marathoner Foundation will be able to make a difference is with military veterans. Today we have two outstanding military men, Jeff Beason and Ron Boos, joining us to discuss ways to do just that.

Ron has been working directly with the foundation to find ways for us to get involved. Jeff’s work with the Arkansas Run for the Fallen has been inspiring. So much so, in fact, that we are going to try to build on it.

On Saturday, May 15th, we will be holding a virtual Run For the Fallen as part of The Ordinary Marathon. Runners will secure a 15-minute time-slot and be given an opportunity to do a Facebook Live chat and honor a military veteran – family or friend. Most will follow this by running a mile in their honor and/or planting a flag.

The veteran you pay tribute to does not have to be killed while in active duty. We want to honor any fallen hero, whether they died abroad in-action, or stateside. Please sign up for the Ordinary Marathon and let us know if you’d like to run a mile to honor a fallen hero.

Thank you for your service, Ron and Jeff. And thank you for your work to make this happen.

Exciting times at the Ordinary Marathoner Foundation this week. Yesterday we launched our first program – Running For Autism. Today we’ll talk to Erin Shepherd, a member of our Advisory Board. She is spearheading our program to help Deaf and Hard of Hearing Athletes.

Without her hearing devices, Erin would be able to hear. So, she knows what it’s like. A teacher of deaf and hard of hearing students, she deals directly with kids who have hearing loss. She has seen students quit sports because they feel as though they cannot overcome their deafness.

But she also knows this is untrue. Herself an aspiring Ironman, Erin wants to instill confidence in these young athletes. The Ordinary Marathoner Foundation thinks that’s a noble cause as well, and will support her and her program as best we can.

To show our support, we are going to acknowledge deaf and hard-of-hearing athletes during one day of this year’s Ordinary Marathon. For one day, we are going to ask our participants to send in pictures of themselves using the American Sign Language sign for “Run” or “Race.” Erin will show you how it’s done.

Need a triathlon or running coach? Reach out to Coach Scott at [email protected] and set up a free consultation.

DONATE to our nonprofit, The Ordinary Marathoner Foundation.

Become a Patron and help support the podcast! Check out our Patreon Page.

Join the Official Ordinary Marathoner team at TEAM ORDINARY!

Check out our homepage at www.ordinarymarathoner.com.

Or join the conversation at our Ordinary Marathoners Facebook Discussion Group.

I’ll also follow you back on Twitter if you follow me @OrdMarathoner.

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

We are just a little more than a month away from our annual virtual race, The Ordinary Marathon. Registration is picking up and we are implementing some great new ideas. One of which is to spend one day of the race to highlight each of the programs The Ordinary Marathoner Foundation expects to be rolling out in the next few weeks / months / years.

Today we invited Dr. Scott Frasard to the podcast to discuss the program he is leading. Scott tells us his story on how he got involved with Autism-related causes. Our charity’s very first program will be rolling out in early April, and we are very excited about it. While we will be starting the program with just one athlete, we think its’ success will drive future opportunities to grow the program beyond it’s Austin, TX origins. It’s very exciting times.

One of the ten days of the Ordinary Marathon will be dedicated to Autism Acceptance. We will promote this by posting links to educational videos and sources of information on Autism. Pop in your earbuds as you go for your run, link up to a TedTalk, and learn about something that affects one in 50 Americans.

Thank you to Dr. Scott for your tireless work on developing this program.

Need a triathlon or running coach? Reach out to Coach Scott at [email protected] and set up a free consultation.

DONATE to our nonprofit, The Ordinary Marathoner Foundation.

Become a Patron and help support the podcast! Check out our Patreon Page.

Join the Official Ordinary Marathoner team at TEAM ORDINARY!

Check out our homepage at www.ordinarymarathoner.com.

Or join the conversation at our Ordinary Marathoners Facebook Discussion Group.

I’ll also follow you back on Twitter if you follow me @OrdMarathoner.

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

Welcome to Redemption Week. After a subpar week on many fronts, it’s time to stop feeling bad about it and move forward.

But for some reason, this past week got me thinking about training and wondering… Does training have to be fun? Many of us exercise nearly every day. Surely not every day can be a fun time. Some days have to be tough and dare I say… no fun.

So, why do we do it? We do it for the payoff. We defer fun to a future time. Almost like putting money in the bank. We bank all that training and then cash it in when it’s accumulated enough to reach our goals.

And did I forget to mention? I set my 2-hour critical power record last night.

Need a triathlon or running coach? Reach out to Coach Scott at [email protected] and set up a free consultation.

DONATE to our nonprofit, The Ordinary Marathoner Foundation.

Become a Patron and help support the podcast! Check out our Patreon Page.

Join the Official Ordinary Marathoner team at TEAM ORDINARY!

Check out our homepage at www.ordinarymarathoner.com.

Or join the conversation at our Ordinary Marathoners Facebook Discussion Group.

I’ll also follow you back on Twitter if you follow me @OrdMarathoner.

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

Bad week. Terrible week. Things not getting done, unforseen obstacles in the way. Runs not finished. Podcasts not released.

It happens.

Rarely, but it happens. To those of us who train regularly, you know the best laid plans don’t always unfold the way you’d like. But when that happens, it’s often times the way we react to it that truly matters.

Are you going to be upset about it? Are you going to lament? Are you going to let it snowball?

Or are you going to acknowledge it, learn from it, and right the ship?

We have been hearing a lot of similar stories lately. For whatever reason, it seems pervasive through athletic training circles. So, if this is how you have been feeling lately, don’t worry. You’re not alone. And if training is going great for you, that’s awesome. Keep it up!

I am addressing this issue in a simple way… four steps. Listen in to today’s podcast and let’s get back on the right track.

Need a triathlon or running coach? Reach out to Coach Scott at [email protected] and set up a free consultation.

DONATE to our nonprofit, The Ordinary Marathoner Foundation.

Become a Patron and help support the podcast! Check out our Patreon Page.

Join the Official Ordinary Marathoner team at TEAM ORDINARY!

Check out our homepage at www.ordinarymarathoner.com.

Or join the conversation at our Ordinary Marathoners Facebook Discussion Group.

I’ll also follow you back on Twitter if you follow me @OrdMarathoner.

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

These announcements may not be new. I may have let the cat out of the bag multiple times. But they are now official, at least!

Dates for the 4th Annual Ordinary Marathon have been set! Circle your calendars from May 7th – May 16th. Ten days of running to celebrate our sport. We truly believe there is no better virtual event than the Ordinary Marathon. Tell your friends. Sign up your kids. Sing songs of joy and merriment!

Ok, maybe that’s overdoing it.

The second official announcement (again, no surprise). Is that this year the race will support our new nonprofit, The Ordinary Marathoner Foundation! We have so much going on to roll out programs to help all kinds of causes! And the best part about doing this race for this charity, is that you won’t be handing over money and wondering what good it did. Just keep listening to the podcast and we’ll update you on all of our programs’ progress and success!

Finally got a great weather weekend, and I spent it training indoors. The nice weather wasn’t a comfortable fit for the schedule. Especially when my plan is “just find time somewhere to get it in.” So, a 10-mile run Saturday and a 1:20 ride Sunday had to do. I still have time to work on my outdoor skills, and I’m looking forward to getting out there when the weather meets my plans.

Need a triathlon or running coach? Reach out to Coach Scott at [email protected] and set up a free consultation.

DONATE to our nonprofit, The Ordinary Marathoner Foundation.

Become a Patron and help support the podcast! Check out our Patreon Page.

Join the Official Ordinary Marathoner team at TEAM ORDINARY!

Check out our homepage at www.ordinarymarathoner.com.

Or join the conversation at our Ordinary Marathoners Facebook Discussion Group.

I’ll also follow you back on Twitter if you follow me @OrdMarathoner.

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

Yes, it’s my birthday today! Otherwise known as, that day of the year when you get a gazillion facebook messages and can’t possibly respond to all of them. I’m riding my recent wave of optimism and appreciating everyone who took the time to reach out today. Thank you.

Today’s podcast we dutifully pay respect to one of the more incredible triathletes, runners, inspirations, and podcast guests I’ve ever known – Dick Hoyt. What a life! It’s not just the races he ran with his son, Rick. It’s the doors he opened for so many like Rick, who are now able to do things once never thought possible. Not to mention he was one hell of a human being – one of the kindest guests we’ve had on the podcast. We’ll miss you, Dick Hoyt. But the mark you left behind is not going away anytime soon.

I also want to thank everyone reviving Team Ordinary by updating your race schedules. We are seeing a lot more live, in-person racing these days and it’s very refreshing.

Training is going pretty well. The Thursday Night Ride has been especially fun lately, and last night was no different. Thanks to all who have made this ride a great success. One day Zwift will give us our own event… I’ll just keep writing letters.

Need a triathlon or running coach? Reach out to Coach Scott at [email protected] and set up a free consultation.

DONATE to our nonprofit, The Ordinary Marathoner Foundation.

Become a Patron and help support the podcast! Check out our Patreon Page.

Join the Official Ordinary Marathoner team at TEAM ORDINARY!

Check out our homepage at www.ordinarymarathoner.com.

Or join the conversation at our Ordinary Marathoners Facebook Discussion Group.

I’ll also follow you back on Twitter if you follow me @OrdMarathoner.

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