Until The Race Is Run

Until The Race Is Run

By Don MartinezSociety & CultureHealth & Fitness
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Until The Race Is Run episodes

  • Success-Episode 2, Season 2

    Success-simply defined as "the accomplishment of an aim or target; the achievement of popularity or profit". For many of us, especially the Type A's of the world (such as myself), the quest for success is a driving force. We construct our lives around the concept. My career, my lifestyle, my education are all focused around this nebulous "prize" that I wanted to achieve. How many times have I deconstructed and reconstructed my life in order to achieve "a dream"? Somehow, I have often found myself feeling as though my dream never measured up. Despite all that I have earned and worked for, it just wasn't enough. Oddly, I realized I was never asking myself the right question. Who defines my success?

    Reflecting on life, I realize that what I once used to drive my success is no longer what I see my success as. As I have gotten older, I realize that I am successful, but on my terms, and not those that other place on me. In this episode, I explore the concept of success and how while it can be a motivator-it can also become a noose. It started with a simple Facebook post, that really got me thinking. Hopefully, it will also encourage you to think about success and decide what truly matters most in YOUR life, on YOUR terms.

    Thank you for continuing to listen. Look for new episodes on the 1st and 15th of each month! Please like, share, comment as you see fit. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast and leave a review if you feel up to it!

    19 min
  • Episode 1, Season 2: In My Skin

    Welcome back to the podcast!

    After 2 years, I am pleased to share the newest episode of Until the Race Is Run. It has been a long time coming, and I am thrilled to be back at it! In this episode, I reflect back on the times I have felt uncomfortable in my own skin. I explore my feelings and the reasons why I was so uncomfortable. Ultimately, I have come to realize that often the times I have felt the most uncomfortable were the times I have seen sides of myself that I do not like.

    Further, I look at how being uncomfortable has kept me from many different things in life, including possible friendships and opportunities. More importantly, I look how some of this translates into my current life. I have struggled to learn to navigate those who have significantly different beliefs than I do. Ultimately, I am learning how to navigate those differences and embrace them.

    Thank you for being a part of the ride and I hope you enjoy this latest episode!

    16 min
  • Podcast Announcement

    Exciting update to share regarding the podcast and its return! Mark your calendars for February 15th, when the first episode of Season 2 drops..."In My Skin". Until then, take a quick listen to see where I have been and what's coming up!

    5 min
  • Episode 28: Approval-Good Enough For Me
    As 2018 dawns in front of us, let's dive in together and start the year off on a strong note! Today, I dive into the concept and topic of "approval". It is a mystical topic that many of us spend our lives chasing, but often times, come up short. We spend our lives chasing the approval of others, in the end, forgetting to live for ourselves. Our constant need for validation moves us away from being our true selves. As I reflect on my life, I know this has been a topic I have always struggled with. Today, I share with you a time that I learned a very difficult lesson about approval. At the time, it was mind-blowing, I actually got a "C" on an assignment in school! Looking back, I realize that in reality there were much bigger lessons to be learned. As we grow older, and our interpersonal relationships change, its not the grades that matter, but rather our own relationships. Need for approval and validation can shift the balance of power in a relationship. Consequently, a relationship built on mutual love and respect is now a power struggle when approval is involved. As a result, the relationship is no longer on equal ground, one person is always trying to appease the other. Over time, this leads to resentment and outright hostility. As always, thank you for joining me! I look forward to meeting you back for Episode 29 on January 15th!
    14 min
  • Episode 27: Inspiration-The People Around You
    Inspiration is all around us. Often, we can find inspiration in the simplest of things. A warm sunset, a baby's laugh, even the opening of a flower can inspire us. Really, we can find inspiration in just about anything, depending upon how deep we are willing to look. However, how many of us really stop to realize that maybe the greatest inspiration in life are those around us? Do we move through life taking those around us for granted? Never recognizing how they can inspire us to achieve. As I reflect back on the last two years in my life, I realize I have been to many great places. I have achieved goals and dreams that I never thought possible. I have seen personal growth and development in ways that I never would have envisioned. However, as I look back, I realize that none of this is happening in a vacuum. Sure, it has been my vision, my goals, my dreams that I have worked on. My will power and my determinations have pushed me to these new places. Additionally, I realize there was another strong element that helped me succeed and grow, and that was the people around me. So many people have inspired and encouraged me along the way, Today, I share with you what all of these people have meant to me. I share how I have been able to grow because I surround myself with like minded people. More and more I realize how important it is to surround myself with people who inspire me and encourage me to be my best ever. I also recognize how important it is to help other people achieve their hopes and dreams as well. When it comes down to it, we are all a global community and our greatest asset in life is each other! Thanks for being a part of the journey and I will see you on December 1st with the next episode!
    18 min
  • Episode 26: Transformation-Out On A Limb
    Transformation-that mystical process in life where we move from one state to the other. Over and over, I talk about change as part of life, a necessary part of our existence. Change can be good, or bad, but it always happens. Today I share with you the time I made a leap and set my life on a new path. Two years ago, frustrated with being fat and tired, I got up, walked into a gym. Glad to say, I haven't stopped moving since. I still can't believe how long it took me to become active! I share with you my thoughts and fears as I started this process. Reflecting, I realize that so many other times in my life fear and uncertainty have bled into my life choices and made me pull away from what I really wanted. Time and again, I let the voice inside slow me down or take me away from what I truly wanted. Consequently, I have learned to realize that the only barrier in achieving any goal I have wanted has truly been my own voice. So often, the limits we have are the limits we set for ourselves. Limiting ourselves keeps us safe, keeps us comfortable. Adjusting to new ways of living is often frightening and daunting, keeping us from growing. Now, I celebrate and embrace change. Embracing transformation has helped me grow in all areas of my life. I invite you to join me as I talk about my own transformation. Share with me my story, as you begin to write your own! Finally, live your life the way you want to, with no limitations! Thanks for being a part of the journey, and I look forward to sharing the next episode with you on November 15th! One Small Step-One Year Later: Blog entry I wrote last year reflecting my journey
    20 min
  • Episode 25: Questions: Life's Unending Curiosity
    Have you ever stopped and asked yourself how many questions you ask in the course of the day? How many times within a day do you inquire about various ideas? Us humans are curious creatures. We want to know it all, and we want to know it all NOW. Information is gathered, processed and eventually acted upon, often without any awareness we are actually doing it! Blindly, we travel through the day, asking about what we need to know. Consequently, it becomes a routine, a habit, a mindless activity. How many of us ever stop and ask if we are truly asking the RIGHT kind of questions? Today, I share with you my own process of data collection. I openly share some of the times I have had to question the world around me, and how I got to the decisions that I did. For me, I have always found it challenging to ask the "hard questions". Those kinds of questions that make you uncomfortable, that make you think, that make you really move forward. Sure, anybody can ask "Should I do this?", but isn't the real question, "Why should I want to do it?" More and more, I find its important to really ask yourself why you are doing something, not just if you are capable. In reality, there is very little we are not capable of. Truly, the heart of the matter is, are we driven to do it? Honestly, how much of life are we missing because we aren't asking the right questions. How many times do we follow the path of lease resistance, rather than challenging and pushing ourselves. Can we ever, finally, be the best version of ourselves if we never truly push ourselves? In addition, can we ever live our dreams, if we don't know why they matter? As aways, thank you for being a part of this wonderful journey with me. I appreciate all of you checking out the podcast episode after episode and sharing your thoughts with me. I look forward to meeting you again on November 1st for Episode 26!
    23 min
  • Episode 24: Failing Successfully
    If there is one thing in life none of us likes to do, it would be to fail. In a perfect world, failing would never be an option, and we would all be perfect, at every given moment. However, this is not a perfect world, and failing is a part of life. Despite our best effort and our best intention, we do not always succeed. Dreams do not come true, and we don't always get the happy ending. However, really...is it our failures that define us, or is it how we handle those failures that define us? Today, I share with you where I have been this week. I share with you a "failure" in my life. Being "less than perfect" is resulting in my dream being pushed away. Although disappointed, I was instead able to see the situation for what it truly was, a chance to grown and mature. When I take a step back, while setting my ego aside, and see the larger picture, I realize just how far I have come. Coming to life for this dream, right now, is not an option, but even still, I am so much closer to it than I ever imagined. Suddenly the sense of failure fades away, as a sense of success and pride shines through. I am realizing more and more all that I have accomplished by having this "failure". I am seeing that even with failing, I am winning. By virtue of putting myself out there, and taking a chance, I have already grown, already won. Failing is now seeming like winning. I'm finally seeing that I am only failing, if I allow myself to see it as such. Come along with me as I share my "failure" with you, and maybe, just maybe, you might start seeing a few of your "failures" a bit differently as well! As always, thanks for being a part of the journey and I look forward to sharing the next episode with you in a few short weeks!
    23 min
  • Episode 23: Me, Myself & I
    Many times in life, we find ourselves trying to please others. We dedicate our time and energy to trying to be what we think somebody else expects of us. We silence our own dreams and desires, losing sight of the things that make us most happy in life. This pattern often starts early in life, and by the time we finally arrive to adulthood, it is a well established pattern. By sacrificing our own voice, we think we please others. But,in the end, do we really please them? In denying our own desires, we slowly lose our drive and passion, and in the end...are we less effective? Today, I share with you my own experiences in being somebody other than myself. I recall a time in life that I let others guide me, and ultimately, lost sight of my own dreams. I lost myself, instead dedicating my life to what I thought others needed of me. Living a hollow life became too much, and ultimately, I had to be true to myself. Having found my passion, I realize how much more effective I am in all areas of my life. Work never feels like a burden, because it is something I love. I still can't believe it took me this long to get there! It took 20 years to learn! I can't help but think of how much else I could have done in those 20 years! As you listen today, think of all the dreams that you have that are yours? Are you living YOUR life..or are you living the dreams of those around you? How can you be the best version of yourself....if you are living for somebody else? Thanks, as always, for listening. Episode 24 drops on October 1st!
    17 min
  • Episode 22: Soulfully Bankrupt
    How many of us go through the motions of our everyday life like zombies? Each day, we feed our wallet, our family, our ego, but forget about our soul. We become so involved in being successful, consequently, we forget how to be human. We lose sight, we lose perspective and leave ourselves soulfully bankrupt. Do we ever really feel fulfilled by the life we lead, and finally, what happens when we don't? Recently, somebody I know lived through a terrible tragedy. In a single moment the life of his entire family was shattered forever. As I contemplated what this meant for his family, I could not help but reflect upon my own life. One phrase stuck with me from those days, being soulfully bankrupt. The cold reality that life is transient. A fleeting gift we often take for granted. Totally unscripted and unrehearsed, I share with you my journey of realization as I have come to finally realize that I need to feed my soul. I share with you a personal, almost spiritual experience I had as I got behind my camera for the first time in a year. For several brief hours, I shut my logical mind down, and allowed myself to see the world through my camera lens. Framing the world around me, I let my imagination run free. Finally, I could see, even briefly, all the stories of the world around me. I invite you to join me on this powerful experience, as I share my reflections. My challenge to each of you, how can you feed your soul? What can you do in your life to help you be all that you want and make life all that you have dreamed possible? Thanks for being a part of the journey!
    15 min

About Until The Race Is Run

From the publisher's feed

A motivational and inspirational travel toward a better life as told through one man's journey back to health from obesity. Together, we explore ways to effect positive change in one's own life to…