Here’s my elevation map for today – talk about blazing some trails. I had no idea how far I was going or what the terrain was going to be. I looked at the Ridge to Rivers map for Shaffer Butte, and I picked a couple of trails. Youch! I went up about 850 feet in my first mile. But it was about 630 am, and it was still a nice and cool 70 degrees. That was fun. Next 3 miles, I added about 300 more feet each mile. What a way to start the day!

See that “V” around mile 4? That trail was named “The Tempest” so I had to check it out. But when it kept going down, down, down…I decided that I would save it for another day. So I only went down about 1/2 mile, then straight back up for a 350 foot climb in 1/2 mile. Geez – think if I had kept going down. Yikes.

After I came down off that side of the mountain, I went over to the Nordic ski lodge where I planned to run some of the cross-country ski trails. Here’s a tip: It was a lot longer than it looked like on the map. Ended up being ~13 miles with the first half of that going down. Aren’t you supposed to finish on the downhill, not the uphill? Who knew?

Then I got turned around the last hour, and I ran out of water. That was a bummer. And it had climbed to almost 90 degrees by that time… and I had more sun by that time – but it was 10 degrees cooler on the mountain than in the city, so that was a plus. I was pretty tired by the time I finally found the lodge (and my car), but I had a frozen bandana (yes a bandana not a banana) in a baggie in my cooler – It had thawed out, but it was still cold and wet – felt so good on my face and neck – ah, what a relief.  I rehydrated when I got to the car and drove home with my cold bandana around my neck.

When I realized I was a little off course at the end…and that I would probably not be going 8 hours today, I thought about something I read a couple of nights ago in Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. At the time, I couldn’t remember exactly, but he says that running is like “the game of life – You never know how hard it will be. You never know when it will end. You can’t control it. You can only adjust.”

I made a few adjustments today, and everything turned out just fine. What a terrific day.

• My friend Lori reached the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro
• Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States
• Millions of people from every race and culture gathered together in Washington D.C. in a spirit of hope
• I spoke with a woman who went from weighing 527 pounds to running marathons
• I saw a lone bald eagle flying along the Boise River this morning

Always on the lookout, I find inspiration everyday in extraordinary people and experiences. It can be something as heroic as losing over 350 pounds or as simple as seeing an eagle.

I had an extraordinary run this morning. The run itself was a regular weekday progression run, but I came up with an idea while running that could potentially have a profound impact on myself and others. (More on that later.)

In any case, if we look for and expect good things to happen, they will. So be on the lookout for inspiration, and – guaranteed – you WILL BE inspired!

“Meredith called this morning (Monday).  The phone is still working.  They are on the Shira plateau.  Everyone is doing fine, no sickness at all.  Jenny & Cindy, Laurie wants her family to know she is feeling great at 13,000 feet, and the expedition team is wonderful.  Meredith said they were managing to keep clean, but it is getting colder and that will be more difficult to do.  The weather has been good for trekking.  I told Meredith to call on Wednesday and then again on Saturday to try and conserve battery power.  That stair climbing in Chicago seems to have helped them all.

“Meredith called this morning (Wednesday), and we talked for about 30 seconds. We are trying to conserve battery power.  Hope it lasts for a call on Saturday after they summit!! Today was the day they scrambled up the steep “Barranco Wall” and they all made it.  Everyone from the Chicago group is still feeling fine and doing great.  Last night a couple of older guys from Oregon had altitude sickness and had to head back down the mountain.  Our girls are doing great though.  Meredith will not even try and call the next couple of days.  Between low battery and cloud cover it isn’t worth the chance.  Let’s hope we hear from them on Saturday.”

“I heard from Meredith about 5:30am central time.  They transported the group to their base camp.  Meredith was impressed with the tents, they have wooden floors!!!  I’m not sure if the floors go with them up the mountain.  They were getting ready to go for a two hour hike to warm up and stretch out the legs.  Meredith said they were being spoiled.  They deserve it.  Today, they even get to take showers.  Apparently there are two groups of 12 going and 45 porters.  I believe they are in good hands. According to Meredith, you can see Mt. Kilimanjaro off in the distance, far away in the clouds.  It sounds pretty awesome.

“Heard from the trekkers this morning.  All is well.  Today was a perfect weather hiking day but they expect it to start getting colder.  I think Meredith said they took a ‘shower’ today.  The meals are gourmet so they are eating and storing up energy.  Everyone is doing really  well.  Yesterday, they saw monkeys in the rain forest.  The mountain seems a liitle closer but also  higher.  The battery on the satellite phone is running low (rather dissapointing) so I’m not sure how much longer we will hear from the group.”

New Year. New Challenges. New Goals.

I always hear Zig Ziglar in my head when I think of goals: “You gotta have a goal.” Goals give us direction. Goals give us something to strive for. Goals motivate us. Reaching a goal is great, but working towards the goal is even better.

Several years ago, my friend Roz gave me a framed print which is probably one of my favorite prints I’ve ever had. It is a drawing by Sybil Shane, an artist who explores the extraordinary found within the ordinary. The title is “Toward the Mountain Top Inch by Inch.” I keep it in a visible spot where I can look at it everyday. And I’m reminded that things worth achieving take time and patience.

I thought of another friend today as I looked at the print. My friend Lori is in Africa right now climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. Literally, she is going “Toward the Mountain Top Inch by Inch.” One of the people in her group is sending updates to her mom (Didi) via satellite phone which she, in turn, is sending to some of Lori’s “people.”

Today’s message says:

“Good morning. I heard from Meredith about 5:30am central time. They transported the group to their base camp. Meredith was impressed with the tents, they have wooden floors!!! I’m not sure if the floors go with them up the mountain. They were getting ready to go for a two hour hike to warm up and stretch out the legs. Meredith said they were being spoiled. They deserve it. Today, they even get to take showers. Apparently there are two groups of 12 going and 45 porters. I believe they are in good hands. According to Meredith, you can see Mt. Kilimanjaro off in the distance, far away in the clouds. It sounds pretty awesome.”

I’ll post Didi’s updates on Lori and her group as I get them…as they go “Toward the Mountain Top Inch by Inch.”

When I decided to take on my ultrarunning adventures, one of my primary goals was to become a good hill runner. Living in Chicago for 15 years, I had little opportunity to train on hills as Chicago is pancake flat. However, Boise is loaded with hills, and since last summer, I have been doing more and more hill work – both in the foothills on trails and on roads.

I am visiting family in Shreveport this week, and there are some great hills here. The last time I was here, I had trouble on the hills and I had to walk up them quite a few times.

But today was a breakthrough day for me! I RAN 10 hill repeats on “Thrill Hill”! And, a couple of days ago, I ran 10 miles on the hills and never walked once.

(I’m not sure when or how “Thrill Hill” got its name because it’s actually Gilbert Hill, but it’s been called Thrill Hill as long as I can remember, and anyone who has grown up in Shreveport knows this hill.)

I’m truly seeing some of the effects of my hill training. Moral of the story: Persistence pays off. There have been times when I have wondered, “Are these hills EVER going to get any easier?” Don’t misunderstand – hills are still not easy. However, they are just not quite as hard as they once were.

My advice:  Trust the process and … Never, never, never give up!

Like most things in life, there are peaks and valleys. And, if we can just weather the valleys, we’ll make it to the summit. As I embark on my ultrarunning series, I like to keep this in mind.

My first race in the series is coming up on November 15 – a 50K (31 miles) in Stinson Beach, California. It is a trail run on a challenging course along the Pacific coast. Throughout my running history, I have not been a trail runner. Living in Chicago for mosts of my running life has not afforded me the opportunity to run on trails. A gorgeous lakefront yes, but trails no. And, since the marathons I’ve run have been road races, even in the past year in Boise, I’ve trained mostly on asphalt running paths.

New adventures bring new challenges. Most ultramarathons are run on trails – trails with lots of hills. So, that is my new challenge. Last weekend, I ran the Royal Victoria Marathon in Victoria, Canada – on roads. Most of my training was on roads for this race; however, for the past couple of months, I have been introducing trails up to about 6 miles. And, with a trail run coming up in a few weeks, I have been putting in short trail runs on a regular basis.

Yesterday, I ran 10 miles in the hills on trails, my longest trail run to date. It was challenging to say the least. But remembering that if I could just get through the rough patches, I would make it to the summit, I succeeded and felt great afterwards. Notice I said, “afterwards.” There were patches where I didn’t feel so great during the run. But I am getting better every time I go out there.

There were so many highlights of that run, but one of the bonuses of running that particular path was seeing the gorgeous fall leaves. I ran on a trail I haven’t run before, and I thought about all the people who will never see the beauty I saw yesterday – either because they are unable to hike those trails or they are unwilling. I ran along the top of a ridge above a gulch. Besides seeing for miles in every direction – which was so cool – I saw the trees below in the gulch. Every shade of color you can imagine – it looked like the photographs you see on travel brochures beckoning travelers to come see the fall colors. The beauty took my breath away (or it could have been the uphill running and the altitude).

I am so fortunate to be able to run in the first place, but doubly fortunate to have the foothills and trails to run on here in Idaho.

Yesterday, I literally experienced the peaks and valleys in my running. And, everyday we experience figurative peaks and valleys. And, as we weather both the literal and figurative valleys, we get stronger everyday. I’m excited about taking on new physical and mental challenges, and I’m already enjoying the process.

But how do we prepare mentally for what may await us on race morning? Ironically, it helps to have faced mental challenges in training – that is, training in the pouring rain, extreme heat or cold, or other horrendous weather conditions. But as we so often say (usually in reference to marathon day), “Any given Sunday.” Although we are usually more “worried” about the weather (which we have absolutely no control over), it’s often the one thing that we DO have control over that causes us the most difficulty – our minds.

At Saturday’s Half Ironman with Lori, we woke up at 2:30 a.m. to extremely windy conditions. As her support crew, we tried to keep her calm as the wind almost knocked us down while we were watching her set up her transition area, assuring her that it would be fine.  When it came time to head a mile down the beach to begin the 1.2 mile swim, the wind picked up and made even walking in the sand hard. Lots of the athletes donned their wetsuits and were “testing the water” literally. Worried expressions, sick stomachs, and even obvious fear gripped both the athletes and the spectators.

In a bold, decisive, and responsible act, the race directed canceled the swim 20 minutes before the first wave was to take off. Although disappointed, the athletes showed enormous relief and gratitude for the decision.

So, how do you get your head back in the game? Most of these athletes had trained for 6 or more months, and for most, the swim is the most difficult part. Therefore, they often sacrificed other elements of their training to concentrate on the swim portion.  Now, they are told that they will substitute a 2.1 mile run for the swim portion to maintain the 70.3 mile equivalent difficulty.

Some fared better than others. The ones who were able to postpone their frustration and focus on the task at hand prevailed – with FOCUS being the operative word. Everyone’s plans had changed – pros and amateurs alike.

Everyday we are tested in some way both mentally and physically. Les Brown is fond of saying, “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” Every time we are faced with a challenge, we are given an opportunity to grow stronger.

We won’t all pass every test we face. But if we stay the course and don’t give up, we will emerge victorious.

Lori had a great day in Benton Harbor – she switched gears, kept her head in the game, and focused on the task at hand. She even set a personal record in the half marathon portion of the race. She was a true winner.

We might be traveling to a position in our company, to a happier state of mind, to a goal that we have set for ourselves. Or we might be traveling, in fact, to another physical location – as I am today, to Indiana and then on to Benton Harbor, Michigan.

I am reminded of a story Wayne Dyer tells of a wise old guru who is totally at peace with himself and his “place” in the universe. He takes a hit of LSD, a dose strong enough to be fatal, yet he remains unfazed. The observer asks him how this is possible as LSD is supposed to be a mind-altering, hallucinatory agent that can induce pure euphoria. The guru’s reply is that complete peacefulness is simply a state of mind for which no vehicle is required. And, as Wayne translates, “If you are already in Detroit, you don’t need a bus to get you there.”

There’s nothing wrong with “traveling” itself. However, we sometimes lose sight of the journey because we are too preoccupied with the destination. We should practice focusing on where we are at any given moment. And, we should recognize that we can be anywhere we desire by simply using our mind.

Everything that we experience in our lives is there by our own choice. Ask yourself:

• Do I choose happiness over misery?
• Do I choose love over hate?
• Do I choose selflessness over selfishness?
• Do I choose good health over disease?
• Do I choose decisiveness over indecision?
• Do I choose to be a victim?
• Do I choose to be kind?
• Do I choose to be angry?

So, how do you get started and stick with it? Here are a few tips:

• Do something today. A lot of people say, “I can’t even run a mile.” It’s probably true on your first day.  On day one, just go out and do something – anything.
• Eliminate all excuses. Get up 30 minutes early. Find a babysitter.
• Schedule your workout for the same time every day for a week. If you put it on your calendar, you’ll be more likely to do it. And, start with just one week. It seems less daunting if you take it in small chunks.
• Set a time goal of 10-15 minutes. Jog a few minutes and walk a few minutes, but keep moving the whole time. The distance doesn’t matter – what matters is that you have embarked on your program.
• Record the time you spend working out. Write down what you do everyday. It doesn’t have to be in an official log book. You can record it on your wall calendar or in your daily planner. Seeing your progress is motivating and inspires you to keep going.
• Make it a habit. Anything that you do for 21 to 30 days becomes a habit. So, for the first 3-4 weeks, run everyday. After the initial period, then you can take off one or two days per week. At that point, you will have established a habit, and there will be no danger of quitting.
• Be patient. The first few weeks are hard. You may feel sore at first. You may have a hard time getting up in the morning. If you’re sore, then walk the next day or two, but get out there and do something. If you have a hard time getting up, remind yourself that you only have to make yourself do this for 21-30 days – after that, you’ll get up automatically because you will have formed a good habit.