It was a gorgeous late October day in Connecticut—unusually warm with temps in the mid 70s. I had worked in a school and was excited to head out to a local rail trail in the afternoon. After my final meeting
In both teaching and running, many of the benefits show up down the road (ahem, sorry for that). But it's not all about delayed gratification!
“Fellas, If You Want to Play the Violin, Don’t Practice the Tuba.”
I was swimmer in college. One spring, a couple of us went to our coach to talk about training during the off-season. “Doug,” we asked, “should we run
It’s amazing how a special event sharpens purpose.
I don’t run just to compete in races. That’s a lot of pressure, and I think running would be less fun if my only purpose for running was racing.
On the other
It was a late summer day, and I was taking a relaxed run through College Woods, a small, beautiful patch of wilderness tucked behind the campus of the University of New Hampshire. Normally I stick with road running where I’m
When you walk or run on a road without a sidewalk, you’re supposed to run toward oncoming traffic. For new runners, this sometimes feels uncomfortable. It was for me at first. I was used to driving and biking on the
We often think of motivation as a quality that people either have or they don’t. You’re either a motivated person, or you’re not. “Oh, you run?” I’m sometimes asked. “That’s amazing. I’m just not that motivated.”
Runners know better. (So
Final exams are a long-standing tradition in high school and college. They are supposed to show how much a student has learned over the course of a semester or a year. I’m surprised at how much weight these tests are
Walk through most schools, and you’ll see messages like the ones above, posted in classrooms and in hallways. We often encourage kids, as they’re about to work to “try your best” or “put in max effort.” One year in
A few years ago my wife gave me three months of coaching for my birthday. I’d been running 5K road races and was trying some half-marathons. She thought I could use some professional help! We connected online, and I sent