Rob Mackay :: Notes from the edge

I don’t think I’ve had a full week off from running for at least six months, maybe longer.

Life has taken over at the moment - I am getting an appreciation for single parenthood managing the kids daily and taking care of the house.  It’s amazing the energy reserves you can find. I’ve become more organized (militant, I think) than ususal.

I will attempt my first run in 7 days today - if the timing works out. If not, I’ll attempt it tomorrow, then again and again until it happens.

Poor leadership recipe (but great short term mobilizing strategy):

1) Don’t personally engage your followers

2) Let them fight it out

3) The strong of the followers rise to the top

I was reading an article in Scientific American Mind about a new leadership paradigm - seems that good leadership includes ideas like fairness, shared values, honesty, etc. I know, shocking but true.

Reminds me of an old business model - treat your employees well and they’ll treat your customers well and you will profit.

Went to see Dr. Leblanc yesterday about my sore knee. He seemed to have it pinned within 10 minutes. Got the full stretching routine and was out the door. Life is full steam at the moment (’full steam’ as in good).

When M isn’t feeling well, life is wobbly.

Like Pluto’s orbit.

I had planned on going long-ish tomorrow with Jarhead and crew but M is out sick right now so I’ll have to go at another time.

Elsewhere…I have a BIG idea that I am working on that will be announced soon. Running and Ultra related. Cool stuff.

I’ve started to realize that it’s less important to be right, more important to keep relationships in tact.

Always having to prove you are ’right’ is cool for short term wins.

For the long haul, primarily because you need solid relationships to function optimally, you’re better off keeping your lips tight and moving on and ‘letting go’ as they say.

Adolescent righteousness is a curse. With youth comes the perception that the world is black/white, right/wrong, left/right, and so on. Leading psychologists/leadership experts and other self-proclaimed human performance pundits believe that as we age, we start to see the nuances in life. This leads to a more balanced view on things and I believe a more, not less, stressful existence.

Get on with it.

In recent years I have begun to change my stance on monetary success - but not for the reasons you may think. Success soley in the world of ‘money’ is hollow in the same way success the world of ‘ultras’ is hollow. It’s success albeit narrowly defined.

In the current ‘grab-what-you-can’ culture, of which I am as guilty as anyone else in participating, we rarely define success by anything other than the ‘$’ symbol. The tragedy is that a singular focus, such as making a million dollars several times over, is maximizing only 1 aspect of your human existence.

Want to know who impresses me?

From the ultra world - Dean Karnazes. (Business savvy, physical prowess, good speaker, responds to email from the common Joe - responded to mine, Dad, etc)

Hammer him if you want but he is someone who from the outside looks as though he is striving for excellence in every aspect. (I’m sure he doesn’t see it that way)

It’s early. It’s garage sale day.

We approach it with intensity and I am usually exhausted by 2pm.

I woke up this morning feeling tired. This, after almost 10 hours of ’sleep’.

The past few weeks have been hectic and sleep is the first thing in my life that goes sideways. I spend a lot of time in REM sleep waking up, going back to sleep leading to dreams that are vivid, disturbing and epic.

So, I need to slow down. Using the ultra metaphor again, I need to reel myself in and bring the pace back.

Hierarchy exists even in the laid-back, cordial ultra world. It seems that when you progress to run your first ultra you come in as a ‘pacer’ - unless you have a hidden talent for long distance.  Most remain pacers for their entire ultrarunning career.

I’m not sure where the threshold starts/stops to be considered a ‘Racer’. Maybe it’s a year of top 10 finishes or winning an event. In any case, promotion comes from within the community, not by self-declaration.

Even calling yourself an ‘Ultramarathoner’ raises hackles of those who have gone before you an actually run a 100 miler under 24 hours.

For now, I’m a pacer.