What's the farthest distance you've run? How did you decide that was as far as you could go? Or will you go farther? I ran a little in school and thought I was kickin' butt at 5 miles. Maybe for my age, but I quickly realized how many people went farther and easier. In college, I ran with a friend and we agreed that a half-marathon was as far as we wanted to go. We trained for 6 months and did it, and I never thought I'd try to beat that. Then came the marathon and the IRONMAN. I'm afraid an ultra is around the corner for me, but it's anyone's guess at this point. What was your experience?

Have you ever seen someone in their 40's or 50's struggling to lift something you think is light? Have you seen a 30 year old out of breath after climbing 1 flight of stairs? Of course there are good health reasons why this happens sometimes, but usually this is a sign of someone neglecting their health. Here are a few quick tips to make sure you're on the path to longevity. Count calories. I'm not saying you need to count every calorie for the rest of your life, but I am saying you can't get obese if you know what you're eating. Calories in = calories out. Exercise daily. I don't care what you do, but do SOMETHING. The human body doesn't respond well to sitting all day every day. Go lift weights, hike, walk, play with the kids, whatever. Mix it up but keep the exercising consistent. Track metrics. I know that I have cancer and heart disease on both sides of my family. I believe most of that was habitual and not genetic, but I can't prove that. What I'm saying is that you might have family history, and it might not matter, know your basic numbers. Get some basic equipment: scale, pulse oximeter, heart rate monitor. That will cost you $50 or so. Heck, set up a yearly checkup with your doctor. Do something to avoid surprises. It's really easy to keep your health in check. I promise it's only daunting because you don't know how it works yet. Once you develop the habits, it's second nature. Plus, your future self will thank you for the the savings in health bills later.

Five years ago, I decided to push myself REALLLY hard. Or at least that's what I thought at the time. I signed up for a half marathon in Kodiak, Alaska (where I was living at the time). I trained for something ridiculous like 6 months, AND I had a friend running it with me. We both had training programs and were trying to hit weight goals, you whole nine yards. These are all great things, but looking back it's hard for me to believe that I wanted that to be my peak. I wanted to run the furthest I'd ever run and call it good at 22 years old. I have nothing else to give, I'm done. Well, fast forward 5 years to today, and I have a different mindset. I'm competing in an IRONMAN race in 19 days. I think the catalyst for the decision to do something bigger was my baby on the way (mid November). I really committed after talking to a buddy who had completed 3, and was about to do his 4th. He wanted his 9 and 11 year old sons to look up to him and grow up believing they were capable of anything they worked hard towards. They're already training for their 18th birthdays when they're allowed to sign up. I haven't done it yet, so don't be too impressed. I have tapped into the source of physical resilience though, and that's the mind. Yep, that's it, I promise. The biggest difference I made in the last 5 years was I changed my mind. I haven't been training for 5 years, I know that much. I've maybe run 25 miles TOTAL in the last 5 years. I started training in January this year for what I've been telling people is a "marathon" this month. Yes, there's some education that goes into it, such as nutrition, form, and some of those ideas, but I'm dead serious when I say the biggest change was between my ears. I tested my abilities a couple of weeks ago to see where I was at. Remember, the furthest I'd trained to before was 13.1 miles. I did a half IRONMAN this time: swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles, run 13.1 miles. You know what the hardest part was again? It was taking too long and I felt like I was running late for the date I promised to take my wife on. I almost quit after 80% because I was getting antsy about the time.

The furthest I had ever dreamed of running was a half marathon. I did that 5 years ago. I trained for 6 months and I had to have a friend run with me for motivation. I completed the 13.1 miles the day after my wedding, which was extremely distracting from the actual race (for some reason). Since then, I thought I was done with running. Apparently, it's not done with me. I'm 28 now. I'm training for a full IRONMAN in Chattanooga at the end of September. I woke up one day and decided I needed a challenge. What changed? You aren't going to buy this. I still don't quite get it. The only difference I made was my mentality. I promise. That's it. I haven't been training for the last 5 years. Actually, I'm only training about 6 months leading up to the race. Sure I ran 6 miles here and 4 miles there, but nothing significant. I lift weights every day: that's the only regular exercise I've been participating in. The furthest I've ever ridden a bike before was 21 miles (5 years ago). The IRONMAN is 116 miles. The furthest I've ever swam was 1 mile (7 years ago). The IRONMAN is 2.4 miles. I once hiked 22 miles in a day to Center Mountain in Kodiak Alaska. I once rode my bike 14 miles and hiked 13 miles on the same day. Big days, no doubt, but my biggest physical performance days fail to compare to the 144.6 miles I'm doing next month. I've barely touched the halfway mark INDIVIDUALLY. Seriously, what gives? I'm telling you, I changed my mind about what I was capable of. I read the book "Can't Hurt Me" by David Goggins and I realized that this is what he did. He went from an obese nobody to an ultramarathon runner in a very short amount of time. Again, you don't believe me, because I went through the same denial. I thought Goggins was just a freak of nature. Maybe there's a small part of that mixed in, but I'm telling you, you have unmet potential. There are 40 full IRONMAN races each year with between 1500-2000 participants IN EACH! You do the math. Are there that many freaks of nature around the world?

When was the last time you pushed yourself? I mean hard. Barely moving, muscles aching, definitely not getting out of bed easily in the morning. Today, I pushed myself REALLY hard. I've never done a day like today. I ran 13 miles. I swam 1.2 miles. I cycled 56 miles. This is a half-IRONMAN, if you're wondering. I'm training for a full IRONMAN at the end of September. You know what's weird? Before I decided to do this, the hardest day I ever had was a half-marathon. Oh, and I hiked 22 miles in a day once. Both of these days are easy compared to today. The biggest difference I made was this: I changed my mind. When's the last time you changed your mind and accomplished great things? More on this later!