Seasons of Change

This picture was taken earlier this week as I look out over Wood Pond in Jackman, Maine. In a town of 720 people located about 10 miles from the Canadian border, I was perfectly content to sit here with no cell phone reception and no internet access, just watching the sun set over the tree tops and listening to the water ripple as a boat passed by. After 2 months of exhausting work and little satisfaction, I was finally able to stop everything and do absolutely nothing. It was one of the greatest moments I've had in quite some time.

Needless to say, I've been busy in the last two months as I've continued to work at piecing together a lifestyle that will meet all the demands I have personally and also accommodate some of the passions and goals that I have professionally and athletically. While trying to take care of these obligations, I feel like I've had to temporarily put some of my passions on the back burners in order to put out the fires on the front burners. This blog was one of those passions that got pushed aside for a while, and for that, I apologize. Moving forward, I should be able to return to my regular weekly updates and hopefully have some actual training to document in the process. I do enjoy updating this blog and I hope to continue doing so, regardless of how many readers it gets.

In the absence of my posts, we have entered the summer season and in doing so, have left the spring season behind us. Each year, the seasons go by faster and faster and each year I wish I had accomplished more. As we are already well into the summer, I feel like I haven't had a chance to really enjoy enough of it yet, and will again be entering a new season wanting more. In the past year, all of my "running seasons" have more or less been lumped together in one long progression. It's been a bumpy road and at times, it seemed there was no end in sight. Finally, after about 8 months of climbing back up the ladder, I can start to feel a sense of accomplishment. Not in my individual performances, but more so in my ability to balance everything as I've tried to create opportunities for success. I have a lot that I want to accomplish, but without knowing the best path to get me there, I have done my best to keep every path I see as a possibility.

In the last few months, I've juggled two separate jobs (Olive Garden and The Running Company), while also working on side projects with the Santa Barbara International Marathon and the Boston's Run to Remember, along with some additional work for Flotrack. Recently, I transitioned into a full time employee with the Greater Boston Running Company which enabled me to leave my position with the Olive Garden and focus more of my efforts on the areas that I have a stronger interest in.

Acquiring a comfortable living situation and a secure job were two of the biggest accomplishments for me in the past few months. But in addition to that, I have also managed to get myself healthy and into reasonable enough shape to be competitive on the local scene again ...enough to get my picture in New England Runner at least (page 79 in the July/August issue). On top of all that, I managed to squeeze in four weddings, a 70's Runner Party, and a Summerpalooza. While these events added to the already crazy schedule I had this summer, it was important for me to include them in my priorities. These functions helped keep my sanity levels in a healthy range and gave me a chance to keep contact with friends and family that I otherwise might not have seen this summer.

I could do a long write up of each individual event, but this post will be long enough without that. To shorten the word count and keep things somewhat interesting, I'll post some photos for you to help summarize the events. A picture says a thousand words anyway, right?

Cassandra and Nate's Wedding. Long time friends of the family. It was a beautiful ceremony in a small church located in Norwich, Vermont. The reception took place at a beautiful country club in Quechee and even had hot air balloons flying over head!

After having a joint bachelor/bachelorette party in Boston, Gabe and Liz's wedding took place in Winthrop, Maine on the front yard of her parents home. After the ceremony, we had a lobster bake and danced to bluegrass tunes. It was definitely a fun combination!

The 70's Runner Party should be self explanatory, but here's one shot to give you an idea of what the night was like.

Craig and Ashley's Wedding took place in Auburn, Maine. This was also my final of four weddings for the summer. As I sat down to my assigned table, I saw this picture which summed things up pretty well. (For the record, I was invited to all these weddings!)

After a successful run of the Beach to Beacon 10K, it was time for one last party up in Maine. In its fourth year, Summerpalooza was a huge success. Everyone seemed to have a good time and we raised money for some worthy causes in the process.

After all the weddings, races, and parties were over, I felt it was time for a break... a mental break! I ventured a few hours north with Rupprecht to meet the rest of his family in Jackman, Maine. We ate a bunch of food, drank some beers, and just enjoyed the beautiful weather. It was enough to recharge the batteries and get focused on the next stages of my life, whatever those may be.

So where do we go from here? Well, now that I've worked hard to put things in place that will enable me to do what I enjoy, it's time to continue that progression and work hard at that very task that keeps this blog alive - Running. Since, I returned to Boston last fall, the main goals that I've had with respect to running have been to get healthy, stay healthy, make continuous progress, and create the groundwork for whenever I was ready to take it further. In the past, I've referenced these as "process goals" which is exactly what they are. Although the consistency in my training has been lacking, I feel like I have done an ok job at following through with these goals. Now it's time to do something with that groundwork, take my running back to a higher level and start introducing some outcome goals. I will continue to add to the process goals, but use them as a guide to produce results or "outcome goals".

My desire to run fast has been there all along, but my ability to put in the work necessary to do so has not always been there. As I enter the fall season, this is what I need to work on. I really want to work hard this year and make that commitment to training that I've only touched upon in the past. It's been exactly two years since I started this blog and two years since I made this same pledge to myself. I did well at first with a strong fall season, but that winter, everything started to fall apart. A lot has happened in those two years and I feel like I've come full circle to where I was when I started this thing. But now I have the fortunate gift of hindsight. I've learned a lot in those two years, a lot about the sport and a lot about myself. I may not know any more about what my potential is, but I do know more about what I need to do to achieve it.

Today is the start of my new season; my season of desire, my season of commitment... my season of change!