Laugh

Keep your customers laughing. 

I listen to a lot of sad stories from my customers.  Sometimes I feel more like a bartender than a nutrition salesman.   For instance, I had a customer show me a text message from his wife, informing him that she wanted a divorce after 15 years of marriage.  How do you react without making the guy feel any worse?  I provided some comedy and for a moment he smiled.

It's not about making a sale, it's about making friends.  Friends will come back to see you.  I notice that a lot of companies and small businesses don't practice this. 

Before the 2011 Russell Brand version of "Arthur," there was Dudley Moore's 1981 film.   In one scene Arthur's valet, Hobson, is dying.  Arthur redecorates his hospital room to look like a gentleman's club and brings in a plethora of toys, including a cowboy hat that Hobson insists he take off if he was to die suddenly.  It's a moving scene.  Arthur knows that the end is near for his friend, but he won't let him go without having fun.

Have fun with your customers.  Make it a memorable moment for them.  

Where I've Been and Where I'm Going

It's about time.  Time to get back to writing, with a different approach. 

First, where I've been.  In a literary sense, I swam through an ocean of information. Then I drown.  I spent a lot of time reading about running and people who run.  I aspired to be a very good runner.  Running took up a lot of time during my days.  It was starting to drive me insane.  That put a lot of unwanted pressure on myself, created by my mind.  That's when I dropped below the surface and didn't come back up for air. 

Until now.

For months, I have tried to make sense of a lot of things.  Running, work, where I want my career to go, family, time, injury. Life.  The bad has gone with the good.  All things that have contributed to my approach to personal goals.

The honest reason I started blogging was to show people that I run.  With that, hopefully sponsors would come.  And, with that, I would be on my way to second career in running. 

 This blog will now feature more information outside of running.   Along the way, I would like to provide readers with information about business, fun and of course running.

Enjoy
 

Miwok 100k 2012

It just doesn't matter. I wish I could have gotten myself into this state of mind for the Miwok 100k last weekend in Stinson Beach California. I've been looking forward to running the Marin trails since January, but in the back of my mind, a lingering knee issue had been a constant reminder of my definition of failure.

Leading up the race, I had seven very hard and consistent weeks of training. Although, on each long run my knee would get sore after a few hours, it was bouncing back week after week. Hope. But hope was slowly turning into false hope.  This didn’t settle well deep inside me because I knew I would need at least 11 hours on a good day at Miwok.

 Sure enough, the early downhills beat my knee up and in 20ish miles pain set in.  Disappointment rushed over me in an ice cold wave.  I tried to rally my mind back, but couldn’t.  I dropped at the Muir Beach aid station, 34 miles and a second consecutive DNF.  As I waited for almost five hours for my ride, I had mixed emotions. As runners ran though, I felt like the kid who wasn’t allowed to go out for recess, but got to look outside while all the others laughed and played.  Then as I watched not only the lead runners comeback through at 55 miles, I got to see the runners who were struggling but managing to keep plugging along.  That was very inspiring. 

 That brings me back to “it just doesn’t matter”.  Even though I’m not the fastest runner, I place a heavy burden on my goals of placing 10-15^th with anything higher as a bonus.  When I was getting past like I was standing still on the downhills, my soul disappeared.  If it didn’t matter to me, I most likely could have hobbled the rest of the race and finished in the allotted time. The inspiring ones just want to finish.  So, where’s that line? Or, when can that line be broken?  When is just being happy to finish good enough? When is it that it just doesn’t matter?



Thanks Krissy and Reece for putting up my running shenanigans.

With A Little Help From My Friend

Come On Dad. Get Moving!


Saturday was one of our local Klamath Falls races, Run for the Music, to benefit the Klamath Union High School band. 

This year's turnout was again an impressive one.