Hello Friends! As you can see it’s been a while since my last post. It’s not as if I stopped running or training with the group — it’s more about how I use my time. Anyway, I had a terrific run this morning with the Donna Foundation training group. Fourteen miles with beautiful weather and several hundred incredibly committed individuals. This is my fourth year with the “Fasties” and obviously they are now more than just running acquaintances. There is a maturing kindred spirit that permeates our friendship. Together our purpose is stronger than what we would ever understand through any individual pursuit. Together we share something special that is now a culmination of 100+ morning running sessions. How Fortunate! At the end of the video I mention Donna’s book “Through Rose Colored Glasses”. It’s a very honest take on dealing with her third cancer disruption and how she now places Love at the center of managing every day. The fact that she found the time to put this second book together is amazing — more amazing is how she writes with such fearless energy. I encourage you to get the book. Take Care. Enjoy the video.
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Dropping In
Hello Friends,
I haven’t posted in a while. This past month (and especially this past weekend) has been a whirl wind of activity - I missed the run on Saturday opting to surf in the early morning. It was a once-in-a-decade ocean scenario. Hurricane Bill did everything a well groomed category 3 storm was supposed to do. Honestly, I could have stayed in the water the entire day but there were way too many other obligations and necessary responsibilities. Tonight, I look at the rash on my chest and knees from three hours on a surfboard and smile. Interesting that a scab will cause a smile but trust me… if part of your personality rests on the balance that riding waves will bring then scabs or abrasions (after pushing off a surfboard and riding perfect walls of water) are war wounds any waterman will cherish. Tonight is an occasion for me to pause and reflect on the things that help define who I am. It’s not as simple as describing the act of riding a wave but the analogy is not far off. At 48 years the possibilities of creating success on behalf of a good cause or working through strategies related to a new business challenge are so much easier to understand because of the person I have allowed myself to become. Let me explain it this way. When I started surfing at 13 years of age the 2 foot rolling whitewater from the first waves I tried to ride would intimidate the hell out of me. At 28 there were many waves that I still feared but my life experiences and surf knowledge had already helped to develop a new confidence in myself. Now I can look back on the world class waves that I have ridden. Sometimes I realize how fortunate I am to have survived. When a passion is ignited inside of someone that fire is hard to extinguish. I relish that fire and I try not to let fear diminish my possibilities. I want to share a quote that came to me through a book that Tim Deegan recommended I read. It’s from “Love Is letting Go Of Fear” and I think it’s powerful.
I haven’t posted in a while. This past month (and especially this past weekend) has been a whirl wind of activity - I missed the run on Saturday opting to surf in the early morning. It was a once-in-a-decade ocean scenario. Hurricane Bill did everything a well groomed category 3 storm was supposed to do. Honestly, I could have stayed in the water the entire day but there were way too many other obligations and necessary responsibilities. Tonight, I look at the rash on my chest and knees from three hours on a surfboard and smile. Interesting that a scab will cause a smile but trust me… if part of your personality rests on the balance that riding waves will bring then scabs or abrasions (after pushing off a surfboard and riding perfect walls of water) are war wounds any waterman will cherish. Tonight is an occasion for me to pause and reflect on the things that help define who I am. It’s not as simple as describing the act of riding a wave but the analogy is not far off. At 48 years the possibilities of creating success on behalf of a good cause or working through strategies related to a new business challenge are so much easier to understand because of the person I have allowed myself to become. Let me explain it this way. When I started surfing at 13 years of age the 2 foot rolling whitewater from the first waves I tried to ride would intimidate the hell out of me. At 28 there were many waves that I still feared but my life experiences and surf knowledge had already helped to develop a new confidence in myself. Now I can look back on the world class waves that I have ridden. Sometimes I realize how fortunate I am to have survived. When a passion is ignited inside of someone that fire is hard to extinguish. I relish that fire and I try not to let fear diminish my possibilities. I want to share a quote that came to me through a book that Tim Deegan recommended I read. It’s from “Love Is letting Go Of Fear” and I think it’s powerful.
Other people do not have to change for us to experience peace of mind.So what does this have to do with surfing? More often than not my worldly and personal struggles are based on the opposite definition of this concept. For a creative individual it’s so easy to be fearful. The more I grow in my personal understanding of my unique potential the more I am ready to take on the next challenge. Surfing mimics the creative process. A lot of what you do as an individual in the water is very personal but, it’s a shared experience that can lift everyone up. So I am going to go back to work for now because there is truly good work to be done. I’m not sure how some of this will work out but I have to “make the drop” without fear. The 26.2 with Donna cause is an incredible blessing to sooooo many and tonight I will work on a poster that reflects those values and ideas. Stay with me !!
Saturday, August 01, 2009
OMG — We Started
Hello Friends,
The video speaks for itself.
What an extraordinary morning!
I will be sharing some stats over the next several weeks in regards to the growth of the 26.2 with Donna National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer. I am STOKED that we have shared in this experience and are positioned for another great step forward in the success of this effort. The new post is some basic background and catch up work. We are going to Shake things up this year. Let's raise some money together and have a great experience along the way.
For additional information about TKG: www.thekurtisgroup.com
The video speaks for itself.
What an extraordinary morning!
I will be sharing some stats over the next several weeks in regards to the growth of the 26.2 with Donna National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer. I am STOKED that we have shared in this experience and are positioned for another great step forward in the success of this effort. The new post is some basic background and catch up work. We are going to Shake things up this year. Let's raise some money together and have a great experience along the way.
For additional information about TKG: www.thekurtisgroup.com
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
In the Moment
Every pulse, every breath, every thought and action is a part of your moment.
Early today (like every day) I set myself in the belief that I would contribute to some advancement in my life and those who are close. A five mile run at 7:30 helped set the groundwork toward a day that would be different and meaningful. Understanding that the challenges of my day start with how I decide the first moments of my day are addressed are crucial to understanding who I am. It’s not like I can predict the stuff that will go on but, if I am not in a sound place, I will not imagine the opportunities and possibilities around me. In two weeks training will begin for the next 26.2 Donna National Marathon and I am still not close to the person that I imagined running on behalf of this great cause. I hope that leaning on friends and being pushed by an internal knowledge (with hopes of success greater than myself) will enhance this effort. Breast Cancer Marathon success will be a shared in February by thousands of individuals with the same selfless pursuit of something greater than one.
Get ready! Join with me.
Great things will happen.
Early today (like every day) I set myself in the belief that I would contribute to some advancement in my life and those who are close. A five mile run at 7:30 helped set the groundwork toward a day that would be different and meaningful. Understanding that the challenges of my day start with how I decide the first moments of my day are addressed are crucial to understanding who I am. It’s not like I can predict the stuff that will go on but, if I am not in a sound place, I will not imagine the opportunities and possibilities around me. In two weeks training will begin for the next 26.2 Donna National Marathon and I am still not close to the person that I imagined running on behalf of this great cause. I hope that leaning on friends and being pushed by an internal knowledge (with hopes of success greater than myself) will enhance this effort. Breast Cancer Marathon success will be a shared in February by thousands of individuals with the same selfless pursuit of something greater than one.
Get ready! Join with me.
Great things will happen.
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Realization
What got my butt off the comfortable bed and into shoes and shorts for an additional run this afternoon?
— I will share that with you in a moment.
First, I would like to take care of some general housekeeping.
Most of you following my 26.2 Gulp blog know its history spans almost four years with hundreds of training miles and three fund raising 26.2 with Donna Marathons. You also know a lot about why I run and even more importantly how incredible my shared experience has been with thousands of people throughout the country united in this truly unique effort. What you don’t know is the number of excuses I have made for myself over the past two years that have kept me from actually fulfilling my own potential. That’s correct, I said the dirty word and now it’s time to fess up.
The best way for me to explain myself is to simply state— instead of running toward my potential I seem to find it easier to run away. A fairly cliché statement however, I never imagined looking at my life through this kind of paradox. I have always been the guy that never wanted to be straddled by a harness of normalcy. When a dream or vision would present itself and the chance to make it a reality was provided I never hesitated to go after it with 100% of my being.
Lately I have found “normalcy” to be a comfortable place for me. Of course this is a very relative view of where I am at in my life however, I can point to a definite shift in attitude that has been slowly creeping over me for some time. Is it boredom? Is it age? Is it laziness? Is it fear? I’m not sure — it might be all of those things. What I DO know is that I seem to be drinking more and I don’t seem to be as happy. Before I go on with the all the self loathing please understand this has nothing to do with my family. I cherish my wife and girls and we are in one of the best periods of our twenty five years together.
Funny thing is I know how fortunate I am. My creative talent is an incredible blessing and there always seems to be an opportunity to be useful. Why is it then that I don’t remain in a better state of appreciation for what I have? Maybe that’s why I got my butt off the bed and into running shoes.
I had already run 3.5 miles in the morning, updated a web site for a friend and spent 3hrs at the office preparing items for Monday (so you might say that was a “filled" Sunday). By 1:30 I was at home and by 3:30 the afternoon showers were coming down hard and the television was tuned on the Prefontaine Classic (if you don’t know anything about “Pre” please do some Google research). The athletes were incredible. It was inspiring. But do you know what really got my attention? After every event each of the top finishers gave credit to God. Wow! There it was —the most important piece of the puzzle. I did not spend any time with God today. In fact, I have not allowed God the kind of entrance he deserves. Over time and for whatever reasons I have slowly pushed God in to the background. That’s what I have to change. And that’s what I will change.
So, I ran three miles and thanked God when I sat down to write this blog. I will run another 3.5 miles in order to get home. I can say with certainty that when I arrive at my front door my attitude will be 180 degrees adjusted from when I left.
I look forward to sharing weekly updates with you. The style and content might vary from the previous years but I promise to keep it interesting, informative and hopefully motivating.
— I will share that with you in a moment.
First, I would like to take care of some general housekeeping.
Most of you following my 26.2 Gulp blog know its history spans almost four years with hundreds of training miles and three fund raising 26.2 with Donna Marathons. You also know a lot about why I run and even more importantly how incredible my shared experience has been with thousands of people throughout the country united in this truly unique effort. What you don’t know is the number of excuses I have made for myself over the past two years that have kept me from actually fulfilling my own potential. That’s correct, I said the dirty word and now it’s time to fess up.
The best way for me to explain myself is to simply state— instead of running toward my potential I seem to find it easier to run away. A fairly cliché statement however, I never imagined looking at my life through this kind of paradox. I have always been the guy that never wanted to be straddled by a harness of normalcy. When a dream or vision would present itself and the chance to make it a reality was provided I never hesitated to go after it with 100% of my being.
Lately I have found “normalcy” to be a comfortable place for me. Of course this is a very relative view of where I am at in my life however, I can point to a definite shift in attitude that has been slowly creeping over me for some time. Is it boredom? Is it age? Is it laziness? Is it fear? I’m not sure — it might be all of those things. What I DO know is that I seem to be drinking more and I don’t seem to be as happy. Before I go on with the all the self loathing please understand this has nothing to do with my family. I cherish my wife and girls and we are in one of the best periods of our twenty five years together.
Funny thing is I know how fortunate I am. My creative talent is an incredible blessing and there always seems to be an opportunity to be useful. Why is it then that I don’t remain in a better state of appreciation for what I have? Maybe that’s why I got my butt off the bed and into running shoes.
I had already run 3.5 miles in the morning, updated a web site for a friend and spent 3hrs at the office preparing items for Monday (so you might say that was a “filled" Sunday). By 1:30 I was at home and by 3:30 the afternoon showers were coming down hard and the television was tuned on the Prefontaine Classic (if you don’t know anything about “Pre” please do some Google research). The athletes were incredible. It was inspiring. But do you know what really got my attention? After every event each of the top finishers gave credit to God. Wow! There it was —the most important piece of the puzzle. I did not spend any time with God today. In fact, I have not allowed God the kind of entrance he deserves. Over time and for whatever reasons I have slowly pushed God in to the background. That’s what I have to change. And that’s what I will change.
So, I ran three miles and thanked God when I sat down to write this blog. I will run another 3.5 miles in order to get home. I can say with certainty that when I arrive at my front door my attitude will be 180 degrees adjusted from when I left.
I look forward to sharing weekly updates with you. The style and content might vary from the previous years but I promise to keep it interesting, informative and hopefully motivating.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Monday, February 02, 2009
February 15 will be here before we know it.
It's been waywayway too long (6 weeks) since I last posted anything regarding training.
Chris Twiggs called the site "stale".
Needless to say the shame forced me to try and run on my broken foot only to end up back in the hospital.
Now the doctors are uncertain if I will ever fully recover.
Oh well, I'll just run vicariously through everyone else.
Here's the last training session I will be able to participate in.
Next week I'll be out of town.
Just messing with you Chris.
The foot will eventually be 100%
(That's what you get for waking up late on Saturday)
Chris Twiggs called the site "stale".
Needless to say the shame forced me to try and run on my broken foot only to end up back in the hospital.
Now the doctors are uncertain if I will ever fully recover.
Oh well, I'll just run vicariously through everyone else.
Here's the last training session I will be able to participate in.
Next week I'll be out of town.
Just messing with you Chris.
The foot will eventually be 100%
(That's what you get for waking up late on Saturday)
Friday, January 02, 2009
New Year Post
My family has been celebrating the New Year with neighbors for nearly a decade. A lot can happen in ten years. Children become adults. Loved ones pass. Relationships change. In all of this you understand we are always blessed by those who stay close. A sample of how we pull it together.
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