Put Yer Head Down!

As mentioned before, I've been competing in sports for over half my life. While I haven't won any Olympic medals with my speed, I have been able to push my body and mind to its limits in regards to discipline and endurance.

One of my favorite sports is trail running. It gets me out off the road, which is the worst thing I can imagine doing, and gets me connected to the beauty that surrounds me in the eastern Sierra Nevadas.

Incredible endurance runs such as the Western States 100 Miler, and the American River 50 Miler are classics in this area.

My first and all time favorite ultra trail run is Cool Canyon 50K. True, it's only a 50K, but where it takes the runners is both pure beauty and pure hell.  The ascents, descents, stream crossings, and more provide an unprecedented experience for the first and old timers alike.

Only 500 runners race it each year.

As a first timer, I was excited and nervous. I had never run more than a marathon, which I hated, and vowed to never do again unless it was off road, so the thought of running more than 26.2 miles was a challenge just to think about it.

But as the hours and miles went by, I kept chugging along. Making sure I took in my fluids and food, I kept chugging along. I put my head down and eventually lost track of time and distance and just fell into the experience.

At one point, I guesstimated that I had approximately 15 miles left. I was starting to become concerned at that point. I was growing tired, my legs were pounding, and running through the ice cold, thigh deep streams felt good on my hot feet.

When I came upon an aid station, I stopped to re-fill my water bottle and asked the volunteer, 'how much further?'

Imagine my suprise and relief when the volunteer said, 'About three miles. You'll hit the dirt road right up there and then you just run it home.'

I had become so lost in the experience itself that I had covered more ground than I imagined. It gave me renewed strength to know I was only three miles from completing my goal. Completing something I had been training so hard for, for months by just putting my head down and being in the experience and the now made all the difference in the world.

If I had been checking off mile after mile and checking my time constantly I can almost guarantee that it would have been a miserable race. In fact, the following year, I did just that and it WAS a miserable race.

It's the same with network marketing. Just fall into it. Enjoy the experience. Put your head down and be in them moment. Work on it daily. Do things that scare and excite you, and push yourself when you're tired, and ready to stop.

If you do that, at some point you're going to look up and be astonished at how far you've come, and the distance you've covered. The accomplishment will be overwhelming, and the best thing will be that you enjoyed the journey...

Namaste'