What you say to others matters...

We had a tough session yesterday! One runner stood out above the rest as she encouraged and motivated all the others to run along. She was clearly tired too and the sets were taking a toil on her and yet she maintained her positive attitude. Her positive attitude permeated the souls of the other runners last night, driving them all to keep running at their best. It was an amazing sight to witness! What we say and how we say things is so important... We can either lift up and drive others around us or drag others down with our negativity. When a person keeps whining and complaining about how difficult a task is or how tired he/she is... they will drag others down with them. So next time, be mindful of what you say... Your encouragement and positive energy can make a big difference to others around. Positivity is infectious! So spread it! =o)

Personal Best Times

We did our weekend long run yesterday and a few of the runners are beginning to clock their personal best run times for the distance. They are also finding it easier to cover long distances at east coast... This is great as it is a sign that they are adapting well to training and are making good and steady progress. They'll all be FLYING in no time =o)

Give Back

It is always easy to take and ask from others what you need. But when it is time to give back, there are always lots of reasons why one can't or don't need to. Interesting isn't it? We are all guilty of it one way or another to take people or things around us for granted.

Tonight I had the privilege to give back to a group of riders whom I rode with regularly in 2007 and 2008 when training for my half ironmans. They are a wonderful group of people who always take care of all the riders in the group (regular or ad-hoc riders like myself) and make sure that everyone is safe. They have great riding and road etiquette. And of course, FAST! They are the Crazy to Tri riders.

Thank you very much for the rides and the opportunity to be able to give back to all of you the graciousness and generosity you have shown me. Maybe... I'll get to ride with all of you again some day. Ride safe always...

Making A Difference

I am always thankful and honored that the Fifth Ray runners trust me enough to work with them to find a solution for their pre-existing injuries and/or marathon nutritional plan. It can be very challenging at times as everyone is unique and adapts differently to any given solution. It truly challenges me and creates an opportunity where I have to rise to help them solve the challenges they face. It does force me to widen my knowledge and integrate what I know with my practical experiences to have my runners/athletes run injury-free and experience a race of their lifetime. I do work with trusted colleagues and professionals so I know that when I am unable to personally solve the problem, I am able to refer them to someone who can.

Today was an exciting day as we managed to 'solve' four runners' challenges. I am very pleased that we managed to eliminate one runner's ITB syndrome and he completed his 15km run with no pain!! Yippie!! =o) Another runner has had problems with her nutritional plan for long runs for some time now. We have been experimenting a few things in the last few weeks and we implemented a plan for her today and for the most part it worked. The plan just needs some tweaking and I think we have the right nutritional plan for her =o) One of the runners sprained her ankle quite badly a few weeks ago and we have managed to have her nurse it back to complete a 15km run fairly comfortably too =o) Isn't it exciting? For me it is! A foot pain/problem has plagued on of the runners for quite some months now and we have tried everything. Then it occurred to me to refer her to a chiropractor whom I've been working closely with for a few of the runners and she ran 20km without any pain =o) I am so excited and relieved for all of them. Isn't it wonderful? Sorry for the overkill with smiley faces but those are smiles on my face. I am HAPPY! =o) Can you tell?? hahaha... Hope you can find solutions to your challenges too! Take good care.

Faster...

With the new Term, we have new runners who are enjoying our lovely company ;op and the training. I was just looking and comparing the run times of the runners in Term I. I must say that all the runners have improved and are running faster! Just wanted to congratulate everyone as their hard work is paying off. See you all on the track tomorrow!

It is all about putting in the effort...

I was teaching a few children today that it is not about how perfectly they do a task, but the effort that they make to achieve the task that truly counts. For example, it is not how fast we take to complete a particular distance but it is the effort we make to complete that counts. It doesn't mean that someone who might take a longer time to complete a given distance is putting in any less effort. It's about just doing your BEST! And your BEST is all that counts. Another example, is that everyone is busy. However, if something or someone truly matters to you, you will make the effort to make time for it or the person. It's about making the effort and doing all you can to achieve what you want. I once heard a saying... "It is Your Attitude to Life that determines Life's attitude towards you".

Start of a New Term

We had our first run session for Term II this morning. It was wonderful to see everyone raring to go =o) The session certainly did put everyone on a different gear mode after last week's break. The group in Term II is really focused and motivated as most of them have up coming races. They have all done their base training in Term I so now Term II is where the intensity starts to pick up. Whether they know it themselves or not, the runners are all ready for what's ahead... Like always... They will surprise themselves of what they are capable of. Not sure if the runners are looking forward to the Term BUT I AM!! hahaha...

Rainbow after the Rain

The past few days have been challenging... Like the saying goes... When it rains, it pours. But with any heavy downpour, there is always a rainbow that turns all the gloom and loom into a beautiful sight. Very much like the 'rainbows' I had today.

The first rainbow was with a child I've been working with that used to unconsciously points out the faults of other children constantly. We have been working on being a 'love-finder' and have been making good progress. But today topped it all when I heard her spontaneously praise and encourage another child during our session. It was wonderful to see the transformation in her and an encouraging sign for me. A re-assurance that not only am I imparting skills to the children, I am also imparting the right values to them.

Another 'rainbow' of the day was with another child who had temper tantrums and short attention span. Yet, we managed to complete a whole 45mins session of activities with lots of singing between. To date, today was his best session. He was compliant and followed instructions. He managed to maintain his focus on tasks for up to 5 counts and we were also able to complete one activity before moving on to the next. This is a huge leap for him and I am so glad to be part of the journey with him.

These two little 'rainbows' have made all the challenges all so small now! =o) Hope you have your 'rainbows' daily to take away any challenges that you may have too.