When is the last time you had a really good laugh? I'm not talking about a little chuckle here or there but a real deep hearty laugh... A good laugh is great for your soul. Voltaire said, "The art of medicine consists of keeping the patient amused while nature heals the disease." This may not be your doctor's primary philosophy but it certainly can be your own.

You don't feel like laughing. It seems that now isn't a very laughable type of time for our nation. We are experiencing the worst economy in decades. People are losing their jobs and their homes. Families are being tested as stress levels are at an all time high. Feel like laughing? Probably not. Because of the stress in your life, you don't feel like laughing--that's natural. However, what's also natural is your lack of laughter causes you to maintain higher levels of stress-related hormones (specifically, ephinephrine, cortisol, dopac, and the growth hormone) and a potentially weakened immune system*. In fact, a recent study** has shown that even the anticipation of laughter can decrease these hormones.  Those conditions naturally lead to living at a greater risk of disease and further elevating the lack of desire towards laughter. The cycle continues.

You don't feel like you should laugh. Given the seriousness of certain challenges in your life (financial struggles, family, health, etc.), you feel that enjoying a laugh would automatically imply that you are not taking your personal challenges seriously. Let it be clear that regardless of what anyone else may think, allowing yourself the gift of laughter during a personal storm is perfectly acceptable. It is ridiculous to suggest that unless you are trudging through life with a consistent somber attitude then you must not care about your challenges. The reality is maintaining a sense of humor during challenges is not only acceptable but it's helpful. As the saying goes, "He who laughs, lasts." Keeping a sense of humor going can keep you going.

You don't feel like you deserve to laugh. This is the worst condition of all. You are feeling unworthy of the enjoyment of laughter. You have made some mistakes and created some challenges in your life (and perhaps in the lives of others). Consequently, as self-punishment, you have put yourself on happiness restriction. Good for you...that will teach you! No more good feelings for you because you are a bad person. The reality is that is not a healthy philosophy for you or anyone connected with you. Taking responsibility to correct mistakes, seeking forgiveness and moving into the future with greater wisdom from your lessons is a much healthier response to your past errors than simply a happiness restriction. Would you want your children not to laugh anymore because they made past mistakes? Of course not. And, God feels the same way about his children (You).

Seek out things to put laughter into your daily routine. Here's a jump start today with a very funny clip of David Letterman.



*Article: Cut Stress by Anticipating Laughter
**Article: Humor and Health

It's been said, "It's the space between the notes that makes the music." Without the quiet space, the beauty of the music couldn't be heard. And, it's the time of quiet reflection between life's activities that revels the truth. In order to gain clarity of purpose and direction in your life, you must slow down enough to receive it.

I know how difficult it can be for people (particularly men) to stop and ask directions when driving somewhere. As the joke goes, why are there...   more »

On Wednesday afternoon, I had the opportunity to run with Dean Karnazes and Greg Hardesty. Greg, an Orange County Register reporter and fellow ultrarunner, was doing an interview with Dean and set it up as an interview on the run. It was a beautiful day for a beachside run and we had a great time cruising together talking about running, life, and Dean’s new book about lessons learned from running 50 marathons in 50 days in 50 states. See OCRegister.com for the article.

I love Dean’s story because he made a dramatic shift in his life. For a long time he climbed the corporate ladder. However, dissatisfied with his life, he began to pursue his love of running...   more »

If you ever want to learn about yourself, I recommend running for 24 hours straight. Well, on second thought, it might not be my first recommendation, but you would definitely have the opportunity to get well acquainted with yourself during such an event. You're body and mind will both be communicating with you at a volume that you definitely can't miss.

During my adventures of running in 24-hour competitions, I have learned a lot about myself; what keeps me going, what holds me back, what is important and what is not. Many of these discoveries can be applied in all areas of life and I will share one of the most critical lessons of all: Know Why!

So much focus is put on the how-to in our lives, but it all doesn't matter unless we know the why-to. I can teach you how to fuel your body during an extreme running event-how many grams of carbohydrates per hour, how many milligrams of sodium per hour, how much water, etcetera. However, if you can't answer the question of why you would do it, my information to you will simply become 'knowledge on ice'. It doesn't have value to you because you don't have a reason to use it-it doesn't support a burning passion.

This past November, I competed in the US Ultra-Running Nationals in the 24-hour competition. Unfortunately, it was not my best race. The first thirty miles were good but it wasn't coming together well after that point. It's one thing to have a tough race and know that it will be over in a few minutes. It's another thing to know that you have nearly twenty hours to go! Regardless, it gave me an extra opportunity to get a better understanding of myself. There is always a good side. You simply have to look for it. At hour 23, the course is shortened to a simple ¼ mile loop. My legs were fried after some 110+ miles of difficult racing. My body was way under-fueled. Blood was coming through my right shoe due to a poor job I did prepping it when I did a shoe change some 12 hours earlier; fortunately, it had gone numb by this point. Sadly, my 'why' had also gone numb as well, as the best answer to "Why am I doing this?" was simply "To finish." That is barely a 'why' at all and it clearly showed.

Everything changed instantly, however, when the race director announced over the PA system that Connie Gardner was on pace to set the women's American record! A new American record-I got inspired. Once I understood the great race that Connie was having, I got involved with her 'why'. "This is about making history…I must do all that I can to help her do it!" My 'why' suddenly had great significance-to help someone make history! The combination of having a 'why' of great significance as well as serving another person sent me on an internal mission to dig deep for energy. I put everything I had into moving faster…I focused everything on getting it going to encourage her. I was cheering for her while running. I found myself going faster and faster as my inspiration grew. It had to be one of the greatest lessons to me of the power of knowing 'why' you are doing something and how you can achieve so much more than you ever thought possible when the 'why' is significant enough.

Your life performance will correlate with your passion of purpose. What is the point? Why am I doing this? Have a great answer. It will make all the difference in the world. Two men working were each asked, "What are you doing?" One man responded, "Cutting stone." The other man responded, "Building a cathedral." Whose work do you suppose will be more fruitful? Who will get more satisfaction from what they are doing? Who will wake up with more energy to get back to their work?

Make a commitment to not only grow your knowledge of how to do things, but also to clarify your understanding of why you are doing them. Then, watch your energy, productivity, and fulfillment skyrocket in your life.

It was 9pm and the first 12 hours of running was complete...only 12 hours to go!  I stepped it up a notch and started clicking off some good miles.  I noticed that I was definitely in better shape than I was last year at this same event:  the US Ultra running National Championships--24 Hour competition.  However, a few hours later I realized I was having a challenge keeping down the necessary fuel to keep going.  That's not good.  I attempted some modifications to the strategy but wasn't having great luck.  My pace fell off and I struggled for a number of hours.  It came to a point where the focus was just on moving forward at all verse quitting. 

At hour 23, the course is shortened to a simple 1/4 mile loop.  My legs were fried after some 110+ miles.  My body was way under fueled.  Blood was coming thru my right shoe due to a poor job I did prepping it when I did a shoe change some 12 hours earlier.  However, when the race director announced over the PA system that Connie Gardner was on pace to set the women's American record, I got inspired.  I put everything I had into moving faster... I focused everything on getting it going to encourage her.  I was cheering for her.  I found myself going faster and faster as my inspiration grew.  By the last 1/4 mile, I was running at 7:00 min/mile pace according to the race’s record log. 

The race, although far from ideal, left me with a number of lessons:
1.  I am a very fortunate person to have friends and family that are so supportive they would stay up all night and help me through it all.  Thanks Dad, Wendy, Randy, Sterling, Becky, and Lillian.
2.  Fuel is very important--get some more experience with other fuel sources.
3.  Inspiration that can come from helping another person can tap a deep source of energy.
4.  Connie Gardner is an amazing athlete.  Actually, I already knew that one.

Catalina Island is very hilly.  It is also very dark in the hills early in the morning in January.  The race began at 5:00am.  It was very cold, windy and, immediately outside of town, very dark. I had to laugh at myself because it was so me to show up for a 50 mile run in the hills of Catalina pre-sunrise without any sort of a light.  What a rookie.  No problem I figured...I'll just stay with the leaders since obviously they all have lights.  Well, the leaders all run like gazelles up and down these hills so I needless to say I was pushing it quite a bit early on in the race.  The sun finally came up and I could now run my own race!  Up and down...up and down.  Yes, hill training would have been good for this one.  I'm thinking around mile 30, what am I doing here?...running in the dark, up and down these hills, what's next?  Just then I met up with a runner who asks me, "Seen any buffalo today?"  "No, I haven't" I replied.  "Well, whatever you do if you see one don't look it in the eyes...it will charge you!"  Whether true or not, it certainly got me a bit more alert!  It was a great day on the Island.  I highly recommend the race to any ultrarunner.  Just remember to bring a light. 

Race results: http://planetultramarathon.wordpress.com/2007/01/17/corrected-avalon-50-results/

The fun began 9am November 18, 2006. This was the start of my first ultra-marathon race. Why enter the 24 hour competition in the US National Championships for my first ultra race? Why not? Wasn't it T.S. Eliot who said, "Only those who will risk going too far can possibly know how far they can go." So, I went for it!

I had three goals:
1. To have fun.
2. To learn.
3. To run 120 miles.

After setting my goals I concluded that sometime during the middle of the night my first goal may actually be my most challenging to achieve! :) I knew the second goal would be an easy one since I had never done anything like this before. And the third goal? It was a shot in the dark. In training, my longest run ever had been 66 miles which afterwards I found myself in the hospital getting 3 liters of fluid to replenish my badly dehydrated body.

The race went wonderfully well. And, come 9am Sunday morning November 19th, 2006 I was one very happy Xtreme Runner having achieved all three goals.

Race Results: http://www.americanultra.org/news/nov2006.html

I joined my first swim team, Woodlands Cabana Club, just before my fifth birthday.  I completed my career while swimming for UC Santa Barbara.  Swimming was my athletic passion and focus from a small boy all the way through college.  Much of who I am is a direct result of this journey of over fifteen years.  I had mountain-top victories as well as devistating defeats.  The lessons I learned are countless and the memories are priceless.