I have probably heard all of the stories of marathon PRs lost, the tales of woe and angst of training seemingly gone awry on any given Sunday. With a sly grin and an optimistic view, I've found just about all of them to be preventable. All it requires is becoming a smarter athlete - plain and simple.

The AT&T Austin Marathon is 11 days away. Let's take a moment to go over a few of the top ways to ruin your marathon ... there's still plenty of time to remedy them!

Read more...

There are moments that defy description. Words may not adequately describe them, and they could be fleeting at best - but you definitely know you're there when it's taking place.

This morning, I got to revisit one that I'd forgotten from years past - and again, although fleeting, was truly incredible.

There is a left hand turn at about mile 4 in the 3M half marathon course (which I've now run for the past 4 consecutive years). You're heading down Mesa, then you turn left onto Spicewood Springs. If it's a crisp, clear January morning (which it has tended to be over the past few years), you might arrive there around 7:30 am or so - just after the sun has started to rise. To this point, you've been in relative shade (and probably a little chilly). As the road starts to descend, your pace quickens, taking advantage of gravity as your legs unwind underneath you. Then - that turn - and this blazing sunlight just over the tree tops in the median. The sun's rays are warm and almost blinding - sunglasses barely help to protect you from the glare. It is a moment of beauty, one that reminds you of how great it is to be out running on a Sunday morning. It's almost as if the temperature rises while you face the sun, dropping down to the fifth mile marker.

Read more...

I am of the understanding that as it stands right now, the price tag for the war in Iraq is well on it's way to one trillion dollars. That's a one with a lot of zeros after it. In some ways, it's almost impossible to imagine. No, in ALL ways it's quite impossible to imagine.

In the not-so-distant past, we've also been told by our leaders that the cost of universal health care is prohibitive. As a matter of fact, we're one of the few (if not the only country) in the world that doesn't have some level of universal health care. The media and politicians have entitled it "socialized medicine", evoking the response of the average American who relates "socialism" with, well, a big nasty entity from the Cold War era.

Read more...

Happy New Year from the Smart Life Institute!

I am not really sure what inspires people to select a rather arbitrary day (January 1) to suddenly decide that certain things in their lives have to change. It's always been fascinating to me how January 1 holds so much weight - when the natural day to ponder our own internal evolution would most certainly be our birthday.

But with that said, a new year is upon us. Another year has passed with many ups and downs for all of us. I am sure you've all had difficult challenges ... and many positive experiences ... throughout the past year.

Read more...