Air Guitar Solos are Better then a Six Pack

A little less then a year ago my girlfriend Kelsey embarked on a quest to find out if what the health and fitness magazines said was true; could you actually get a six pack of abs in six weeks. She followed a strenuous workout regimen full of early morning gym sessions and instituted a blitz to purge all unhealthy foods from her diet.

Kelsey documented her adventures on her blog (http://kelseyatkinson.blogspot.com/2010/01/under-construction.html, her journey begins) and I learned a lot of lessons about running and life from her stories and observations.

While running one day, Kelsey was so in the zone, so charged on a runner's high, that she absent-mindedly started playing air guitar in the middle of our university's indoor track. What is even better is that when she noticed she was doing it she didn't stop until she was done her solo.

I loved this story because although Kelsey's quest was hard, painful and discouraging at times she found enjoyment, euphoria and freedom in the midst of it.

Too often when people finally reach their dreams or goals they have forgotten why they even had that certain ambition in the first place. We can become too occupied with reaching the top no matter what and on the way there negative feelings, obstacles, stresses and bad experiences can leave us hating the very thing we once loved.

I've encountered this studying journalism at university. I love to write and ask questions, meet people and be a witness to amazing events, but amongst the stresses of weekly deadlines, tough competition among my peers and discouragingly rude sources I sometimes forget the good I can achieve from reporting and the thrill that comes with it. Same with running. I really love it, but sometimes I forget the joy it brings me and instead my mind and body grow to hate getting out of my comfy bed to run in the pouring rain or chilly air.

But now I always think of the Air Guitar Lesson to help me remember to be thankful for the simple joys in life and the things I love to do, like running or writing, instead of dreading them, like chores I have to do before I can watch more TV.

Instead of growing to hate running, one of the things she loves, Kelsey used the simple joys that it gave her to help her out of the traps that cynicism and stress laid out for her.

I won't spoil the end of Kelsey's quest for you by saying if she was successful in getting a six pack in six weeks or not, although to me her journey, air guitar solos and all, taught me more than the final destination did.

So break out your guitar and turn up the music because doing what you love, and remembering why you love it, will make you feel like a rockstar.

The Stretch Theory

Grade four was a big year in my running career; it was the year I learned the deep importance of stretching.

Every day after school, from late February to mid April, my elementary school's cross country team would practice. Before every training session the team would gather in the gym to do our stretches and this is where I was to learn a vital lesson.

Usually my friends and I would break into not so quiet "whispering" and tomfoolery after the first few leg stretches while the coach tried to get through a decent warm up. The only time we stopped to actually stretch was to see who could balance for the longest while pulling one leg up behind us and standing on the other.

On this particular day though our coach finally became fed up with our antics. He stopped the warm up with nothing more than silence and a piercing stare at our rowdy group. We froze and a multitude of punishments our coach could inflict came to my mind, each worse than the last.

Suddenly the coach broke the silence. "You think this is a joke boys?" he said, "Well do you wanna know what happens when you don't stretch before a race?"

It wasn't really a question so much as an introduction and our coach proceded to tell us a handfull of squirm-inducing stories about kids who had neglected to stretch and had torn all sorts of muscles and ligements and popped knee caps and such in horrifying ways.

Suffice it to say, no one in that room that day ever forgot to stretch again.

Now although I was scared that day into seeing the importance of stretching I later realized the positive payoff of stretching on my own and although I haven't always been the most vigilant in doing a warm up, I've always run better after completing one.

I have also recognized that stretching isn't just an important tool in helping you run a better race, but also in helping live a more fulfilling life as well.

When you stretch before a race you sometimes reach for a part of your body, like your toes, in an attempt to loosen muscles, and become for flexible so you can use those muscles in a race and decrease your chance of getting a cramp or an injury.

In life you can also stretch, but in a different sense. You can stretch to achieve your goals and dreams.

You may not reach your goals the first time you stretch for them. For example you may not be elected the first time you run for student council or toast your marshmallow to a perfect golden brown the first time you make a s'more, just like you may not be able to touch your toes the first few times you stretch. But if you keep on working and stretching outside of the what you can certainly do to something you want to eventually do then you will finally achieve it, as well as improving yourself and learning lessons and skills along the way.

Just as when you stretch you prepare muscles used in a race, when you stretch for something in life that isn't always easy, like a big promotion or reconciling a broken relationship, you learn other skills and lessons about yourself that can help you in other areas of life. Perserverance, time management and the importance of forgiveness are just a few of these.

Stretching for the hard goals in life may take you outside of your comfort zone to try to achieve objectives that you have never reached before, just like in stretching when you use a muscle that hasn't been used as much or when you can't reach your toes as easily. But in doing this you lift yourself out of the ordinary into the extraordinary and prevent yourself from falling into a rut or routine of laziness or self-pity which can lead to harm or missed opportunities just as in stretching you decrease your chance of getting hurt in a race.

Now injury in running may happen even though you have prepared as much as humanly possible, and life is the same. You may fail, lose or fall down, but getting right back up and out onto the course is also important and stretching is a key part in getting yourself back in the game.

Stretching may be hard work, an arduous exercise that seems unnecesary at times and painful at others, but once you take the time, reach out and grab hold of that vision and plan you'll be ready to jump up and track down your dreams.

If the Shoe Fits...

I've tried many a shoe on in my time as a runner. From the latest and sleekest New Balances and flashy Nikes to cushy Asics.

I've measured my foot from all different angles, from the length and width to the arch and where the pressure is when I push off.

I've run, jumped, kicked, splashed and muddied dozens of training shoes, from my first pair in grade three to my well worn trainers of the present, in order to see which shoes fit me right.

Now after years of searching I have found that New Balance is my favourite brand, but one of the best running experiences I've ever had were in a pair of beat up, neon yellow, cross-country spikes.

Our cross country team had a bag of spikes ready for runners to use if they wanted them and could find two of the right size shoes. I never ran in the communal spikes, mostly because our top runners would snatch them up before I could. But one day there were a pair of size sevens sitting in the bag and I decided to wear them for a race.

They were tight, scratchy and smelled like a gym sock that had been bathing in bad milk. The grimace-inducing thought of dozens of other sweaty teammates wearing the same shoes popped into my mind a couple times because no one wore socks with them, including myself. They were really an amazing pair of shoes.

For all the initial discomfort and their bad hygiene track record, the shoes gave me the best feeling while running. They fit snuggly, conforming to my foot. They were as light as air and made me feel more free and natural than I ever had. I felt pretty great in those shoes.

They felt great, and I ran a decent race in them. And I only ever wore them on occasion after that. Now you may be thinking, well if they were so amazing than why didn't you wear them every race you oddball? The fact is, while the spikes felt great, in my New Balances I felt as if, no matter what the weather or the course, those New Balances and I could get through it and reach my personal goals. They just felt right and they made me smile every time I laced them up.

Now while all this wrangling over shoes may seem crazy, I think the whole process of picking the right fit can be seen in life as well.

As we grow up there are hundreds of paths we can follow. Some people pick paths that lead to adventure at every turn, who would be happiest venturing into a foreign environment with nothing more than the shirt on their back and a thirst for adventure. Others pick what seems like the more conventional route these days, at least in the Western world, which is to go to university, get a degree and then find a job.

For me the first lifestyle seems like those spikes I ran in those years ago, refreshing and a very worthwhile experience, but not something I would do every day, while the university route fits me, is comfortable, seems to me to be the best path to my goals and dreams and makes me happy, just like those New Balances. For others it would be the other way around.

The path that is best for you may not neccesarily be the path people are telling you to go on or the path most people travel. Too often people will follow a path in life only because they assume it is the only path to success and thus happiness, just as many people believe Nikes are obviously the best shoes to run in because they the most popular and recognizable brand.

But I say try different paths and see which ones are best, just as you should try on different shoes and see which ones most suits your needs and wants and goals. Only then will you be most comfortable and feel like you can get through anything and arrive not only at success, but also, most importantly, happiness.

If you want to become an actor or an artist don't listen to those people who tell you it's just not practical and follow the path that will lead to your dreams. If you want to become a business person then follow the best path for that. If you want to become a clown go to clown school and become the best clown you can be. Any of those paths will probably include risks and hardships and might include formal education or something else, but the key is to be happy in the end by finding the right fit.

So strap on those spikes, tie up those sneakers or do away with shoes altogether and feel the happiness beneath your feet.