The Road to Ultra: June 2007

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

The Jangle and Fasting

I still have a template in my blog that gives me a place to enter the miles I ran, total miles, and thoughts on the run.

Routines are tough to change and it's been disorienting to shift from that disciplined schedule to focus on other areas of my life, but I'm coping with the transition. I'm excited because some key deliverables are taking place this weekend and then I can start getting out more often. It's important to know that it's not the deliverables that made this restriction, but my own mindset - because I chose to make that the obstacle, this is how it manifested in my life. I take responsibility, and that's fine.

So, in the meantime, I had to come up with a routine I can do consistently and anywhere and that doesn't take long. I went back to my old friend, "The Jangle."

I've written about the Jangle before. I even made a short document about it. It comes up often enough that it makes sense to invest in a good digital camcorder and just record a clip of it.

The jangle is a simple set of exercises, almost like control drills, that takes only about 10 - 20 minutes per day but is designed to get the blood flowing, joints limber, and burn a few calories. I do mine first thing in the morning on an empty stomach but some people do it in the evening as well.

I won't get into details (yes, I'll post an article and/or some pictures later on) but basically there is some jogging in place, some shaking of the arms, squats, twists, and more. Nothing that involves lying on the ground like push-ups, however.

Because my team is up to speed I was able to get back to the schedule I enjoy most: letting my body wake me instead of the alarm. My wife was also more willing to work with that schedule and joined me for a few "jangle" sessions. We'll do one more tomorrow and then I'm off to New Jersey on business.

This week has been a very connected week for me. I realized that I was feeding my mind with a lot of nothing so I mentioned making some MP3 CDs for the car. I now have about 16 hours of personal development and connecting with mentors like Jeffery Combs and Fredric Lehrman has been amazing. I then received an e-mail by an entrepreneur who builds multi-million dollar spec homes on Florida's east coast named Frank McKinney (author of Make It Big) and received some great information from this man who went from digging sand traps to building and selling these amazing spec homes.

In his discussion he used a term that I thought was fantastic. If I heard him correctly, he mentioned that many people are trapped in a JOB (living just over broke?) and aren't really doing what they dream. However, while many people feel the solution is to "work for yourself" (hey, been there and done that, still do) there are about 10% who are really satisfied working with others. In other words, you are always part of a vision, but the question is, who's? Most of the time in a job you are working for someone else's vision ... they leverage you to create their own abundance. However, there are times when there is a complete "click" where you find someone with a similar vision and are able to create a balance ... he referred to this as an intrapreneur ... and I had an "ah-hah!" moment. It's been difficult to describe to people my position with the technology companay because it's not like a job, I have incredible ownership and interest in the company but it's not *my* company ... and the work intrapreneur seems to tag it precisely!

That wasn't the only insight, however. See, many people feel this talk of success and abundance is all about money. It's not. As Frank pointed out on the call, living abundantly might have nothing to do with wealth. For example, I believe the Peace Pilgrim had an abundant lifestyle despite having no income nor earnings. There are many people who are at a position where they are happy and making a difference.

But the other insight is what you can do WITH abundance. For example, Frank McKinney doesn't just build homes for the rich and famous ... he also provides homes for people who can't afford it and would be homeless or living in rotten conditions. In fact, he has several projects (books, seminars, etc) outside of real estate that he donates 100% of (if I heard correctly) to charity. Talk about making a difference rather than just complaining about it next to the water cooler!

So this led to someone sending a question about how being "busy" ties into my belief as a Christian. I found that to be interesting. I hadn't thought of having a full schedule as pertaining to my belief at all, but then I realized something.

Forget the boxes and boundaries and rules we try to fit belief and faith in. Some people practice religion but have no faith or belief. So drop the denomination or the semantics and let's just talk about operating from a perspective: love, forgiveness, compassion.

Make no mistake ... it was not by accident that the chapter I wrote for Life's Missing Instruction Manual happened to be on forgiveness. I used to be an angry person ... I'd shout, scream, and stew over how unfair the world was. As I wrote in the book ... once I began to forgive others, I could forgive the universe and eventually myself. Life is so different.

See, I can take on a full schedule and not get caught up in activity but focus on results. I enjoy what I am doing and I now that I have the power to sign up for the lessons I want from life. I don't have to settle. And this isn't some unique situation reserved for me, everyone has that option. If you're unhappy with the situation, change it.

My faith says I am still receiving lessons. I am growing and connecting with people. I know I have a purpose here, I believe everyone does, and if I follow my heart's compass, I know by the way I get an excited feeling in the pit of my stomach when someone writes to share how their life has changed that this is the direction to go. So every day is a gift and a blessing. If you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life.

I've added a few new items to the site. First, I noticed that my article The Practical Way to Lose Fat had dozens of votes, yet wasn't appearing in the top 10 voting list despite being the most viewed article. I checked into the algorithm and it was simply ranking by vote, then number of votes. That means one perfect vote of 5 would rank higher than 9 votes of 5 and 1 vote of 4! So I changed to a Bayesian algorithm that basically weights the votes to be more fair ... it gives items with more votes a higher precedence, but doesn't reward them simple for having more votes or for a single item having one good vote.

Yes, this is me being a geek. The math is quite exciting so for the "Bayesian regret" if you're interested in more.

I finally published an article on something I'm often asked about and comment on: fasting. That was published as Fast Forward.

I also added another gadget. This one is a Protein Requirements Calculator. It's a Google gadget so you can add it to your Google page and syndicae it on your website if you like.

Speaking of syndication, my health and wellness business is supported exclusively through my writing, sales of my book, and advertisements on the web site. I was looking into the gadgets and very encouraged about the results.

This is an example about manifestation. I was playing with gadgets and suddenly a thought came ... well, where did it come from? The typical way of speaking this would be, "out of nowhere" or "out of the blue." What is the blue? Let's call a spade a spade. I tapped into infinite intelligence and as part of that union was inspired (in spirit) to create a health and wellness gadget. It would not only provide a tool but also connect me with others who I feel can be positively affected by the messages in my writing. So, I told several people this was going to be my next "organic" growth phase (I grew my last website through organic search, so this was a new approach for me) ... I stayed up late one night, wrote the gadgets, and published them.

Here is a visual of what happened then (this is April 2nd - June 26th, 2007):

Website Visitors

This wasn't purchasing advertisements and running banners. It was daily, positive, focused thought on the website. The gadgets, the focus, and the intention to grow is what is causing this community to evolve and come together. But here is what is the most exciting to me: Google just added a feature. It will now show how many people look at your gadgets, and how many people use them. Why am I so excited?

Because of this: my body fat gadget produces the most traffic. As of this writing, it has about 5,000 active users and was examined over 145,000 times.

I appreciate and value every one of the 5,000 who use this tool. My Weight Loss Question of the Day has about 1,000 users. Then, out of curiosity, I scrolled to another gadget. This one? A daily horoscope. How many users? Almost a million!

Why am I so excited that someone else's gadget has 1,000 more users than mine? Because THAT is the potential to connect and reach new people. I'm confident if one million people find it important to receive a quote based on where the earth happened to be and how someone interpreted a random group of lights in the sky on the day they were born, then a few more than 1,000 can get excited about improving their health on a daily basis. So I've got some tasks ahead of me ... here's 999,000 more people to reach!

Of course, I was able to find perspective another way. I was on an ad network and after running their code found that I received about 200 unique users per day to a certain part of my site (the total number is higher, but this was a very targeted section). Reaching 200 people is VERY rewarding. It is a miracle of the Internet because it would be difficult for me to personally go out and share information with that many people every day. Then, you know what I did next ... I browsed over to a website that was just about fun. It catered to a certain cartoon craze. These aren't educational cartoons or complex brain teasers, just mindless fun. It's O.K. to have fun, but I thought, how many people visit that site? Wow. 22,000,000 per day. 22,000,000! Now THAT'S an impressive number! And just imagine if you could reach each person and just share one little tip, story, or piece of advice that would transform their life in a positive way ... wouldn't that be exciting?

So it looks like I have to revise the 999,000 figure ... there's about 21,999,800 to get in front of.

Of course, I can't do it on my own. It happens through word of mouth, search engines, gadgets, and more. Why am I sharing this? For many reasons. Business ties into our personal lives so these insights can help you relate to my journey. Because many people reading this are professionals and ask me how I grow my own business. Right now, I plan on reaching those 21,999,800 the best way I can ... by staying honest, following my dreams, living what I believe, and sharing, one article and blog post at a time.

Thank YOU for not just being a statistic, but taking the time to read this and connect in ways that we can create positive change together.

Warmly,

Jeremy Likness

posted by Jeremy Likness | 8:44 PM | 0 comments

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

The lonely shoes

Tonight is a weird space and time for me.

You see, it's been quite a hectic week since returning from vacation.

Sometimes people ask how I manage to keep focused on things like fitness and health ... especially considering the first time I even considered lifting a weight was almost ten years ago.

WOW.

That seems like such a long time. Here I sit, late at night, typing because my running shoes are lonely in the closet.

What's my point?

My point is that I get a lump in my throat thinking about the last time I went on a long run. I don't think about the time it takes to pound my legs for three or four hours, or how I can barely move the next day. I don't dwell on the before or the after or how this run might have impacted my weight to the next day.

Nope. I get that lump because of the connection ... the moment. That point in time where I'm connecting with me and doing something that is uniquely, what can I say, human?

I wrote earlier about some frustrations with not being consistent. It is tough for me to even write this because I look at the title, "Road to Ultra" and think about how much fire and excitement there was.

I must admit. I think positively but I allowed myself to get sidetracked. The early finish at my first marathon attempt followed by the conviction to follow it up and then to get injured affected me in a surprising way.

No, I'm not even blaming the injury. And I can't say it "bruised my pride" because it really wasn't about what you or anyone else thought.

It affected me because it taught me something about me. It was a hard lesson to learn but I had to pause and eat a little of my own cooking.

If you're still with me ... what I mean is simple: my book begins with the simple call to action: make the decision. You have to create a choice. And it's not good enough to say it or even be excited about it. It has to REALLY be there. A deep-down choice. Without it becoming a part of who you are, that choice can easily dissolve in a barrage of excuses.

Let's face it. Life happens. A life with drive and purpose will move through that and continue on. When it's a shallow self-promise, however, it can easily fade.

I'm in a position that I haven't been in for a very long time. It's an odd position. When I was focused on competing in a bodybuilding show and training hard and dieting, I reached a realization that I was pursuing that goal for the wrong reason. I stopped what I was doing and shifted focus. That was difficult and was the first time I publicly "halted" a drive towards a goal but I knew deep down it was the right thing to do and that I was focusing on more important things.

What is interesting about my current path is that I know down to the core of my body that I am meant to run an ultramarathon. I've been blessed with a path and journey that has taught me humility and therefore I do not need to pound out a longer-than-marathon distance simply to gain attention or receive praise. If I wanted to do that, I'd do what I'm comfortable with and know how to do: I'd cut to extremely low body fat and take another set of pictures and plaster them online.

But that's not my point. My pictures are there to inspire and show what is possible, and there is no need for more. And I don't believe I have to consistently "prove myself" to others ... in fact, right now I'm finding I communicate best through my articles and online interactions and feel like this is really part of my "purpose" - to connect and share that power that you CAN change with others. That is my GREATEST reward and why I cherish every little response or e-mail I receive related to the site, articles, the book, or other items and celebrate every review at Amazon.com.

A review doesn't increase the ranking of my book or necessarily impact sales. What it does do is show me that the time and effort put into it impacted another life and that everything I do and have done is worthwhile and I should never stop because there can always be just one more person to assist with turning a corner and empowering themselves to change.

No, the ultramarathon is different because it's a very personal journey. Perhaps that is why this journal is an interesting journal for me - the journal makes it a public process. I've revealed more than I have at any other point and I know I must continue to do so.

Why? Because it's important to understand the drive, the journey, the process. Because it's also part of a new book I'm writing - not a literal one, but new chapters of my life.

Tonight I found myself sitting down trying to focus on direction and simply typed in "Jeremy Likness destiny" to the Google search engine. I was interested to come across two articles.

The first was a network marketing article entitled, YOU are the postcard. It reminded me of how network marketing impacted my journey, but how it is an example of a mistake I've made in the past: hanging onto something too tightly and trying to force it.

See, network marketing opened doors and was something I was good at. In a industry where most people don't sign up a single person, I connected with several hundred happy customers along with a dozen or so entrepreneurs in my "downline." I soon realized, however, that this was a vehicle to leverage some income and create some opportunities but that ultimately it was not how I wanted to create my future. It connected me with the right people and mentors but I shifted my focus to my own products, site, etc. It took me a long time to let go of that network marketing business.

Part of it was because I really did enjoy the products and the team building. Part of it was because why would you ever stop something that is generating leveraged, residual income? But ultimately my heart knew I would never devote the right time and energy to this project because my passion is to connect with people across the industry. I would rather write the network marketing article and connect with people from a dozen different companies than be shoe-horned into the single business. So, I let that piece go and the article was a potent reminder for me of how this was a launching pad but not the final solution - you can see my passion for health.

Then I reached another article, The Courage to Live. In it, I spoke of our "victim cards" we are so ready to play.

And I realized I was playing my cards.

Even though I wrote an article about overcoming that.

WOW!

What a reveleation. Can you imagine ... creating a "lesson" that comes back several years later to force you into the role of your own student? I read, and I listened, and I learned.

Sure, I've tackled quite a major project with the wireless company I'm helping to build. But I learned long ago if I'm unhappy or in a stressful job, I can choose to change my fate. This was never a "job" for me, but an opportunity to create a challenge on a higher level than I've taken on before. And it has been challenging ... which is why I embrace it. I've been pushed to levels I've never experienced before and that is where I believe we thrive and discover who we really are.

It would be easy to say, "I'm busy" and then cop out on my own fitness. I've been eating healthy - I'm fortunate to have a family that loves healthy foods. My wife and daughter love to cook and I get delicious, tasty, healthy meals every day. But the exercise gets to suffer.

Again, can I blame investing long hours in the other company? Can I blame the extra time I spent late in the evening writing a few articles and slowly nudging my own site along?

No way. Because if I told you I didn't have my moments camped out in front of the TV or sitting down doing nothing because I talked myself into the notion that "I have to unwind," I'd be lying. Those moments exist, and each one is an opportunity to be involving my fitness rather than devolving my brain.

Some may say I'm too hard on myself, and perhaps I am, but fortunately I've learned to look inward. Let's be honest. I'm still very passionate and excited about the way my writing and teachings have connected with others and right now I feel like the cobbler with the broken shoes. I've let myself get a bit out of shape ... the injury led me to lifting weights and that led to vacation and that led to me here, right now.

So I realized there comes a time when you can exhaust everyone around you by talking about it, or you can do it. I decided that it is important to write and share that when I receive emails about upcoming races, I get a lump in my throat because I miss the "good old days" of running consistently. Then I have to laugh, because those "old days" were mere weeks ago. My life is running in fast forward but I'm also ignoring my own advice in, "I Can, I Can't" by saying EITHER I'm on this strict, disciplined running schedule OR I sit and feel sorry for myself for not being on a strict, disciplined running schedule.

Funny, no? So I'm taking my own advice. I wanted to write it and share it because I am human, I do reach these crossroads. What's exciting is that it took a tidal wave to push me over the edge in 2000 when I began making changes to my life. Now I have that passion deep within my bones, so while I might sometimes find myself struggling a bit, I only have to be still long enough to let it radiate out and then I'm ready to propel forward again.

I'm sharing this because I feel this is a turning point. I don't know when or how but there will be some major positive changes that I feel are working on the inside and are about to burst outside. Do I have a plan yet - some specific nutrition regimen or workout program to share and dictate and follow? No.

But I'm still firmly on the Road to Ultra.

You haven't read many posts about runs lately, and my "running meter" shows a big fat "ZERO" for the month of June.

We shall have to remedy that. The time for speaking is growing old as the time for action draws near.

Thank you for letting me share this moment, and I look forward to revealing the days to come.

Warmly,

Jeremy Likness

posted by Jeremy Likness | 12:20 AM | 0 comments

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

I'm baaaaaaaaack!

What a vacation!

It's been awhile since I've written, but it was worth it. I decided to take a true vacation from everything. Aside from an article I wrote in our condo, the rest was true, quality family time.

I'll share some extra details because I'm often asked how I do what I do. I knew that I would be gone for a solid week and a half. This was a bit long to be away from directing the technology department at our other company, so I did plan a one day trip back to Atlanta. It worked out fine because I flew in the evening, spend a solid, productive day, then flew back the next night. The ladies had a nice day of shopping, relaxing by the pool, and watching T.V. as storms raged outside.

I stayed late one evening writing all of the questions of the day and pre-loading them for the trip. No, I don't write these each and every day, but I do keep a master file of all questions and responses and refer to that. I try to alternate days (i.e. a nutrition question, then a weight training question, etc) so that I can cover all bases.

We set out in the morning and were amazed at the size of the trunk in my new Honda Civic. It fit a lot more than we expected. We were using this vehicle because of the purported 40 miles per gallon on the interstate. In fact, as a new vehicle not even "broken in" it easily succeed to surpass the promise and gave us closer to 42 miles per gallon.

We made great time. Vacation seems to be for many an excuse to hit every roadside restaurant and fast food joint. We like to make good time so we packed a cooler with whole wheat bread, lean meat, whole grain tortilla chips, and water. We also brought along bars, shake powder, and other items as well. We only stopped once at a rest area to have our little "picnic" but poor weather conditions (lots of rain) forced us to enjoy that in the car.

Upon arriving at our condo we signed up for the timeshare demonstration. We always like learning about other opportunities available and of course the gifts are always a benefit. We always weigh what we will receive with the time invested and make sure we're going to profit.

The condo was fantastic - larger than the beach house we rented when we lived on St. Pete Beach. It had a full kitchen so we went shopping and purchased mostly healthy foods. Now we're not total sticks in the mud and do enjoy our vacations so we picked a few days to eat out. Highlights included a Chicago-style pizza at a local Italian joint and mounds of ice cream at the Ghirardelli Chocolate shop at Downtown Disney. We also made a policy of using the stairs instead of the elevator and walking wherever we needed to on the premises for extra exercise.

The large pond next to us held families of ducks. There were even a few mothers swimming around with their little chicks. These are obviously tourist-city ducks because they had no qualms about running straight to us as we walked by and some would even chase us and squawk their demands for food. Large fish in the water would also surface and open their gaping mouths demanding food, and we noticed the squirrels didn't seem to be very fearful, either.

The pool which we hit the first day had a huge section with fountains shooting out of the ground along with a massive waterfall. My daughter and I had a great time running around, playing water tag, swimming back and forth, while my wife enjoyed the sun.

Our itinerary originally included a stop by Sea World, WonderWorks, Universal, and a dinner meeting with lots of online friends from a forum that I visit.

The complex was vast and had seven pools. We quickly found the fitness center where I knocked out a high intensity interval training session and lifted weights. They had dumbbells up to 50 pound increments so I used a slower-than usual tempo and had a great workout (in fact, several days later my chest was aching from DOMS).

We spend one day at Sea World. A fluke caused us to miss out on a ticket discount but another fluke ended up a blessing - it was a buy one day, get one day free. So, we ditched WonderWorks from the schedule and decided to hit Sea World twice.

I can say I have not heard my daughter laugh and scream so much since she was very little. We've taken her to theme parks before but at her age she truly appreciated it. I enjoyed seeing the different wildlife and learning about them. I went on one ride in particular, the Wild Arctic, that was a great combination of fun (a simulator takes you in a helicopter across the arctic landscape with lots of twists and turns) and learning (then you are in a habitat with polar bears, walruses, and Beluga whales). The temperature was nice and cool with dim lighting and I just wanted to stay there!

We also went on several rides, including my daughters first "big" roller-coaster style ride (Journey to Atlantis). When the boat plunged down she screamed so loud I was almost deaf, then she was crying and I thought, "Uh-oh, too much" but it was, "Daddy, that was AWESOME let's do it AGAIN."

Too much to relate, but let's just say it was great. My daughter purchased her first pearl and we stayed late for the show. The second trip was just as fun, we didn't stay as long but hit some shows we missed the first time through. Surprisingly, there is a healthy restaurant right in the middle of Sea World where you can get chicken breast, whole wheat pasta, and other good foods, although I'm not sure if it still counts when afterwards we'd head over to the hospitality building and sample the free Busch beer. I must say I was surprised at how good their dark beer, Bare Knuckle, tasted!

We spend some time by pools and then went to Universal. We had a lot of fun there but I am getting old because I don't get as excited by the simple "rides." I'm more intrigued by learning as I'm being wowed - which is why SeaWorld and Epcot are more my "cup of tea." The important thing is that my daughter had a blast, and this trip was for her.

We figured out early on we would be exhausted and the logistics of driving over to St. Petersburg from Orlando then back and forth again would be a bit much so I canceled the dinner on Saturday night. After Friday's visit to Universal, we decided we didn't want to wait until morning to check out and drive to visit my parents, so we spontaneously checked out that evening and made the drive.

The timing was perfect. As we were packing to leave, I flipped on the television and noticed they were counting down to a shuttle launch. I quickly figured out which direction it would happen in (due East of where we were) and told my daughter. She watched all of the information on the TV until it lifted off, then we headed outside and up a flight of stairs (we were on the next-to-top floor). We had the perfect view and watched the candle of flame spew smoke and climb into the deep blue sky. Then we drove to St. Petersburg and slept in the next day, grateful that we were able to see the launch, check out early, and win "extra time" with my parents.

We had a lazy time there ... I went on a movie date with my wife, then we went on a combined anniversary. My wife and I celebrated our 9th year the end of May while my parents were celebrating their 30th, so we all had a good time out together.

We hit the road early this morning and made great time, coming home in just over 7 hours (the journey usually takes us 8 or 9). We retrieved our animals and are now winding down to relax. I have quite a bit to do this week and wanted to write to my blog before I dive into it all.

I'm still mulling over my options for training. I definitely have awakened a runner inside. I can tell by the tugging inside when I think about runs, when I see trails, when I contemplate my workouts. I even get butterflies of excitement. I also know that part of my struggle and injury were due to a little extra weight I'm carrying. So I believe the strategy is going to be to train with weights and do more HIIT training as I trim down and then shift back to a distance running program in time to hit the runs this year (10K, half in November, full in March of next year) and then target next November (2008) for the ultra. Gives me lots of time but I want to start planning out the program soon. I'll keep you posted.

That's it for now ... going to relax a bit more and then it's going to be a very productive month of June.

I also wanted to thank my readers - not just of this blog, but of the book. I believe the month of May was one of my best month for sales ever, and it's all because of word of mouth and people sharing the information. I appreciate that deeply and look forward to reaching more lives in the coming days, weeks, and months.

Blessed be,

Jeremy Likness

posted by Jeremy Likness | 8:11 PM | 0 comments

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The Road to Ultra

Jeremy Likness' journey to an ultramarathon.

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