CANCER SUCKS

Yesterday, I was speaking to one of my closest friends, Kris who is just 2 sessions in of what will be the biggest challenge of her life. She has breast cancer and is totally owning it! Yesterday while on iChat she told me that her hair was starting to fall out. 10-14 days in, if you are the majority, your hair will start to come out while styling it. We were trying to see if her hair would stay put until my visit on Feb. 3rd. No such chance. Last night's status on her page was "Chemo winning the war over the hair, so decided to shave it off tonight! Woohoo!" So proud of her and love that she continues to be in charge of her journey. Last night I decided, like our friend, Jerri who shaved her head just a few hours earlier. See, we decided that when Kris was diagnosed that we'd all buzz our hair off together. But since we each live in different states, this would be the only way of showing support so far away. So this morning, we headed out to IHOP for my birthday breakfast and then bought a pair of clippers to buzz my head.

Kris is below with her new mohawk and taking on Cancer head on. She is a testament to grace and courage and I am in awe of her desire to continue her yoga practice and stay in the present.


If you have anyone in your life that is fighting the fight - stay close to them and try to be the best support you can be. I am blessed with my friends and shaving my head was a small way to show her that she's not alone. There are only a handful of people that I'd do this for and I'm happy to do my small part.

I want to wish all of you a healthy and successful upcoming year!

Purging the years

Check out this great blog my buddy, Kris Kaplan shared this morning from Zen Habits on purging your stuff while staying happily married.

I'm so on the same page. With our move from AZ last year - we took our time and purged 6 years of stuff while packing and then we purged more while unpacking in Portland, OR. Now that we are moving again to a larger home, it's funny that I find myself not missing those items we had boxed up and labeled 'storage'. I can't wait to move next week - unpack and purge some more. So far a few trips and 6 bags later to the Goodwill, my closet now has just the basics for work and play. "Is this all I really need," I ask myself? Crazy when it's in your face... how little you actually need day to day. 2011 is all about streamlining. Streamlining my business (especially my office), my personal life and my training.

Since I'm not a fan of resolutions as my previous post stated - these types of lifestyle goals help to clear the way for success all year long. I have one other goal that will benefit my tummy as well as my soul and that is utilizing my cookbooks and my iPad to cook new recipes weekly in order to eat well, seasonally and buy local.

Between creating zen habits and great food - this first 90 days of 2011 will be a great one!

Please feel free to share your own zen habit tips and of course any great recipes.

Thanks for reading!

No Resolution Making Here!

Welcome to a brand new year! The time to reevaluate and put together a 12 month 'action' plan! I'm not really into resolutions as I feel it sets people up for failure only days into the new year. I'm about creating short term and long term goals. I feel that it helps me to stay on track for a longer period of time.

For instance; sign up for a marathon, a 50k and a fun, friendly race like the Warrior Dash.

Eating more whole foods and less processed. Creating fun weekly menus and cutting out coupons to save where we can.

Working smarter, finding balance and getting better results.

This month we are moving into a bigger home and having the opportunity to purge useless stuff always does wonders for my inner self. Working and living in a new space will be really exciting. Having a big backyard to grill and invite friends and family over will also be good for balancing personal and professional. These are the benefits to starting a NEW YEAR! These are the things that get brought up and are challenged. So forget the resolutions! Just put out what you want for the year 2011 -- and make good choices daily so that on December 31st. you can say "look what I accomplished," instead of "back to the drawing board." Happy New Year and may you get exactly what you want all year long!

GRATITUDE

Happy Holidays everyone! I'm finishing up 2010 with a bang! I'm still running and just started back on my 18 week ramp up to another chance at finishing a 50k. January kicks off the Winter show season and traveling will be in full effect. For right now... for the coming 2 weeks, it's about organizing and gearing up to ring in the new year.

This time of year also gives us time to reflect - as all of us work hard and when you get a cool opportunity to share what you are grateful for... you jump at the chance. I got a great opportunity to share with thousands of people what simple things I am grateful for. I am sharing amongst many other people just one of 365 inspirational pieces, (one for every day of the year.) I am so blessed in this life and having the opportunity of being a co-author was such an honor.

The Gratitude Book is being sold on Amazon.com and is a great gift for anyone in your life.

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” William Arthur Ward

Wishing you a healthy and successful 2011. Thanks for reading!

I AM 30!

"When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves." ~Victor Frankl

This I AM 30! represents my commitment to the 30-Day Challenge I created almost 6 months ago. I have had such a wonderful experience with those that have been participating. Some have gotten off of insulin, while others have lost weight, gained energy and have participated in their first 5k, 10k, and half marathon. What an honor it is to be apart of their journey. Being that this is 11/30 and December 1st is only 2 days away - I felt this is fitting.

I AM 30! represents the challenge of moving for 30 minutes a day for 30 days - or in this case 31 days... but, you get the idea.

You can challenge yourself in other ways too for 30 days. Like no sugar, no fast food, no smoking, no beer (though that's no life), limiting your deserts. 30 days is a great amount of time to make a change. Whatever you do - make it a positive one for you and your family.

If you are on Facebook, join our movement there and share your recipes, work out ideas, anything that can help someone else.The 30-Day Challenge movement

Thanks for reading!

A year on the road...

Finally, the last flight has been flown. My work year on the road is over and I've got the miles to prove that it was a long, happy year. Sales are good and it seems as if the holiday season is underway. My reps are working hard on and off the road. The gift shows are a distant memory and fall is here. This year has been a challenging one; growing our rep groups while keeping them motivated, learning how to eat well and run all over the country, and creating new avenues to sell too. The recession is almost over and while we thought our retailers would bounce back earlier - we are now almost to 2011 and there seems to finally be a parting of the seas. Orders are being written and bills are being paid. Some have closed their doors while others expand. It's that yin and yang of business that keeps it exciting for me.

This year on the road has also had some great stuff go on too; like our journey to move to Portland, OR, the company continues to create cool, new products, and we've brought in some exciting new people to work with us in creating a synergy across the country. In my personal pursuits; I continue to educate myself in the outdoor and social media industry while marrying up both passions to speak at trade shows and regional events. I look forward to more of that in the upcoming year.

Taking time to read, reflect and run are what I'm looking forward to in the coming months while winding down the year. I continue to enjoy meshing all that I love in this wonderful journey that is my life. Lucky me.

It's all about the challenge....

Hey there! I've been quite busy and now that I'm off the road a bit and my training is in the taper phase - I'm realizing that balancing being successful on and off the trails is all about time management, rest, and completing your to-do list. I find that running when I'm tired does me no good. But, when I am rested and get out first thing...I find that I am way more productive the rest of the day. If I don't get out in the am than I am less likely to run or get in my work out the rest of the day. I absolutely love running when I am out there - but I think coming to the end of a full business year and the end of this particular training cycle, I am tired. So, my next challenges will be a few shorter races to keep me excited and motivated. Next week is my second 50K and I am a firm believer that it needs to stay fun to keep me goal oriented and keep that desire to continue to push me to that next level.

I will never be a sub 7:00 runner, so my long runs are almost double the time than faster runners. I have to work on speed work through the end of the year to get me running 4 hr marathons and 5 hour 50k's before moving to the 100k - 100m level. That's my first challenge to elevating me to the next phase.

My business continues to thrive and I love where my professional side is going. Teaching seminars at trade shows across the country, managing my reps and working with the coolest products in the gift and outdoor industry is both rewarding and challenging. Keeping these companies at the forefront of my reps and retailers minds takes persistence.

Challenging myself continues to be a daily dose of fun week after week. I hope you are working towards your next goal whether professionally or personally. There is nothing more wonderful than crossing the finish line or closing a sale! They both rock!

Thanks so much for reading.