The Little Things

I've heard a number of times from 2 time Olympian (and on his way to 3!) Meb Keflezighi that it is all about the little things that makes him a world champion at the age of 41. I've reflected on this and realize it truly is the little things that keep you healthy in order to compete at an elite level. Whether it is icing, stretching, strength training, foam rolling, or eating at specific times, all of these are essential to keep up with the training.

One of my little things has to do with keeping my feet in top shape. As you can imagine, my feet take quite the beating with 50, 60, 70, 80+ miles racking up each week. During races it goes to a whole other level.  I remember coming home to my parents house last summer after the San Diego Rock and Roll Half Marathon and letting my brother exact his Paramedic expertise on my feet by placing lidocaine soaked strips over 3 inch long blisters on the balls of my feet before patching them up so I could even walk around.  I sat at the finish line that day for 30 minutes with giant ice bags under my toes just to cool my feet off.

What I've learned over the last year is that there are little things that I can do every day to avoid the excruciating pain I experienced that last June, and it doesn't cost much.  My secret: Vaseline and a foot pumice stone.

Yep, I use Vaseline like a child is given unrestricted access to Nutella.  Morning and night, before and after every training run and race, I'm constantly greasing up my feet to keep them soft so blisters don't develop.  Along with that, every time I'm in the shower, I'm scrubbing down my feet to keep from any build up of callouses that would eventually result in really deep blisters on my feet on race day and long runs (what happened in June).

It is amazing how such a little thing of applying Vasaline and using a foot pumice stone can eliminate so much pain from your life.  It is so simple that early on in my discovery of its effectiveness, I slacked in my disciplined usage doubting if it was really necessary all of the time.  Well, every time I don't stick to the routine, the blisterous pain returns.  So now I use it religiously.

It is funny how in life there are so many little things that can make our lives less painful, that we know about and have even experienced their benefits, but still slack in disciplining ourselves to stick to it for our own well being.  Yes, there is grace, heaps of it, so we can always start over.  But let's do something good for ourselves and choose with discipline those little (and best) things.

Take Care,
Janet

P.S. I'd love to hear one of your "little things" that help you to experience an abundant life.  Share it in a comment below.