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.

Holiday Reunions

I have been so blessed this holiday season. I had the opportunity to go down to San Diego both for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, and for the Christmas break I was also able to tromp around Northern California visiting friends in Sacramento and the Bay area. It is always amazing to me, when reunited with good friends, how refreshing it is to reconnect as if it hadn’t been very long at all since we last met up. I was able to spend the day with a friend from Hawaii, who I have not seen for 3 1/2 months; my best friend from high school, who I have not seen for about 3 years; my Bible study leader and friend from Cal Poly, who I haven’t seen for about 5 years; my outreach team leader to Rwanda, who I haven’t seen for a year; and another good friend from high school, who I haven’t see for a year as well. I’ll be meeting up with one other really good friend from Hawaii on New Years too. There is nothing like summing up what has been happening in your life for the last 1-2-3—5 years. It helps to put things into perspective, because a lot of times you don’t ever sit down by yourself to actually think about how you’ve grown, what you’ve experienced, and where you’ve come from and where you’re going. It is such a fruitful thing to do, while at the same time you get you hear from your friend as they do the same and you can rejoice together in how you’ve each grown so much, come so far, and anticipate what’s ahead.

It is such a blessing to have so many amazing quality people in my life. Down in San Diego, this season, it was great to connect with the family I have and hear about what is happening in their lives. As an amazing feature this year, we had 4 generations represented at the holiday gatherings as my cousin had a baby girl earlier this year. It was such a joy to play with baby Allie as she is the happiest baby I know, and to see her parents doing such a great job even with lack of sleep some days. Having conversations with my Uncle Kurt about how to create skydiving formations at 12,000 feet, my Aunt Laurie about her pioneering new business in creating nametag costumes, my Uncle John about how to cook a delicious swordfish, my grandma about the goodness of God and the hope we have in Him, are just a glimpse of the good times spent with my family this year. In addition, my parent’s remodel is almost complete, and spending the days preceding Christmas Eve preparing/cleaning the house, we enjoyed the beauty of just how good it all looks. We even managed to get all of the Christmas decorations up within the one hour before the party (including the Christmas tree!). My sister and I had a lot of quality time together, which I’m so thankful for, as we drove to and from San Diego and San Francisco. We realized that gas right after the Grapevine is always 30 cents more than any other place in the Central Valley, and that Pea Soup Anderson’s is a great place to stop for lunch or dinner on the way.

I’m back in San Francisco for another week or so, helping my sister move closer to work and also doing all that I can to get all of my homework done for class next Tuesday. I’ve really enjoyed my time with all of these wonderful people in my life this season. It is probably the best gift I could ask for (however, my new laptop is a close second). I love everything that is happening in my life and for all that is ahead. I’m heading into the New Year with expanding optimism and can’t wait to see the blessings in store.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Janet Mulvey