Running – The Golf Guru Show

Chicago Marathon Recap: God Wins Again

October 12, 2010

015 — Me and Friend Steve.....this guy did a 3:16....what a beast

Trying to collect myself and think back on all of the moments that happened in the last 3 days is overwhelming. I learn something about myself every time I compete in these endurance events. This was definitely an endurance event! There is a good reason that they don’t have too many marathons in the summer (with the exception of ultra events such as Badwater 135), because the heat makes it tough to stay hydrated and keep the muscles from cramping up. For those of you who have been under a rock, kidding, I was running for Team In Training and raising money for Leukemia while honoring my father in law, Butch Worrell who was diagnosed with LS in April. The virtual team is a collection of people from all over the country who have been in touch with the

071 — lunch with the fam on Saturday before the race

coach and mentors (Maureen, Tim and Lisa) through email and facebook but have not ever met. So we had a group run on Saturday where we got to put most of the faces with the names. It was great to share fundraising stories and really come together for the upcoming weekends events. Saturday night we had the TNT banquet and dinner in which i was recognized as the 2nd leading fundraiser in the country (over 20,000 dollars) which was cool and the MC was “the penguin” for those of you who run know him a the back in the packer. He was very entertaining. A girl spoke about how Leukemia had taken her mom and she was running as well, which really hit home in the fact that my father in law was going to beat cancer but many stories don’t end in a happy ending. It really hit me at this time why I was really here. My goals changed. Selfishly my time goal was to break 4 hours but as we approached race day the forecast didn’t look like it was going to allow it. High 60’s at the start and climbing into the high 80’s on the second half. Not good for fast times. I was so grateful that my father in law, mother in law, sister-in-law and wife and 2 kids could come and be a part of this great event.

For those of you who have not run or spectated at a major marathon can’t understand how many people (45,000 runners and 1.5 million spectators) embrace these things. The race started off fine and I was feeling ok as I made it to mile 12 at about 3:50 race pace. I managed to see my family and stopped and gave them all a hug which was cool. I told my wife to expect a very slow second half so she wouldn’t worry if she didn’t see me at the expected 3:45 to 4:00 slot because I wasn’t feeling great and I knew it was getting hot so I went on. I hadn’t got my head around the fact that it is ok to walk a bit in a marathon if needed, because I hadn’t walked in any of my other races (I should have at Marine Corp) for those who saw my last post), so when I started getting cramps in my calf’s at mile 15, I was forced to walk and stretch. A young man named Sean Flanagan, a member of Chicago Team in Training came up beside me and we engaged in conversation. When asked how I was doing, I replied, “not too good.” Come to find he was struggling a bit with the heat as well. It was his first marathon and I think we both needed some companionship and a distraction from the pain so we decided to run the rest of the way together. He pulled me along when I was cramping and I pulled him to the finish. We talked about life and our jobs, families and so forth until we reached the finish. We shared who we were running for and agreed that we were meant to suffer today for the ones who were suffering way more than us. We finished the race side by side and then hooked up at the charity tent for a

marathon finish with sean — finishing with Sean

closing picture. I don’t know if Sean will ever read this post but I hope to tell him how much it meant to me for his friendship and comradrie. At the charity tent I reunited with my family and put the medal around my father in laws neck as he was the champion for his positivity, support and for beating cancer. The running was the easy part. TIME. It was never about the time of my marathon but all about the time spent with the people you love, time spent creating long-lasting relationships with people who you had never met and Time to Reflect. Thank you for being a part of my very memorable Chicago Marathon weekend and allowing me to show you my heart……because without heart, love and faith…….what else is there. Hope did prevail and God Wins Again. Do you trust him, I sure do.

I promise that the golf tips will be coming soon as I can only focus on what is in front of me. There is a lot of the horizon for me in my career in the next few months so hold on and enjoy the ride and I will strive to bring you valuable content and insight on life and golf as I promised.

Humbled Guru

112 — we run for the medal or the t-shirt

Enjoy the pics of our great weekend

106 — back of my running shirt.....had to get the blog plug, right!

GOLF AND RUNNING: HOPE VS. DOUBT…..THE BATTLE PART 2

October 9, 2010

As I sit in my hotel room in Chicago, mentally preparing for the weekend ahead, I felt the need to share a little more about the importance of this upcoming race. As I write this my family (wife, 2 kids) and I just finished a wonderful meal in the hotel in which we got to spend some time with my mother in law, Judy, my sister-in-law, Tammy and the guest of honor, my father in law Butch. For those of you who haven’t followed my blog, I am running the Chicago marathon in his honor. Butch was diagnosed with Leukemia this past April. This led me to compete in another marathon and raise money for LLS with team in training(which I raised over 20000.00) *. So my first priority is to make sure that everyone has an enjoyable time and secondly, finish the race in one piece. This might seem like a given but sometimes things don’t always go as planned. Some of you that know me already know this story so I will give you the cliff notes which will help you understand my mindset as I stand at the starting line, both physically and metaphorically. I am no stranger to running as I have been doing it regularly since about 2005. For those who don’t know, I don’t do anything half way (my wife says I have OCD). I did my first race in 2005 (a 10k) and I was hooked on the whole man vs. race course thing and it is so much more but I don’t have time. It made me feel like an athlete. So I figured if I can do 6.2, whats another 20? Right? So with the help of my coach and now my best friend, Steve, we did the Chicago marathon in 2006. Everything went well for my first time but I needed more. I did a half mary in 07 after recovering from an Achilles rupture. So I was ready for another full. I didn’t get into New York I signed up for the Kiawah Marathon. Training was going fine until I got mononucleosis that summer, I promise I wasn’t kissing anyone but my wife. I ran into one of my students shortly after that was in the shoe business and offered me a free entry into the Marine Corp Marathon which was a couple of months earlier than Kiawah. I thought this would be a great opportunity to take the family to D.C., do some sightseeing and do a very slow marathon and treat it like a training run for KI. Skipping ahead……….At about mile 12, I started to feel really bad as if my body was shutting down for some reason. I was fully trained so I knew that it wasn’t that I wasn’t prepared. By mile 18 (which I don’t remember running), I was spotted bobbing and weaving. I woke up in the back of an ambulance, severely dehydrated and catatonic. I didn’t know it at the time but my heart rate was about 255 (nearly heart attack rate). After a day in the hospital, getting hydrated and back to normal, I saw a heart doc and they found nothing wrong. Several tests and more checkups including a couple of months ago, NOTHING. We think it was the mono, but don’t know for sure. Needless to say, it took my wife and kids a long time to get comfortable with me running another race. Shortly thereafter I started a running streak of 300 days in a row (OCD, nahhh). I set a personal record in the half marathon last December, just to prove that I was alright. It was a very scary deal as I thought I was going to see Jesus a little sooner than I imagined. This is why this is a very important race for me. Obviously I am aware of the symptoms and will have no problem stopping and walking if necessary (which I didn’t do last time, high pain tolerance as well).

This is no different than what Dustin Johnson experienced at the P.G.A. , (with the exception of the life threatening part). We all have bad rounds and make mistakes that we regret. You have to be mentally tough and hang in there. Not to encourage stupidity but sometimes we need to stop running and catch our breath or take a few weeks off and just relax. But I encourage you today, if you believe something and you believe in yourself…. Push yourself past your doubt and fear which is the number one reason Jack Nicklaus says people fail….FEAR! I have always prided myself on being mentally tough and I try to instill this in my students. No excuses and no doubts. What do I do? I sell HOPE EVERYDAY. Hope will win in the end if we stay positive and live everyday as if it our last. Lastly I am such a mindset of thankfulness tonight and I want to send out my list of thank you’s:

1. my wonderful wife, Tiffanie, who puts up with my disorders and drive, thank you for being my rock, my life and soul mate and the reason I push so hard everyday.

2. my kids, Brittanie and Nicklaus….the loves of my life and my biggest fans and supporters.

3. My parents that raised me and taught me work ethic and the willingness to be scared and face my fears

4. My father in law Butch, for never giving up and staying positive while battling this awful disease.

5. My running buddy and friend, Steve Hightower for providing wisdom and clarity through injuries and pain. All the great talks we have on our long runs are priceless. Someone needs to make another “spirit of the marathon and follow our group” It would kill. Golf and Life lessons on the run.

6. To my trainer, Mark Kane and my massage therapist Summer who keeps me healthy and strong. Mark, you are truly the best in the business. kanetraining.com

7. My “shoe pimp” and friend, Steve Sheridan who keeps in great shoes and gu. Awesome.

8. To my marathon and ultra running friends and students, Hal “Dean Kanazes jr.” Hawisher and Darryl Dewberry….spending time with you guys makes me a better person. I have learned more from you than I can ever teach you.

9. To all my students that are so faithful and make my job the best in the world. I am so lucky to have met all of you.

10. And lastly but not least important, All of you that donated your hard-earned dollars in the likes of this down economy….Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are so giving and generous.

Thank you for letting me dump and vent but I wanted you all to know what I was taking to the starting line this Sunday. I will be running with all of you on my mind as I guarantee that (Just like Dustin Johnson winning the BMW Championship) the HOPE WILL PREVAIL and I will give GOD All The Glory.

See you on the lesson tee,

Jason

Golf and Running and Our Brain on Doubt (the athletes drug)

December 13, 2009

There are so many similarities between running and golf. This morning I ran the Thunder Road half marathon in Charlotte. Just like a round of golf, every race or long run is always different. Some days your swing feels so smooth and you can’t miss a shot or your body feels great and your legs seem to glide with ease. Other days you can’t find the club face and your legs feel like two ton weights that don’t want to move. Today was a pretty good day in the fact that I ran my fastest time in the half although I hadn’t trained to the fullest due to an injury that I had. I had very low expectations, which is why I probably ran so well. How many times have you had a terrible range session or warmup before the round, expecting to play poorly, only to go out and shoot a career low. We have all done it. The opposite tends to happen more often. You are striping it on the range only to get out on the course and can’t find your swing. Which leads me to what I think is the missing link, “The Brain.” In both running and in golf our minds get in the way of what our body already knows how to do. When I was running this morning, I was constantly assessing how my legs and my body felt as my brain was trying to sabotage it all by telling me to slow down or walk…..which I am happy to say that I did not give in to this easy way out. Just like in a golf round, many of us want to give up when we are playing poorly instead of gutting it out and getting the most of a bad round. Pam Reed is an elite ultramarathoner. In her book “The Extra Mile”, she states that you can always run twice as far as you think you can, you just have to believe it in your mind. Don’t let your mind keep you from achieving your golfing goals by getting in the way of a good round or better yet a good golf swing. Trust your training as you would a marathoner training for a race. I am the last person that you would ever thought would be become an avid runner much less a long distance athlete. Although I was a better than average athlete, I was never a fast runner and I am definitely not built like your typical runner (tall and thin). The true measure of a man or player is not just talent (because talent alone will make you lazy), but the size of your Heart, Passion, Faith, Drive and Persistence. These things show up when the going gets tough, in the middle of a big match when its easy to give up or running a long race when your brain is telling your body that you can’t run a step farther, but somehow you do. There is one more similarity in Golf and Running (then I will stop I promise) and that is the way of instruction or training. Everyone thinks that ther training program is the best or the only way.Here is my advice to you. Are you ready, pay attention. Every one is different……….So when you find the program or teacher that works for you, STICK TO IT AND TRUST IT. The drill or tip that works for your buddy, may not work for you. I hope this makes some sense and would love to hear about you overcoming odds or great triumphs in whatever realm that you choose. I look forward to hearing from you and please……..Never Give up, no matter what your brain says.

See you on the lesson tee,

God Bless……..GURU